During the past couple of weeks I have volunteered with the local  shelter and nursing home as part of an extension to the hospital and further connecting with the community.

Mary Open Doors is a shelter located in San Ignacio, Belize that specifically focuses on women and children affected by domestic violence. I was able to meet Mrs. Medina who manages the non-profit organization to have a conversation about what the biggest needs in the community are and how the shelter does outreach to people to supply those needs. Apart from providing temporary housing to families, Mary Open Doors also has a needs list for families in the Cayo district who are in need. The families who are included on the needs list range from elderly to illness to single mothers. When enough supplies are donated, the shelter also hosts a food bank for the community.

This week I was able to volunteer alongside Mrs. Medina and visit homes to deliver donations which included clothing, food, hygiene, and medication. With the income in Belize being equivalent to $2.50 USD an hour, food insecurity is at an all time high due to the low-income and high-cost of living because of inflation.  Clothing is difficult to find in countries as Belize as there are few stores that supply clothing and have limited selections. Many Belizeans have to travel outside the country to Mexico or Guatemala to find clothing that fits, there are also second- hand “American” clothing stands at the local markets which are imported in barrels overseas from the USA. Hygiene and medication are often times overlooked in Belize as not being necessary due to the high cost of food, priorities tend to overcome others. Given this, when delivering basic necessities, the families were extremely grateful to receive medications and supplies they would’ve otherwise not had.

We visited a single mother with 5 children that had previously had housing at Mary Open Doors but are now currently in housing sourced by the organization. The eldest daughter is pursuing welding and hopes to make it her lifelong career.

We visited an elderly woman who has become blind and whose husband has been struggling with cancer. When given the supplies she continued to thank God for knowing that she had a need.

We visited an elderly woman taking care of her 5 grandchildren after her daughter abandoned her children. They live in a house made of scrap metal and to my knowledge, the grandma is unemployed.

We also delivered supplies to the daughter of an ill elderly couple as she has began to act as a caretaker for them.

I also began volunteering at Octavia Waight which is a nursing home or “help age” as it is known in Belize. This center has 35 residents with many diagnoses, from Alzheimer’s, strokes, dementia, Parkinson’s, and many other neurological disorders. This week, I was able to meet the staff and discuss the needs of the facility. A few of the areas I let them know I could help in is bringing in home made deserts for snack time, organizing the thrift store they have for funding, and creating community with the residents as well as helping care for residents. Many of the residents’ family members live far away from Belize and are unable to visit them, so having people to look forward to seeing is essential at a center like this. The residents at this facility are mostly handicapped and need others facilitating them throughout the center as they are no longer able to, so helping do so would be a big help as well.