Our donation drives were a great success! After contacting Childrens Homes in Belmopan, we were able to provide every child at Kings Childrens Home with a Christmas gift. We feel very excited about delivering toys and school supplies to 50 children at KCH and more donation of toys and school supplies going to Marlas Children Home.

We wish Joanne a safe trip as she embarks on a two month journey in Belize, reaching out to schools and communities in need. I know it will be a wonderful learning opportunity for DirectAbundance as she learns in more detail about the communities and their needs and where DirectAbundances help is needed most.

I will be joining Joanne for a much shorter time, taking and delivering donations, helping in needy schools and assisting in the 2 day conference.

Again, a super big THANK YOU to everyone who has helped in this journey and supported impoverished communities in Belize. We can all join and celebrate our successes together, because we would not have been able to do this work without your help and encouragement!

All the very best for 2010!
Heather and Joanne

The people at Maya Island Air were very helpful to me, and tried to get customs to release the bags so I would not have to return to the International Airport, but customs was adamant on seeing me. I reluctantly returned to the mainland to face my fate. I was grateful for the generosity and compassion customs had for me.

When I was there the customs people were friendly and helpful. They released all the donations for Holy Cross, Poly Clinic, and Ocean Academy. The only things that they withheld were the medications for the animals at SAGA.

On Monday it was an early start. Our first stop was Saga to drop off some of the collections of IV supplies, and canine medicine from the Community Animal Allies of Niagara. Next it was off to Caye Caulker to visit with Joni Miller, co-founder of Ocean Academy. Ocean Academy is a high school that is fairly young and will have its first graduate class in 2011. We are excited to be trying to assist the school in its vocational expansion as well as taking supplies over. I will be volunteering there, and with Holy Cross during the winter, on a three month sabbatical. We also rented the house that we will be staying in over the winter while we volunteer between the two schools.

After lunch, we headed back over to the island of Ambergris Caye. A stop at the Poly Clinic, to drop off surgical supplies and IV`s for the sick and a quick golf cart ride up to Holy Cross Anglican School to take another load of donations. I took one of the students shopping for his backpack and school shoes, with a generous donation made by DreamMakers, in Toronto, Canada. After that it was back to the hotel to prepare for the next day.

I rented a car and drove west, all the way across Belize to a place called Clarissa Falls, only 4 miles from the border of Guatamala. I was in awe at the beauty of the land, and shocked at the condition of the schools. They were run down, some with only outhouses, and children walking miles to earn their education. I was able to see the need that exists in all parts of Belize.

I stayed at Clarissa Falls, in a small cabin, which was very rustic. I ate a traditional Belizian dinner outside, amongst the mosquitos and moths. I met with Dr. Martel who is on a medical mission there, and also with Keith Fromm, who is the Founder of For the World. We discussed different charities and some of the difficulties within the education system.

The following day, it was back through the country side with a stop in Belmopan, and back to the airport to return to Canada. It is always difficult to return, but I know that much work awaits. Without the support of those in the `first worlds`our missions could never be completed.

In addition, we have been invited by Joni Miller, the founder of Ocean Academy, on Caye Caulker. We look forward to visiting, meeting the staff and students and extending a hand anyway we can to help this school prosper. We are interested in seeing how Ms. Miller was able to establish a school in just seven short months, one of our own long term goals.

Joanne will make her first visit to the mainland, to meet with Dr. Martel, of Green Solutions, and Keith Froom, of 4 the World Belize at Clarissafalls. It is exciting to be networking with so many wonderful people at once, all working toward one goal…..making the world a better place.

The events that have transpired since our last note are numerous. Heather has contacted organizations that build wells in developing countries in hopes that we can get some clean water running into the homes of San Mateo. In addition we are trying to partner with a playground company. It is a goal to ensure that all schools and communities are equipped with a proper and safe area to play in.

We had our first presentation to the Rotary Club in Mississauga. The presentation is informative and concise. We have included a powerpoint presentation that shows some of the short term goals of Direct Abundance, and a brief overview of the work we are currently engaged with.

Our biggest priority right now is shipping. We are actively working on our fundraising goals, and preparing for grants to enable us to make shipments when and where they are needed. An email from Belize Customs House Brokers was a welcomed sight, offering to assist us with the cost of Customs Documents and clearance. Also Diane of QuickSilver Messenger in San Pedro, has been a wealth of information about the shipping contacts, and assisting us. Now we have the challenge of raising $7000.00 to get the load there.

