Day 4 - Armenia School - Art & Science Camp + Projects

Here we go! We are off to meet the kids at Armenia School and start our first morning camp, along with construction projects. It’s just below 90 degrees at 8 am. The prayers page has been updated and we appreciate all your support!

Student posts...

By Olivia Chamness

Today we woke up, ate some breakfast, and headed to the Armenia Village School. We began to set up our materials for the art and science rotations. I was in charge of Art 1, where we had supplies for the 3rd and 4th graders to create tissue paper collages, drawings, and had other materials they loved like pompoms and pipe cleaners. Many of the girls used pom poms to make butterflies and caterpillars, and the boys tended to make jungle animals and were excited to write “Messi” with his number 10 and a soccer ball. I was immediately impressed with the kids’ manners. With every request they had for me, whether to ask for materials, or cut a pipe cleaner, they always added “Yes, Miss. Thank you Miss Olivia.” I got a few giggles and awe’s because of my light skin and blue eyes that they weren’t used to seeing. I connected with one girl in particular, Chelsea, who asked me to help her draw a puppy. Her spark and kindness were infectious, as she was constantly giggling and showed love to those around her. She was always excited to help me out, lend her materials, and call out her friends’ talents. It was a joy to be around her and her positive energy. I found this remarkable in light of her circumstances - in a country where people have so little, children have difficult home lives, and most who can’t afford school, she was a light to those around her, including me. It felt so rewarding and special to work with these kids, and I’m so excited for the next few  days! 

By Alex Liang

Tuesday was our second day of work at Armenia Government School. Over the course of three days, students are running one of three camps for the local kids; Art and Science Camp on Tuesday, Vacation Bible School Day Camp on Wednesday, and Sports Camp on Thursday. Yesterday, we as part of the Art and Science crew held a meeting to discuss our responsibilities so we knew what to do when we arrived at the school promptly after breakfast. 

Tuesday’s camp consisted of three sections: Paper Art, Painting, and Science. I was doing Science with Amelia and Arianna. We introduced kids ages 7-9 into our classroom for the morning. The kids were told to draw “anything in the rainforest” using markers for ten minutes. Kid after kid was excited to showcase their artwork after drawing, from waterfalls to butterflies to mythical creatures. 

After the kids drew their rainforests, we showed them creatures from the rainforest in jars: a scorpion, a spider, a lizard with a regrown tail, and a grasshopper which was already dead.

We then lead a game called “The Web of Life.” In this game, one kid has a card, eg. soil, and holds a piece of yarn which they throw to a different kid with a card of a plant, animal, or other element of nature while holding the string on the other hand. The first kid explains how the two things connect. For example, if a kid holding a flower card throws the yarn to someone holding a bee card, it is because the flowers provide bees pollen for their colonies. Eventually, when every kid is holding a piece of string, we explain how everything in nature is interconnected. We continue by introducing deforestation destroying all the plants in the ecosystem, requiring those holding plant cards to drop their yarn, resulting in a chain reaction of animals having nothing to eat. We explain how God made it all interconnected and dependent on each other, and we connect it to the kids’ interests and talents. Many of the kids played football (what Americans know as Soccer), something they frequently do after school, which they will also get to do on Thursday Sports Camp.

We welcomed two more groups this morning until we returned back to Jaguar Creek for a Stew Chicken + Rice + Split Peas + Fried Plantains lunch. We returned to Armenia village to clean up from science camp, welcomed the leaders of tomorrow’s day camp to our classroom, and worked on concrete for a new ramp between classrooms. I also worked on digging holes for a fence, but we stopped because all the holes were either deep enough, hit a rock, or a pipe. Due to this, we returned back to Jaguar Creek before 3 pm. 

As usual, I took a full-body dip in the water to cool myself down, explored the source of Jaguar Creek, and floated along with a tube to the other end of the creek. Before dinner, we played volleyball, and we chilled by the campfire after our meatloaf dinner.

By KJ, TKA HS Athletic Director

On a trip where the average temperature has been over 90, today will be remembered as “the how day.” I was with the constructions groups today. With the temperature soaring to 104 with 70% humidity today, the takeaway could have easily been how hot the day was and how miserable we were, but that was not the case! God blessed us with extra energy and drive as we headed into our first full day of work. Our team showed a valiant work ethic mixing cement, digging fence posts, washing and painting walls and sidewalks and leading an awesome art and science workshop for local kids. Each group was not only up for the task, but when prompted to leave due to heat, they asked to stay and finish their task for the day. Not only that, but every task that was assigned, was greeted with the prompt response of “let’s get to work!” The smiles on the faces of the children after the workshop was the cherry on top as they proudly displayed their artistic creations with thankful hearts.  A finished cement walkway may not be cause for celebration most days, but today the end of that task was met with the enthusiasm of a CCS Championship. Resilience, rather than exhaustion, was the theme of today on what was easily the hottest day I’ve ever had on a service trip in my 13 years at King’s. I could not have been more proud of our group. Praise be to God for extra strength and for all your prayers! He was evident and glorified today. 

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We started tonight’s group time with “snaps”, or calling out people for doing something awesome during the day. It was great to see the students supporting and encouraging each other. After our worship time, Mr. Smithson read from 1 Cor. 12, a passage on the many parts that make up one body. His message was to remind students that no matter their role this week, they are using their God-given gifts collectively to show the love of Jesus to the students in Armenia Government School. Be it hard labor in extreme conditions or engaging with Belizean 3rd graders we have never met before (in humidity we have never experienced before), we all are part of His kingdom.

Some students shared reflections on the day, such as how sweet the Armenia young students were with nice manners, sharing with classmates, and calling us all Miss and Mr. Some of our TKA students were the first Asians the students had ever seen, again highlighting how God uses His diversity for His glory.