First a geography lesson. Belize is in Central America, south of Mexico. Ambergris Caye is the largest Island off the coast of Belize, and San Pedro is it's town. San Pedro's got a great vibe; small restaurants, dive shops and bars line the sand or cobbled streets. The main form of transportation is golf carts. Tourists come for the amazing snorkeling, diving, and the very laid back beach culture.
Just across the bridge from the town of San Pedro lies a very different world. It's a small community called San Mateo. San Mateo was attractive to people who were'nt able to afford housing. They were given a patch of land, for very little, and told they could build a house there. The problem is that the land was a lagoon. So resourceful people have built their homes on stilts over the lagoon. The area was built up without electricity, running water or sewage.
Holy Cross School is across that bridge, in San Mateo. There are approximately 1500 people who live in San Mateo, 560 of them are now students at Holy Cross School.
These students live across the tracks, so to speak, and that's where Zack and I will be spending some of our time in Belize
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