G.O.B. gives land for special education centre

Have you ever imagined what your life would be like raising a child with a disability? Where would you get information, or support? Well up to now, the one hundred and sixty members of the Parents Association for Children with Special Needs had to try and share their experience and knowledge as best they could. Today, they are one step closer to establishing a central location for their work. Jacqueline Woods reports.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Unless you are a parent with a special needs child, you probably do not know how challenging it can be to try and have your daughter or son live as normal a life as possible, especially when there are few resources to help make it happen. Today, the Parents Association for Children with Special Needs received a much needed gift from the government of Belize…a plot of land in Belize City.

Hector Romero, President, P.A.C.S.N.
?The land will be our main resource centre where parents can come in and learn more about their child?s disability, how they can cope with their child, cater for them, and also we will be using the building to teach our children.?

Johnny Briceño, Minister of Natural Resources
?We always meet requests from all sorts of organisations, you meet the requests and then after that you don?t hear from them, so for us here at the ministry it was very important for us to ensure that this is a group that is committed. And you feel the commitment because its parents of these children that are heading this association.?

P.A.C.S.N. says many children who are sent to special education institutions like Stella Maris School could be integrated into the regular school system. Minister of Education Francis Fonseca, says his Ministry remains committed to seeing special needs children are not left out because of their disabilities. However, he admits it?s no easy task.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
?Obviously they require a lot of additional support that is not readily available in Belize. They require people who are trained to provide that support to them, they require specific resource materials that are not readily available in Belize, so we concede that upfront. But at the same time I think we have to be creative and through the Special Education Unit at the Ministry of Education that is exactly what we are trying to do.?

Jacqueline Woods for News Five

The Parents Association for Children with Special Needs has already received their first boost from another voluntary organisation, the International Women’s Club, which has raised twenty thousand dollars to put towards the cost of the resource centre?s construction.