In April, we had the pleasure of previewing our volunteer excursions. The James Garbutt school in Belize City made a particular impression on us. When we head back this November, we’re going to dedicate a small library to the school and fill it with books for children 6 to 10 years old.
At the end of our tour, I was speaking with the principal (below left) about other needs the school has. They have a large play area in the front of the school, but not one ball with which to play. On the ride back to the ship, our excursion rep Denise Ockey (below right) said that the children were often frustrated during class time because they have to share things like pencils. Pencils? That’s a problem we can solve with 10 cents. School doesn’t need to be any more difficult than it already is. Our Norwegian Cruise Lines rep Cecilia Blevins and I were so moved to help, we donated the cash in our pockets (which came to about $130) to address these issues.
As you can see in the photo below, Denise was able to buy a lot of balls and school supplies for the children of the James Garbutt School with that money. The moral of the story: It’s incredibly easy and inexpensive to make a positive impact our ports.
I’m looking forward to November when we can magnify our impact in Belize with our Children’s Storytime Corner project and Magic Brushes Pediatric Ward Cheer Up.
Stay Sweet, keep caring,
Shannon
Tags: Shannon Wentworth, Sweet donations, Sweet Somethings
