My name is Amanda Law, and I am a senior Religious Studies major and Education minor. I am extremely fortunate that during my four years at Rhodes, I will have gone abroad for study abroad and service trips in Belize, Mexico, Ecuador, Scotland, and Costa Rica. I love gaining exposure to other cultures. I think that spending time amongst another country’s people is the best way to gain knowledge about who they are. I am continually amazed to discover that people are people and that we share a common humanity. I think that it is in connecting with others on a deeper level that we gain a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us. The first chance I had to go aborad while in college was the summer after my freshman year of college when I participated in the Rhodes Service Maymester in Belize. A group of ten students and two Rhodes staff built and installed water purification systems in three schools in the Orange Walk District in northern Belize. The most welcoming and warm people I have ever met were in Belize in a town called Chan Pine Ridge. We were in Chan Pine Ridge for three and a half weeks building a water purification system, converting an old one room school house to a library, and constructing a playground.
Although our time there was short, the relationships built were genuine. The people of that village welcomed us in to their homes and were so generous both in giving us food and gifts. Two and a half years later, I am still in contact with a Belizean, seven year old girl, Jamilly, who I got to spend time with and know well turning my time in Chan Pine Ridge. Every couple months I get a letter from Jamilly that gives me an update on her family and school life. It is extremely special to me to have retained a relationship with Jamilly, a friendship I will have for a lifetime. This was only my second time out of the country, and my time in Belize gave me the travel bug that was the catalyst for my later abroad experiences.
The Belize Team going tubing during our trip!!
