News Post

A dozen St. Joseph’s Academy students spent May 25-30 in Belize, working with the Hand in Hand organization to build a home for a couple. Hand in Hand offers immersion trips to Appalachia, Louisville, Nicaragua and Belize, providing quality education, safe housing and healthcare for those in need.

The students were accompanied by school counselor Lindsay Carlino and Communications Assistant Madeline Ortego. 

In addition to building the house, the travelers enjoyed Sunday mass at Holy Redeemer Cathedral, visiting a woodcarving shop, planning the blessing of the house, visiting a combination preschool and daycare facility and day trips to the Altun Ha Mayan Temples and Caye Caulker Island. They also enjoyed the opportunity to see a performance of the Garifuna Dancers.

Ortego said her hope for the participating students is that they realize the lasting impact of the work they undertook. “During our trip reflection, we talked about how rare it is to truly do something for someone that will change their life, and that is what the girls did this past week,” she said. “In providing this house for the couple, they have given them new hope for their future and showed the true love of God. It was incredible to watch the support of the community as we all worked together to complete the house and to watch the girls develop relationships with one another. At the end of the week, you would not have known that those girls were not friends to begin with.”

Carlino said that watching the young women work side by side with members of the community was awe inspiring. In fact, they worked so hard that the job was finished ahead of schedule. “During the house blessing, (the homeowner) Erron said that when he saw our group walking up on the first day, he didn’t know if his house would get built,” she said. “He said now he knows not to underestimate the power of young women.”