Julia Tao
After waking up at 2 AM to pack, everyone got on the bus to go to the airport (I slept the whole way). At the airport, we drank a lot of grapefruit juice and everyone tried some 85% chocolate. Almost our entire group got on the Delta flight, which was about 4 hours long.
I have learned so much from this year's trip, and with our larger group, we were able to impact so many more people. Seeing all of these patients in Belize, the children without shoes, and the lack of healthy food and knowledge of healthy eating has allowed me to realize just how privileged I am and how much I take for granted back at home. Planning these missions and going back each year to learn and improve on the last trips has given me so much joy, knowing that I am impacting at least a few lives for the better. I hope ABC can keep growing and allow us to help these precious people as much and for as long as possible.

Matt Cheng
Now, I have arrived at LAX airport waiting for my Uber. I have had a wonderful trip making friends and helping others with joy. Thank you, everybody, who went, supported, and helped me along the way. Now that I am back in the states, kudos to God for the bringing me there and back safely.

Emmaly Nguyen
This trip has taught me so much more than I thought it would. From giving out medication, to teaching people how to change their lifestyle for the better, to taking their vitals, this experience has really changed me. It’s such an incredible feeling, knowing that I can really help these people. I know that these acts are small (in terms of what we could do if we had the right equipment, time, and money), but it shows me that I have the ability to change someone. If I could go back to do more, I definitely would.

Kenneth Yang
It was our last day and most of us were tired. We got in the bus around 2 am to head out to the airport. The ride was 4 hours and many of us were knocked out in the bus. When we arrived at the airport, everyone was going around getting souvenirs and snacks to eat. Everyone was laughing and talking, trying to get each other’s phone numbers so we could contact one another. As soon as we arrived we all said our farewells. I had to say goodbye to my good friend Tyler, his sister Addyson, Ryan’s cousin Sierra, Ariel, Matthew, Cameron, Christian, Emmaly, her cousin Jacqueline, her brother and many more. Although the end of the trip was sad, the trip itself was amazing and i feel good that I helped Belizean patients through the week.

Jacqueline Duong
In all honesty, I really wanted this trip to be a life changing experience, but I would be an idealist if I said it was. There were so many things I felt like I wanted to do for the people that I couldn’t do because we were just limited. Even on the last days of the clinic when people had to wait so long for their medication, and I had to call them up just to say, “sorry we have no medication for you, please take this prescription to your local pharmacy and they’ll take care of you.” - it just didn’t feel right. We came to make a difference, to not only help people that needed help, but to inspire young children to follow their dreams. I felt like the little things meant a lot, but there were so many little things that we couldn’t provide for them. Even though I know it’s not my fault or anyone’s fault, it’s kind of heartbreaking. 
Even though I don’t feel like I’ve truly impacted anyone’s life, I am confident that I can make a difference. This trip has inspired me to go back home and work hard, so that every year I can go and try to change one life at a time. I realize that change isn’t easy and saving lives isn’t an instantaneous process, but it’s worth working towards. 
I wholeheartedly enjoyed this trip, not only because of the medical experience I have gained, but also the people I have met. All of the volunteers I have worked alongside were special in their own ways. They were all talented and unique and funny. Even though some of them weren’t THAT nice, I’m confident that I have made friendships that I will hold onto forever. 
​I can’t wait to go to more mission trips in the near future, whether it be to Belize or any other country, it was an experience that I 100 percent loved and am grateful I had the opportunity to be part of

Julia Tao
After getting ready today, everyone got on the truck to go to the main pier. This time, the boat was fully covered and the ride was not that bumpy. When we got there, everyone rested and recovered from the medical mission. I played with my little cousins, sang songs, and slept on the hammock. At 5, everyone left on the boat to go back to Placencia. When we arrived, we walked down boardwalk to Cozy Corner to eat dinner. After dinner, I went with my cousins to Tutti Frutti for ice cream and then took them back to their place across the lagoon. Afterwards, I went with some other students to the soccer field to play soccer (two locals joined in as well) then walked back to Sunset Pointe to pack, sleep, and wake up to pack again

Kenneth Yang
After the four days of hard work and effort, the last day was a time for relaxation for all of us. Most of us went deep sea fishing, hung out at Mrs. and Mr. Tao’s island that we were so privileged to stay for the day, or slept in the hammocks and regaining all the energy we spent throughout the week. Majority of the volunteers, including my friends and I, were leaving at 2 am in the morning. We decided to try and do an all nighter, fishing and hanging around with friends as it was our last time staying in Belize with everyone. Gabriela, Dean, Xitllalli, Julia, Ryan, and I ended up playing soccer with the local Belizeans. We decided to give a ball to them as a gift before we were off back to the US. When Dean, Ryan, and I arrived back to our rooms, most of us took a good nap and couldn’t stay up for the rest of the night. However, we each woke up to talk with some friends and walk around. To top the night off, Adam decided to fish and caught a huge snapper, something that ended the trip with a bang

Julia Tao
​The ABC group went zip lining after arriving in Belize from a red eye flight, but because to get to Belize City from Placencia takes 3 hours and required leaving at 2 in the morning, I did not go. When everyone arrived, we went to dinner at Cozy Corner in the back of a pickup truck. While we waited for our food, I passed out name tags with the help of my cousin Sierra. In order to give group members some time to work as a team, we played games such as telephone with medical phrases (Ex: Code blue, code blue, doctor please come to the emergency room. Your patient is having v-fib), charades acting out actions such as stroke and cardiac arrest, a team building activity where members answered questions about the other members (Ex: What is their favorite food?), and medical questions such as "What would you do if an autistic student had a meltdown?" Team Michael Wong came in first, my team came in second, Team Cassie Hom came in third, and Team Nate Cheng came in last. Because Team Nate Cheng lost, they all had to take seaweed shots (which were actually really tasty). After the games, we sang happy birthday for Dr. David Liu and had chocolate cake. Then, all the students went to the pier to watch/do some fishing and visit the lobster fest. Afterwards, everyone went to sleep.

​Videos of the team building medical games: 
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1F-8LmPK80mNJDtJcWL54wvOCQf4lsihg
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Matt Cheng
I left LAX to go to Belize on the plane, DL 659 and arrived at Belize 5:30 AM just in time for the great wave of heat and humidity that hit me like a tiger pouncing on its prey. I'm with the group called ABC which stands for Agape Belize Cure. In this group, I helped others in need who don't have the right medications and/or money for medical care. After a four-hour bus ride, I went over to Cozy Corner where we had an interbonding game in which we played a medical version of charades.

Kenneth Yang
The first day was a blast. A literal blast of heat. I traveled to Belize on flight DL 659 with other volunteers and friends. As soon as all of us exitted the airplane, a wave of heat blasted upon us. We joined with another group who took the American Airlines flight. Afterwards, all of us stuffed our luggages into the storage compartment of the bus and rode to a ziplining course. The beautiful view, the accelerating speed, and the windy breeze gave ziplining in Belize a whole different feeling compared to other locations. After ziplining, we went to our rooms and unpacked. We had to go immediately to a restaurant and group up in our medical teams to play a bonding game. 

​Julia Tao
We met at the AALRR office to go over details of the trip, as well as for students to present on topics for patient medical education. Each student became the "expert" on a specific topic and explained it to the rest of the group. These topic presentations will be very helpful in allowing students to be able to correctly educate patients in Belize on health living habits and illness recovery strategies!