Disability Week: Designer, Editor and DJ Jaelen Pacheco Asks Belizeans to Look Beyond the Differences
National Disability Awareness Week is being celebrated under the theme, “Inclusion, Am I In Your Village? Tonight, we bring you the story of twenty-four year old Jaelen Pacheco of San Ignacio Town. Jaelen and his twin brother Jaren were both diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy at birth. Jaelen is a graphic designer, a video editor and a DJ. News Five’s Paul Lopez spoke with Jaelen and his family via zoom today to about their challenge and their triumphs.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Jaelen Pacheco lives in San Ignacio with his twin brother Jaren and their mother. The twins were born with a physical condition that means they need to use wheelchairs. Today we reached out to Jaelen to talk to him about his love for music.
Jaelen Pacheco
Jaelen Pacheco, DJ
“I just like see myself like other people, video and stuff. I wanted to try it so. I use to DJ pan my laptop the first time, with a program called virtual DJ. I just try to put my own and teach myself to use it. Then, afterwards like, I moved to deh big controller’s weh normal DJ’s use. Then I use to learn it pan my own and see other people do it.”
Jaelen began DJ-ing in 2016. He has been on the radio displaying his skills and in 2019, he entered the Belikin Belize DJ competition. He came in third place among serious competition in his district.
Jaelen Pacheco
“Shyne was offering me to come in as a guest, but I decided to come in as a competitor to show that a disabled person can do it different ways.”
Paul Lopez
“Now, definitely you did not come in third because of your disability. You came in third because of your skills.”
Jaelen Pacheco
“Well the knowledge of the music weh I done kind a know, the blending and stuff, I have a background to it.”
Half way through the interview, Jaelen ‘s mother Guadeloupe Pacheco joined the conversation.
Guadeloupe Pacheco
Guadeloupe Pacheco, Mother
“I push him a lot so that he can go to Sixth Form and finish high school so that he can help himself when something happen to me, he can help himself in some way.”
Ms. Pacheco is a single mother. She has been caring for her two sons all their lives, which has meant sacrificing a stable job and income to look after boys.
Guadeloupe Pacheco
“Right now with the pandemic, groceries everything sky high. I am not working right now because I have my other son who he can’t be alone because he suffer with like, from since he started Sixth Form he suffered with some seizures and pressure of school. He couldn’t continue and I can’t leave him alone so I can’t work. So, my families and brothers and sisters will help me. Now, their pay cut short, so I get short.”
Jaren later rolled up in his wheel chair from behind his mother, making the interview a family affair.
Paul Lopez
“Is that his brother in the back there trying to get into the shot?”
Guadeloupe Pacheco
“Yeah.”
Paul Lopez
“What’s his name?”
Guadeloupe Pacheco
“He is Jaren.”
Paul Lopez
“Hi Jaren, I see you in the back there, what’s up buddy ?”
The boys seem carefree, but the hills of San Ignacio and a lack of adequate infrastructure that caters to the disabled people across the town makes moving around challenging for the boys.
Jaelen Pacheco
“For me this wheel chair nuh stop me from what I do. I just push myself self harder than others to move around, like around the campus and the city, or the town, whatever.”
Guadeloupe Pacheco
“It is a lot of challenge, especially here in Cayo cause we have a lot of hills, and then we have to push in these regular chairs, and it is very tiring.”
Through community support, the twin brothers have been able to successfully complete high school, but Jaelen’s mother decided to withdraw him from Sixth Form due to risks associated with COVID 19. But, when it is safe enough, Jaelen hopes to return to school to finish his IT studies. In the short term, Guadeloupe’s only Christmas wish is to have her family together.
Guadeloupe Pacheco
“All I want is for us to be together with health. Like how my mom uses to say, with health and us together is all that we need. It doesn’t need to be a fancy food or anything, but once we are together with health.”
While, Jaelen’s message to the world this season is to show love to people who are disabled.
Jaelen Pacheco
“I just like to tell people, nuh look pan we different, like other people. Just come to us like normal people, show love then.”
Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.
