St. Mary’s summer camp opens Monday
Summertime can mean both joy and boredom for many Belizean children. Some are fortunate to go away for their vacation, while thousands of others are left behind, often with little to do. Thanks to St. Mary’s Church, however, for the past eight years Belize City kids have been engaging in organized activities and touring some of the country’s most appealing sites. This year’s camp, which will cost the church over thirty eight thousand dollars, will run from July sixth to the twenty-sixth. According to organizer Father Leroy Flowers the event promises to be bigger and better with a number of new activities added to the program.
Fr. Leroy Flowers, Organizer
“We have a very good team of volunteers who make certain that the children are well cared for. Secondly whenever we go on field trips, we encourage the parents to come along as well, so they can act as guardians for their children as well. If they can’t go, and we know that a number of them just can’t go, we take all the precautions necessary. We have first aid, we make certain that the children are not taken to areas that we have never been to, so that we don’t put the children at risk by any means and we try to make certain that when we go by bus that the drivers also work within the limits so that we can guarantee that at least we do all that is possible to guarantee the safety of the children who are committed to our charge.”
Q: “Father this year’s summer camp has been divided into two different sessions. Why has this been done?”
Fr. Leroy Flowers
“There are many reasons. One being that we feel that the bigger children also need to be given something creative to do as well as we need to begin to let our children understand life has responsibilities as well. So what we have decided to do is that we will have the two weeks regular program where they will go to different parts of the country and they will be involved in educational activities. And then after that, the bigger children between the ages of twelve and sixteen and only a certain amount because of the, of what we will be doing we will be involved in a work program, where they will be doing some community work including painting. That is one of the main areas.”
Flowers says because the camp caters to four hundred children on a first come basis, he advises parents to register as soon as possible at St. Mary’s Church. The camp, which gets underway on Monday, July sixth, costs twenty dollars per child. If parents are planning on sending more than one child, the fee for each additional camper is only ten dollars.