Word came this week from Carol Babb, Deputy Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education, Belize, that another primary school is needed on the island. With both Holy Cross and San Pedro Roman Catholic Schools turning kids away, because there classes are filled to capacity is an obvious sign that there is lots of work still needed to be done there.

Our long term goal, still remains to assist the community of San Mateo to have the things that ALL people deserve, safe electricity, clean drinking water, space for the children to play and jobs that allow a family to sustain itself. We would like to see the school also be in a position to open its doors to more children and have all the supplies and equipment needed to thrive.

Our Board Meeting is later this week, and we are looking forward to the updates from the other members. We are open, to DIRECT ABUNDANCE 24 HOURS A DAY, 365 DAYS A YEAR!

Cathy and Jackelyn have sent many emails and hard copy letters out to various toy and preschool companies in hopes of some major donations. We are eagerly awaiting responses.

Cathy has posted a Group for the PreSchool on facebook and also created an event for the toy drive. So far we have had some great response and can’t wait for the toys to start rolling in. Special thanks to Jamie Galipeau for a promise of $200 worth of toys for the brand new preschool room.

We are still adding to the toy and supply list that is posted as the room plans are finalized. It is very exciting work for Cathy to be part of the planning stages and to have so much input in the room design. She challenges all of you out there to try giving a little and seeing how much it gives back to you in a personally fulfilling way!

Joanne has been very busy contacting people and organizing the “school in a box” program. We have contacted both the schools and the Poly Clinic to get their wish lists fulfilled. Today we took a tour of the organization, Green Solutions, that is giving us the supplies and equipment to help improve the quality and care in the schools and medical clinic in San Pedro. Now all we need is 9000.00 to get the containers down there. It will be an amazing day, when all those supplies get to the dock of San Pedro.

I met with a grant writer who is willing to help us generate funds for DirectAbundance. Tomorrow we have a meeting to formalize the details of the business.

A community member, and friend of mine has offered to do a book drive for the schools. We have a few fundraisers in the works, and Tamara, from San Pedro Sun, is trying to get a Lion’s Club International Challenge underway. This would be initiated by the San Pedro Lion’s to extend a challenge to other International Lion’s Clubs to raise money for our shipping.

We continue to be amazed at the support from people, organizations and communities both near and far. Our growth over the past three months has been unexpected and and a welcomed surprise. We continue to know that there is enough of everything for everybody, and we are dedicated to DIRECTING THIS ABUNDANCE!!!

While in San Pedro we dropped off a small amount of donations and visited the San Pedro Roman Catholic School. The principal took us on a tour and gave us a wish list of things that the school needs. Specifically, the library shelves are empty. We have been contacting Canadian authors, made contact with the local libraries, and are seeking donations of books to be shipped sometime during the late summer. We would like to see the book shelves of both Holy Cross and RC full and overflowing for young readers. The response has been very positive.

We have been in contact with Dr. Martell,of Nova Scotia, who has generously agreed to share his 40 foot container, and to locate a defibulators, to give to the Poly Clinic. We were shocked to learn that the island does not have one of these life saving devices, and since we returned home it seems to be our personal mission to acquire one or two. Green Solutions is ready to fill a container for us with “school in a box” and “doctor in a box”. These include items such as furnishings, materials and school supplies. This company donates the items to charitable organizations, and the charity is responsible for the shipping costs.

Which leads to our next project we are working on. Currently we are in contact with the Lion’s Club and Rotary Club to assist us in raising shipping money. Shipping from Canada is not cheap, but we are confident that the doors will open, and at exactly the right time, we will get what we need to get these much needed items down to the dock in San Pedro. We have contacted the airlines and the airline ambassadors program, to inquire about reduced baggage costs. We have found that shipping can be a real challenge as not many carriers go to Belize from Canada.

Cathy, our Child Care expert, is working on getting donations of safe, quality toys to help open the pre-school at Holy Cross in the fall. She has started a new facebook page, and you can find a list of the items she thinks would be most beneficial to a pre-school and to advance early child development.

Heather of course is busy as ever,networking, writing letter, designing the new power point slide show, which we will use in our presentations to the schools for the high school community service project. In Canada, a student is required to complete 40 hours of Community Services to graduate from highschool. Currently we are in the process of recruiting students here, to assist our organization and to raise funds to sponsor a student through high school in Belize.

The work never ends, but it feels like a hobby. There are times when the road seems long, but we are so determined that I have no doubt that everything will come together.

If you work at something you love, you will never work a day in your life.