HILLARY AT CORNERSTONE

On September 17th I packed my bags and boarded a bus to San Ignacio for a two-week long internship with a community development organization called Cornerstone. I was nervous going in and had only a vague idea of what I would be doing while at Cornerstone. My mornings were spent at the fledgling library at St. Andrew’s Primary School across the street from Cornerstone. I helped the librarian, Jane Hail, catalogue books and control the masses of eager children who converged on the library daily to check out books. The children at St. Andrew’s had never had a library before Jane came a year ago with 2,000 books and the desire to start a library (I couldn’t believe it—growing up without a library!) and they were excited to make use of it. I loved having the opportunity to suggest books to kids, exclaim over their choices, and ask them how they liked a certain book. I love seeing kids read, American or Belizean!

I spent my afternoons in Cornerstone’s main building helping out with the lunch program that Cornerstone provides for children who cannot afford to eat lunch during the school day. The kids who came to eat lunch with us were rambunctious but a little shy the first week. I spent a majority of the afternoons organizing ESL curriculum and later, when I’d finished the curriculum, organizing Cornerstone’s book collection. This was all very tedious work, but very worthwhile, and I hope, very helpful to Cornerstone. All in all, a great experience!