A Christmas debris wreath

Sabreena Daly is bringing in the Christmas spirit in this week’s look on the bright side and her meeting with Maureen Navarrete might change your view of all the debris left from hurricane Lisa. She is a fashion designer, interior designer, and miniature maker. But most unique about this creative designer is her choice to work with recycled materials. Sabreena found out how Maureen chose to use her latest materials to share some Christmas spirit in this week’s bright side.

Sabreena Daly, Reporting,
In the month of November in Belize, the drive home from the culture capital is the journey into the Christmas season. When the drumming stops the bells start jingling.  And after picking up the pieces from hurricane Lisa, we can all use some Christmas spirit. Debris is still littered across the country and in the Belize District, where majority of the impact was endured, what’s left are the memories in the remains of the storm. Maureen Navarrete is a resident over at Western Pines and today I was her assistant debris-collector.

Maureen Navarrete

Maureen Navarrete, Creative Designer
“This was from our soursop tree. Can you imagine about two months ago our soursop tree was so full. I remember making some ice cream and soursop juice. It hurt my heart when I saw the tree went down. I said, I have to use a part of that and keep it as memory.”

Maureen is a creative designer by profession. She’s known for using recycled materials to make creative pieces. Cardboard boxes come alive in her final pieces like themed backdrops and miniature settings. Why does she do it?
Maureen Navarrete
“One, it’s cheaper. But two, we want to save the planet, right? Every time I would go to a store, I would see a heaping of cardboard boxes outside. Everything looks like a mess. Where are those going? In the garbage, they might burn it. I said why not use this stuff? Why not create things out of, I would say garbage, because it’s cardboard, right? You could make so much things out of cardboard, you’d be surprised.”

And in the spirit of recycling, Maureen questioned what she could do with the debris left from the recent passing of hurricane Lisa. Her latest piece not only serves as a way to make use of fallen trees, but a memory capsule of the foliage that served us when they were living.

Maureen Navarrete
“I could recall being at the back door and I saw my neighbors pulling out trees, cutting down trees. Everything was in a mess and Christmas soon come. So I thought to myself, hmm, this is a lot of branches, I could make something out of it. My first thing I wanted to make was actually a wreath for the door so I said why not try some of the branches to see if its flexible enough to make a curve. So I took the pieces from a soursop branch, I started twisting it, and turning it and I actually made a wreath. There was actually a news that I saw with an elderly woman whose tree went down. I think it was a sapodilla tree. I wish I was there to make a wreath for her from that Sapodilla tree. When it came to my mind I said, imagine how she would have felt if she had gotten a piece of that tree. This will last, to me, forever because branches won’t disintegrate, right?”

Navarrete is selling these wreaths made of debris and shared with us that she plans to use part of the proceeds to give back to single mothers that were affected by the storm. Her early Christmas message is that we can find the good in everything.

Maureen Navarrete
“So, this is our final product of the wreath made from debris. I believe in hope and there is a positive in every bad situation. So as we had faced a storm, you can see that there is hope and light will shine. I’d like to say season’s greetings to everybody and this is my way of showing the bright side.”

Looking on the Bright Side, I’m Sabreena Daly.

If you would like to contact Maureen, she can be reached on her social media, Amaur on Facebook. And to the lady that lost her sapodilla tree, if the remains are available, she would still like to make that wreath.