Belize2020 Looks Ahead at SLU Summit

The good vibes were obvious to anyone inside Tegeler Hall. 

Earlier this summer, Belize2020 organized a summit at Saint Louis University. Ten years after the coalition was created, with strong support from SLU to support Jesuit ministries in Belize,  organizers felt the time was right to meet again.

The summit was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., but no one was inside the auditorium yet to hear the opening remarks. Instead, the more than 50 people attending the summit were in the lobby smiling, laughing, and generally just enjoying the company. 

Bryan Sokol, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and community engagement fellow in SLU's Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education and one of the organizers of the event, said the prolonged mingling wasn’t surprising. 

“Belize2020 is built on love,” he said. “Members of the network see our relationships and collaborations as God’s love-in-action. It is critical that we sustain the sense of connection and belonging for our efforts to continue in the future. The ‘vibe’ was the Holy Spirit moving and supporting us.”

Eventually, the group joined Michael Boyle, Ph.D., the Executive Director of the Herrmann Center, inside the auditorium where he led the group in prayer and kicked off the three-day summit. 

Belize2020 works to improve Belize by supporting Jesuit ministries in that country. The initial emphasis of the program focused on education. The summit was hosted by the SLU School of Education and the Herrmann Center for Innovative Catholic Education, and brought together educators, Jesuit partners, lay leaders and community members.

The goal for the summit was to look back at what had been accomplished while also planning for the future. 

“We work with a lot of people,” said Celia Usher, who manages Catholic primary and secondary schools throughout Belize in her superintendent role. “We don't always work with people who genuinely care about you, about the mission. Sometimes it's just action, but [Belize] 2020, is made up of people who bring their hearts, and you can feel it. There's joy in that, knowing that you're loved, knowing that the work is based on people loving, people caring.”

Of the more than 50 attendees at the event, there were representatives from the Jesuits USA Central and Southern Province, Saint Louis University, primary schools at St. Martin de Porres and St. Peter Claver parishes, as well as St. John’s College in Belize. 

Roxanna Encalada, the incoming principal at St. Martin de Porres primary school in Belize City, has been part of Belize2020 from the early years.

“What has brought me joy over these 10 years is the collaboration,” Encalada said. “We have not only built collaboration to raise money or to attend summits or to be part of retreats, but we have built beautiful friendships.  It feels special and it feels beautiful, and I also feel that that is something that God wants us to do, to be able to share love with the world, and especially with the people that want to work with our children in Belize.”

Belize2020 began in 2014 as an effort by representatives from the U.S. Central and Southern Province, Saint Louis University, St. Martin de Porres, and St. John's College in Belize to address problems of drug and gang violence, unemployment, poverty and family instability in Belize.

Faculty, staff, and students from SLU have made numerous trips to Belize as part of the program. 

Sessions throughout the three-day summit touched on the successes of the first 10 years.

“Beyond just being together, one of the highlights was learning about the many successes that have emerged from our collaborations and the desire to keep these partnerships and projects going for another 10 years or more,” Sokol said. 

Looking ahead, the group also began laying the groundwork for the next 10 years. 

“Our ultimate goal was to set the stage for the next 10 years of Belize2020 activities and to formalize the School of Education’s and the Herrmann Center’s relationship with the organization,” Sokol said. “We made very good progress on a memorandum of understanding that will help us, the School of Education, with these goals. But we also wanted to focus on relationship-building and sharing our stories. The summit was a great opportunity to hear from one another.”

Following the conclusion of the summit, Sokol said organizers were working to compile and archive all the notes and reports from the summit. 

“As mundane as that sounds, it is really important for our group to keep records, especially if we want to see our work sustained into the future by another generation of network members,” he said. 

Sokol said one of the things agreed upon at the summit was to work closely with the Herrmann Center. He said the Herrmann Center plans to coordinate and lead — in partnership with the many other stakeholders — the Belize2020 annual retreat moving forward.

Sokol said anyone interested in working with Belize2020 should contact the group at 314-977-6364 or info@belize2020.org.