B.E.L., Hand in Hand Give New Home in Boom
A family from Burrell Boom was today gifted a house courtesy of the Building for Change program of the Hand in Hand Ministries in partnership with Belize Electricity Limited. News Five’s Duane Moody found out today that the donation changes the dynamics of the family and what needy families require in order to qualify for the program.
Duane Moody, Reporting
A single mother of two from the Buttercup area of Burrell Boom Village was today handed the keys to her new home courtesy of the Hand in Hand Ministries. It is a dream come true for the family because Pamela Reyes says that she will now be able to have both her daughters living with her since her eldest, a fourteen-year-old, was staying with her grandmother. After months of working with the organization, Reyes says she is excited about receiving a house.
Pamela Reyes
Pamela Reyes, New Homeowner
“It’s a very overwhelming feeling. I actually still don’t believe I actually own it. I want to say thanks to B.E.L. for the extra mile that they went for me; I didn’t expect all of this that I received and of course Hand in Hands who pushed for me and welcomed me into your family like I was there from the beginning. I wanted my two kids to grow up together that’s why I pushed more for this house and it feels good that I will have both of them under one roof. They can all bond together and we can all live as a happy family and push more for what we want together in our life.”
The donation came courtesy of Belize Electricity Limited which partnered with Hand in Hand to make the donation. Aside from the labor put into the construction of the house, the company also invested some twenty-two thousand dollars for the project, including basic furniture and installed a service entrance for Reyes to be able to safely connect to electricity supply.
Vonetta Burrell
Vonetta Burrell, Public Relations Manager, B.E.L.
“B.E.L. has a partnership with Hand in Hand Ministries that we’ve established six years ago. We decided to support Hand in Hands’ program, Building for Change, because it is right in line with our companies objective of supporting organizations and activities in our communities that contribute to the improvement of the quality of life. Any house that Hand in Hand builds in Belize, we will donate a service entrance under our connecting homes, improving lives program. So while we contributed this one, any house that they build also gets a service entrance from B.E.L.”
This is the three hundred and forty-seventh house for the Building for Change Program since its inception in 2003; and the twelfth since the beginning of 2018. Director Bernard Panton explains how the program has grown to build houses even outside of Belize City.
Bernard Panton
Bernard Panton, Director of Building for Change Program, Hand in Hand Ministries
“As we developed, we put in other mechanisms in the program that helped people to come into the program and actually own. We don’t charge for a house, but once you are a partner with us, you have to put your all into helping us to build for others, building for yourself, attending sessions. And so as the program grew, we have seen that the people we build for, we call partners; have been coming in for assistance. Unfortunately, our biggest challenge is helping the most needy because to get a house from us, you need to have land and the land has to be filled. But most of the people who really need a house, some of them don’t have land and if they do have land, it’s swamp. So Hand in hand doesn’t have the wherewithal to give a house and land and so on. So that’s a big challenge for us, but as people get to know our program, it has developed and people do know what they need to do and a lot of them prepare. Some have been waiting for years to get to the qualifying area and so it has grown very well.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
