Burglars hit Sacred Heart School in Dangriga
While the headlines have been dominated by violent crime recently, for the second time this week we are obliged to report that a thief or thieves have violated another educational institution. According to police, sometime between one on Monday afternoon and nine on Thursday morning, burglars broke into Sacred Heart Primary School in Dangriga Town. Principal Clara Sabal says once inside, the men helped themselves to a number of valuable electronic equipment including a television and VCR, two Dell computer monitors, an amplifier, two speakers and two boxes of books. Investigators say they are still trying to figure out how the perpetrators got into the building because there are no signs of forced entry.
As any school official will tell you, recovering from a break-in is challenging as efforts to replace stolen supplies and equipment are usually met by limited financial resources. But another impact of the crime is the feelings of violation and hopelessness felt by the staff and students. This morning ten year old Monique Cadle and her mother visited our studios to share her feelings about criminals who target schools.
Monique Cadle, 10 years old
“The title of this poem is ‘Please Don’t Break Into Our Schools’. [Recites poem] Please don’t break into our schools, it is the tool that we educate our young precious minds with. Although we are living in poverty, but I understand. Most of us have a family attending school. Pleas don’t break our doors, climb through our windows, have some conscience. Don’t take our computers, the money we fundraise so that we could assist the hundred of kids that need time, so that we could relax our minds with something in our stomachs, our brains could function much better. What is wrong? Why are you trying to deprive our young generation of the important in life: an education! You were also a kid, maybe you and your generation have been deprived as a kid. Please stop the cycle. Let this generation and your generation flourish our nation.”
Monique and her family join police in asking the public to refrain from buying stolen goods.
