In January 2017, twenty-one members of the Goldfish Swim School team headed to Gales Point, Belize for a service trip. Alex Tyler (owner of Goldfish Swim School – St. Charles and Goldfish Swim School – Glen Ellyn) had visited Gales Point on two previous occasions and he wanted to bring a bigger team back with him this year in order to make a larger impact on the community. This blog post series chronicles the work of the Goldfish team during their time in Belize. See the first post in this series here.

Our second full day in Belize was a busy one. The construction crew headed out early to the work site. In one day of work, our crew was able to raise the additional exterior walls and add a  roof on the house. The construction crew worked alongside several members of the village. Wilma, the woman who will live in the house with her family, stopped by to see the progress.

The rest of the crew spent the morning with the village children at Sunday School at the Galilee Church. We loved learning new songs and participating in their learning. Jen Deis of Goldfish Swim School – West Chester engaged a group of 40+ kids in a lively W.A.T.E.R. Safety Presentation. After the presentation, our team worked with the kids on a variety of arts and crafts activities.

Every day we were in the village, the Goldfish Team enjoyed lunch prepared by a local family. Menu items included chicken or fish, rice and beans, coconut empanadas and other local specialties.

In the afternoon, the Goldfish Swim School team once again met up with the kids at the dock for afternoon swim lessons. We divided the kids into groups based on age and ability and ran a full hour of lessons. During lessons, we decided that we would work on a ladder for the dock to make it easier for the kids to get in and out of the water. We added it to our “to do list” for the trip.

Check back on Friday, March 31st for more about our trip to Belize!