The end of September and our schools are up and running again after the summer holidays.  September has two Bank holidays, the 10^th and 21^st to celebrate Belize?s independence and the start of classes was delayed a week because of disruption caused by hurricanes Dean and Felix.  Here in Stann Creek we were spared the full effects of both, one passing to the north and one to the south of us.  But the threat of a hurricane is enough to put everybody in preparation mode, boarding up windows, getting in extra supplies and making emergency plans of where to go if the threat becomes more imminent.  Belize has suffered some terrible hurricanes in the past so everybody here is fully aware of what could happen even if it is only stories from the past.  Belize even built a new capital city in the 1970s after the devastation of Hurricane Hattie in 1961.  We have two more months of the hurricane season.

During the summer we had to hire 35 new teachers to replace those retiring, those going on study leave and to fill new posts created by our expanding school population.  We now have over 4,500 students in our 15 primary schools and about 200 in our 5 pre-schools.

A big help to our families this year is that the government has introduced a free text book scheme which provides books in the main subjects to all pupils.  Previously parents had to buy the books at a cost of a week?s wages per child of a worker in the banana farms.  This year three of our schools will be getting brand new concrete buildings to replace existing temporary ones.  This will cost nearly ?500,000 which is coming through the Government of Belize from the Caribbean Development Bank and the European Union.  The European money is for communities in the banana growing area that are affected by the withdrawal of preferential treatment given to commonwealth banana producing countries.  Besides the new schools some of our communities will get running water and mains electricity for the first time.

Since the end of August we have a new volunteer from Gorseinon in South Wales.  Michael King is on his gap year and is fitting in very well to Belizean life.  As well as helping Fabian Cayetano and his work with all our schools, Michael is helping some of our maths teachers and introducing chess to some of our schools.

We are continuing to give scholarships to students from rural communities to study at 6^th form level. Please continue to be generous in giving to the Belize Mission.  Despite the large investment being made in our schools it is often the small amounts of money needed for maintenance and small projects that is difficult to find.  We are always being asked to help different communities with their projects especially with churches and schools.