Hattieville campers beautify village
While camps for children in Belize City and district towns are a staple of summer vacation life, kids in rural areas are often left out of such programmes. But not this time, as News 5’s Patrick Jones found out this morning.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Fifty-nine children ages five to fifteen from Hattieville Village are wrapping up ten days of instruction on valuable life skills.
Michelle Pineda, Parenting Coordinator, NOPCAN
“Actually, they learn to sew, they learn to paint and they learn to play different games. Also, we’re having an education trip tomorrow, which will conclude the two weeks summer camp. We’ll be going to Hill Bank in the Orange Walk District, you know one of Program for Belize’s reserves and hopeful that will be a learning experience also for them tomorrow.”
But more than just an exercise in occupying otherwise idle minds during the summer holidays, Pineda says the National Organization for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect uses activities like this camp to help young children better understand the world around them.
Michelle Pineda
“We decided that we wanted to do something positive for the community as well as for the school. And because the children are all from Hattieville, we decided we want to have them do the painting with the help of a professional. So we invited Mr. Terryl Godoy and he came in and spoke with the guys that did the painting and they along with him came up with the drawing that you see there on the wall.”
“That drawing is kind of depicting the history of Hattieville and also children staying in school. As part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, you know, one of them is a right to an education and so if you look at the painting you notice two children going towards a building, which is the school building. So that is kind of encouraging them to stay in school and to stay away from whatever would turn them away and, turn them away from drugs. So we’re just kind of depicting Hattieville children staying in school.”
Pineda says the camp was well received by both parents and children and that NOPCAN is already planning another one for later this summer in Sandhill. The Hattieville camp was made possible with the help of local businesses, which contributed supplies for the children to use. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
On Friday, forty-five of the children will go on a field trip to the Programme for Belize research station at Hill Bank in the Orange Walk District.
