From Nikki Holland, Director of Belize Friends Ministries:
I called a special All-Staff Meeting for on Monday, March 16. We were brainstorming ideas and questions so that later in the week we could make decisions about our plan for what to do if the Belize Ministries of Health and Education closed the schools and churches. About an hour into the meeting, we received the news that, in fact, the schools were closing on Friday. We had four days to develop and implement a plan that would enable our students to continue their studies and another plan that would enable FUM Belize to continue serving our community.
Our brainstorming session turned into a strategy meeting.
Something that felt really important to all of us was finding a way to stay connected with our students. They needed to be able to communicate with their teachers when they needed help, the teachers needed to be able to give them resources and assignments, we needed to be able to stay connected as a community, and we needed a way to let the students know about updates to our status and when we will reopen.
We lamented that so many of our students did not have cell phones or even internet access at their houses. Eden said, “Well. We could buy phones for them to use.”
I stared at her. “We can do that?”
She said, “Yes.”
So we developed a plan that involved packets of paper homework and the use of the messaging application WhatsApp to stay in touch. That night I sent an email to Smart!, a local telecommunications company, to tell them about our needs. I asked if they could give us a discount on a data plan. They responded with a free month of a data plan and a huge discount on the cell phones we needed.
It was more than I had dared hope for! They worked with us on Tuesday to get the phones, and then worked through logistical problems throughout the week. We developed a contract with the students and a borrowing plan that includes the possibility for the students to buy or work for the phones when this crisis is over. We distributed the phones on Thursday and we had tutorials and trouble shooting on Friday, the last day of school.
The expressions on the kids’ faces while they were learning about their phones showed that they felt valued and invested in, as they were entrusted with such equipment for their own benefit. They felt loved, cared for, and connected, in a really destabilizing situation.
In the week since we distributed the phones, our students have sent hundreds of messages to each other and the staff. We have organized the distribution of food packages. We have shared community support. We have settled disputes about who said what about whom. We have shared online resources and opportunities. We have done homework tutoring and video lessons. We have greeted each other in the morning and bid each other farewell in the evening.
We have calmed students who panicked when the first COVID19 case was confirmed in Belize. We have shared music videos and silly memes.
These phones, provided by Smart! and FUM’s COVID19 Solidarity Fund, have enabled Belize Friends School to come together as a community in a time of enforced separation and isolation to support some of the most vulnerable people in Belize City.
We couldn’t be more grateful.
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