Inspiration Center becoming a reality
Last year, CARE-Belize joined the Special Envoy for Women and Children on an ambitious initiative for the construction of an Inspiration Center. The facility is now a few months away from completion and the media and donors were invited to a viewing today in anticipation of Saturday’s telethon to raise funds needed to see it through. Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
The vision of a health center catering to the needs of children with disabilities in Belize first started as a concept…but after years of planning and months of construction, the Inspiration Center located at mile one and a half on the George Price Highway is finally becoming a reality. With construction still taking place, today the media and donors got a look at the progress of the center “Where Hope Lives.”
Kim Simplis Barrow, Special Envoy for Women and Children
Kim Simplis Barrow
“It’s important that the people of Belize know that when they donated last year for the inspiration telethon that their monies have been put to very, very good use and that so many children will be able to benefit from this center.”
Duane Moody
“Tell us about the progress that we are seeing here today.”
Kim Simplis Barrow
“Well as you can see, the building is almost ready. We are hoping that by September, we will be at least ready for an opening and operation-wise by December. We just did a walkthrough of the different therapy rooms at least on the first floor since the second floor is not yet available for viewing. It has come a long way and I must say that the contractor has worked very hard. He has worked with us to make sure that things progress smoothly.”
Evan Cowo
There is much need for therapy in Belize for children with disabilities and CARE-Belize and the Special Envoy are ecstatic about seeing this state of the art medical facility through to fruition.
Evan Cowo, Director, CARE-Belize
“Our children go to Chetumal to get these services and now I am so excited that in the very near future these services will be available here in our country. And what makes it more interesting is that this center is a model for the Caribbean region. This is an opportunity for children with disabilities to get their interventions as early as possible. Also the model provides an opportunity for other children to come and interact with these children with disabilities; to share ideas, play together and develop the whole social inclusion that we have been promoting over the past years. I picture myself seeing them playing—hydro therapy, physical therapy and so on. And engaging the parents who when they come here to the center, will be able to meet other parents and interact and exchange ideas.”
Kim Simplis Barrow
“We are looking at the different services: speech therapy, occupational therapy, hydro therapy—just all the different aspects—autism and so forth. So we still have a long way to go in terms of getting all the specialist and therapist involved and volunteers—we’ll need a lot of volunteers to get this place up and running, but it will happen; it will happen. This is part of taking care of our people; this is part of taking care of our most vulnerable people, the people with disabilities. So though it was hard initially, we’ve come a long, long way and I will forever be grateful to all Belizeans who help, participated, spread the word to help make this a reality. I am eternally grateful because this is really the people’s Inspiration Center; this is a Belizean Inspiration Center.”
The center is estimated at a cost of three million dollars; one million of which was raised in the first Inspiration Telethon back on June thirtieth, 2012. And this coming Saturday, June first, Simplis Barrow and CARE-Belize will attempt to do it once again…this time the target is half that amount.
Kim Simplis Barrow
“We had gotten two hundred and fifty thousand dollars from Taiwan which really helped us to start. But with the inspiration telethon on board and having raised a million dollars, that really helped us to reach this far. This year we are hoping to raise half a million dollars and we are hoping that that will go towards some of the equipment. It’s not all the money that we need. We need more money, so if we can raise a million dollars again, that would be good because the project will go on in terms of sustainability and keeping it going and so forth.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
Those rich people will always be using the poor to enriched themselves even more while the masses suffers…Will we ever hear how much money she really raised? we heard how much was pledged by ordinary Belizeans, we heard about the million that was pledge by Big Shot Booths, what about what was raised internationally? Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) needs to investigate the millions that are electronically transferred in the name of not for profits organizations!!!
What about the more than thirty six millions (+ $36,000,000) that was raised to build a cancer center for the poor unfortunate Belizeans children suffering from cancer?
Oh by the way do you want to tell me that more than a million is invested in that building??? There you go talk about bloated contracts, I wonder how some people sleeps, oh it probably comes naturally, as long as their bank accounts are fat the can really care less about who is hungry, who is home less, the suffering of the poor is seen by the rich as natural, they sees the suffering of the poor as necessary for the comfort of the rich!!!
I hope that the Center lives up to its promises, and the hopes of the good people who donated to it. Heaven knows we have too many needy children, and too little existing help for them.