Ladyville Highlights is the highlight of Sabreena’s On the Bright Side.
Ladyville Highlights has earned a name for itself as a social media movement that aims to help as many Belizeans who are faced with economic hardships. Popular on Facebook for shining a light on everyday struggles, Albert Magdaleno and his wife are on a mission to change the lives of many in any possible way. Tonight, Sabreena Daly looks at Ladyville Highlights in this week’s On the Bright Side.
Dean Dawson
“He reach people near and far. I sih some things weh da man do. Da man gone way da Barranco gone gihweh thing.”
Melonie Frazer
“Da noh like I find he, he meet me cause I mihgwine sell some pint and ih stop me. Ih ask me how often I dih sell den deh, I tell ah from my piknieneh small I dih sell den deh. Da noh like I dih beg anybody or dih thief.”
Dean Dawson
Dean Dawson
“Imagine if dah man had a ministerial post. Ih do more than wehlatta even dih minister den do.”
Sabreena Daly, Reporting
Ladyville Highlights is a far cry from a name that some people would consider their saving grace. Since 2017, however, it has made its mark in the homes and hearts of many who find themselves in dire straits. Tonight, we take a closer look at the altruism of social media humanitarians. The creators of Ladyville Highlights wear no cape, nor do they have superpowers. In reality, a mailman and his wife are the driving force behind the far-reaching online activism. A normal day for Albert Magdaleno is spent doing data entry and selling stamps at the Belize Postal Service.
Albert Magdaleno
Albert Magdaleno, Ladyville Highlights
“It all started in December of 2017. And if you’re a person who believes in God, then you’ll understand how I do what I do. It is not of me. I don’t have the intelligence enough to come up with something like this because the way it works, it has to be God. I was at home on my phone scrolling through Facebook and everything was negative. You see people dih fight, everything just negative. And I just dih scroll and a voice just came to me. A literal soft-spoken voice came and said why don’t you open a Facebook page and call it Ladyville Highlights. You will feature all the poor people who are selling their powder bun, their johnny cake, their creole bread, their tamales. It said because you have the ability to help them get their stuff sell. Also, you will see how many people I will bless through you and you will also see how I will bless you. The only warning I got was don’t put politics in it, and the voice disappeared.”
That whispered epiphany gave birth to a legacy of charity that would positively impact communities across the country, before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We got a firsthand look at a day on the job for Albert Magdaleno. He carries out his assigned duties, but occasionally receives calls and goes out on site visits to meet the man behind the page for that one promise of hope…a Facebook post that could change their lives.
Dean Dawson
“He noh ask fo nothing! He do it outa ih good good heart. I wish they had more people like he round. This world woulda mih be wa betta place.”
Sharing stories of people in their most difficult moments is not for likes and share, for Albert these stories hit closer to home.
Albert Magdaleno
“I was in Los Angeles and I was struggling. I used to sell pint bottles, what you call recycles fi buy gas fi my car in LA, big America you know? Where everybody want deh, I mih di sell pint bottle. There were times I went days without eat. So, when I meet families weh noh have food, I remember weh that feel like.”
In fact, one such story was all too familiar.
Melonie Frazer
Melonie Frazer
“Da noh like I dih beg anybody or dih thief. Den deh same pint mek my pikniedeh finish school, through dehndeh same pint. He stop me and ihseh,em, if I want any help from ah and I seh no problem.Danoh like I dih beg anybody or dih thief. If you want help me, you could help me. I noh have no problem with that.”
Sabreena Daly
“How did he help you?”
Melonie Frazer
“Ih tell me ihmihwa get some help fo me and my piknie them and he is help me and my piknie them a lot.Thanks to dah man deh.”
The help came from supporters at home and abroad, gifting Melonie and her children with donations and money. Like the popular story of Cinderella, Melonie even got a day of pampering and self-care.
For the husband and wife team, this work is just the beginning.
Fiona Magdaleno, Ladyville Highlights
“To be very honest, I always teach my husband to dream big. And Ladyville highlights will move to another level. I don’t know how big; I don’t know how far, but I know and I feel that it will move to another level and there’s so many ideas that God puts in my head and I have shared some of it with him this morning. I won’t share it now because it is in the preliminary phase, but it will be bigger and it will move beyond just us. The idea was to help people all over the country but then we started getting calls from within the Caribbean. We have had a phone call from Honduras and we assisted the guy out there, he was a Belizean. I think he married to a Honduran. And so we did render assistance to them during their time of need. We also got a call from St Vincent of which the lady did get assistance and we got a call from Jamaica.”
Albert Magdaleno
“Right now, I know of a family in Jamaica that a Belizean family is helping. Took them from one position in their life, to another. When they called me, the husband and wife, they had nothing in their kitchen because they showed me. They said, “Mr. Albert”. Jamaican accent, “Nothing ah gwan; No groceries in the house. This is the last feed fi the baby.” I saw that and cold seed came cross and I said main, the Jamaicans are now reaching out to us for help. And I said, you know what, we gonna help them.”
Fiona Magdaleno
“What this program does also, it creates friendship because of some of the people that are assisted, some of the donors that assist these people, eventually they end up turning friends and it’s a long-lasting friendship after that.”
There are countless success stories, but for one person who got a second chance at life, Ladyville Highlights will always have a special place in her heart.
Sabreena
“What does Ladyville Highlights mean to you?”
Maria Jimenez
“Wa lot. Because they help people. They bring people fo mek they know you and thing. And like out here like weh part I deh right now, people see me and they da like “Oh this da miss maria, okay then miss Maria, you alright?” I dah like yes, I’m okay. So yes, I get fo know a lot of other people. That’s nice. They are nice people. Thanks to the people who help me. Who see the videos and thing. I always say never give up because life is short out here so never give up.”
Looking on the bright side, I’m Sabreena Daly
