Friday, March 23, 2018

Regeneration, Renewal, and Expansion of a K-12 Campus

In June of 2018 I have this great opportunity to serve again in the country where I went on my first project trip with EMI in 2001. That project trip happened within two weeks of 9/11 and so all of my international EMI experience has been "post-9/11". While the world has changed a lot in 17 years and EMI has grown and matured greatly as an organization, we continue the work of meeting "on-the-ground" needs all over the world, serving poor communities in order to bring Hope.

Belize Christian Academy (BCA) is a K-12 international school with a rich history in Central America. The vision of TeachBeyond, which now owns and operates BCA, is to introduce a new, over-arching master plan on this lush, 25 acre property and construct a new center for Learning and Administration. The long term result will be a school campus that supports academic excellence as well as community spirit.

BCA

BCA first opened its doors in September 1993 on the outskirts of Belmopan, the capital city of Belize in Central America. While the initial population of 38 students and 4 teachers was modest, 14 nationalities were represented in the student body. This large mix is due to the fact that many children from foreign embassies have made BCA their school home. Today, local children as well as those from 40 different countries have attended BCA.

Geographically, Belize lies along the western edge of the Caribbean Sea, is bordered to the north by Mexico, and west and south by Guatemala. The official language of Belize is English while Belizean Creole is an unofficial native language. Spanish is its second most-spoken language. BCA itself is situated on 25 acres, half of which is maintained for the school grounds while the other half is mostly forested. The existing school facility is a collection of mostly single-use buildings. While most are very serviceable, some older buildings will be slated for replacement in the coming years.

The project scope of the EMI team will be to review BCA's existing facilities and infrastructure, create an overall, phased master plan for new and facilities to be rebuilt/replaced, and incorporate a new Learning Centre and Administration Building. Future EMI teams will address future phases when phase one is complete and the needs of the next phase are determined.

Thank you to all our supporters and friends who make it possible for me to serve with EMI in this way! If you or anyone you know wish to learn how to join me on this project, please click here to see the EMI project page.