FirstCaribbean honours unsung hero
This afternoon, Belize’s candidate in the annual Unsung Heroes competition sponsored by FirstCaribbean International Bank was officially introduced to the public. She is sixty-year-old Margaret Juan, a nurse who has worked at the Good Shepard Clinic in Succotz Village for the past twenty years. Juan was selected from a group of fifteen nominees in recognition of her tireless efforts to establish a medical clinic which provides affordable health care to the sick, pre and post natal care to women, and serves as a day care facility for the elderly and a shelter for battered and abused women. The Good Shepard Clinic receives no financing from the Government of Belize but has managed to survive through Juan’s dedicated fundraising efforts and a flat fee of eight dollars charged to each patient. During brief ceremonies today, Juan was presented with a plaque, various gifts and a check for twelve thousand Belize dollars. Juan says the funds will be invested in the clinic.
Nurse Margaret Juan, Unsung Hero
?I?m very grateful and I assure you all that the money will be used very wisely. I have many plans and it will all be used in the service of the clinic and the people who come, not only from San Jose Succotz but from towns and villages throughout the villages and all throughout the area. Also I would like to thank one of my patients who submitted my name into this competition. Thank you and God bless you Rhondine. I would like to thank too my children and my husband; who on many occasions have waited way past supper time because mommy was late coming home. And also my husband because many times I have crept out of bed in the middle of the night and he would wake and find me not there. It was not to do anything naughty but always to attend to somebody who needed help.?
?It?s thirty-seven years since I came to Belize. I was very, very shy but all my life, I wanted to be a nurse and I wanted to take care of people who otherwise could not go to a big hospital. And for thirty-seven years, I?ve been taking care of sick people here in Belize from Sarteneja down to Crique Sarco. But for the past twenty years, I have been working in a little village in San Jose Succotz.?
Irene Hernandez, Local Coordinator
?We have submitted her bio and her profile to the regional committee. They will meet on October twenty-fifth and by that time they will decide who the regional winner will be. As was stated in the speeches, there will be twelve other countries participating. So it will be a tough competition. But we are hoping that she will come out on top.?
Janelle Chanona
If she wins what does she gets?
Irene Hernandez
?Regional winner gets an additional seven thousand,five hundred US dollars or fifteen thousand Belize dollars towards her cause, as well as regional recognition.?
Juan was selected by a local committee that included Velda Aguet of the Council of Voluntary Social Services, Florence Dillett, past Unsung Hero reciepient for her work with Youth Enhancement Services and teacher and sports commentator Ruben Morales Iglesias, as well as five FirstCaribbean employees.
