Hosanna House--Belize

My first glimpse of Belize was the tops of trees. Lots and lots of trees. I grinned and mentally prepared myself for my first foray into this new land and culture. I was starting a two week trip to learn and observe nursing and health care in the Belize culture.
My name is Ericka and I am a senior nursing student at Indiana Wesleyan University. My curriculum requires that I spend a minimum of 42 hours serving or observing the health care of a culture different than my own. My parents suggested I meet Bob and Darlene and explore the possibility of going to Belize to fulfill this requirement. Before I knew it, all of the plans were in place and I was seeing the forests of Belize.
We were greeted by a wall of heat and a white 16 passenger van- our transportation to 20.5 miles down Hummingbird Highway, also known as the Hosanna House. We pulled into the driveway and I saw the compound. A large home designed for children that need shelter, care, and love while difficult home situations are resolved. Suddenly 10 or 15 children were jumping and running and waving their arms- they were so excited to see Mr. Bob and Ms. Darlene. After some hugs were exchanged with Bob and Darlene, they began to watch me. I nervously grinned and squeaked out a tiny, "Hello." Names were rattled off as I desperately tried to match them with faces- a daunting and rather important task in any new situation.
Before long, the timidity was gone. A few squeezes to the sides of a ticklish youngster, some basic conversations with girls almost my own age, and we were buddies. Walking through the hallway in the children's home now consists of pretend shootouts with young boys, smiles and giggles from younger girls, and laughter and hand holding with the older girls. All this, and I've only been here 8 hours. I wonder what it will be like when I have been here a whole day?! Now where is that bug repellent...