Witnessing poverty

My name is Stephanie Tolly, and I am a graduating senior. My major is Economics, and my minors are in Social Science Quantitative Data Analytics and Spanish. I'm from Grand Rapids, MI, and thanks to your assistance I was able to travel to San Ignacio, Belize as part of a Service Learning and Community Engagement course!

I want to thank you for my recent scholarship to help me study abroad in Belize. I spent the week volunteering in a primary school, assisting eleven- and twelve-year-olds in language arts. I was blown away by my time there. The students were not as academically proficient as they are in the United States, generally, but they sure had a lot more respect for one another than I witness here. It was truly culture shock. The students I had were old enough to switch classrooms, and I noticed that when they do all of the boys wait outside the room and let all of the girls enter first - every single time. I could never imagine a sixth-grade class doing that in the United States! I had a great time with my students. My teacher, Ms. Sonia, truly made my integration into her classroom seem less. We have become great friends, we even went out to dinner on my last day, and I perhaps learned more about the culture of Belize from her than I did anyone else.

I've never been to a "developing country," and this experience has reiterated my passion for immigration law. It was truly astonishing to drive around and witness all the poverty. One of the days at school was a half day, and roughly two thirds of my students missed school, because they couldn't afford to taxi to school, or their parents didn't want to send them extra money for the fun activities. Some of these activities, though, cost fifty cents. It was really hard to grapple with the fact that that is a lot of money for some families. In spite of their economic circumstances, though, the kids were truly the happiest I have ever seen. I know kids everywhere are, for the most part, very happy, but these kids had such a welcoming community like I have never seen in the United States.

Lastly, I had so many amazing cultural experiences. I got to explore the Mayan ruins, visit a Mayan woman's coop where I made pottery, embroidered, and made tortillas from scratch. I also learned how the Mayans used cacao and made the Drink of the Gods! We also were visited by the Garifuna, who taught us how to dance and taught us all about their history of genocide on St. Vincent Island.

It was an amazing experience, for which I am so grateful. Thank you so much for your assistance and allowing me this opportunity!

Name: Stephanie Tolly
Status: Senior
Major: Economics
Hometown: Grand Rapids, Michigan
Program: Community Engagement, Society and Culture in Belize