Hand in Hand Ministries observes 5 years of service
We regularly spotlight the work of charity organizations that are helping to better the lives of Belizeans in ways both large and small. Tonight News Five’s Janelle Chanona profiles the work of one such group—Hand in Hand Ministries—that seeks little publicity but produces a major impact.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
In its five years of operation in Belize, one of Hand in Hand’s most fulfilling…and demanding projects…has been its Outreach Centre on Allenby Street.
Nadia Armstrong, Director, Hand in Hand Outreach Centre
“Basically it is a day care, a day treatment centre and a preschool for children who are infected and affected with HIV/AIDS.”
The initiative is the only such programme in the entire country. According to the centre’s director, Nadia Armstrong, the idea is to make sure the children, aged newborn to six, stay on their medication, see the doctor regularly and eat properly. The centre also provides support and education to their families, despite some very real obstacles.
Nadia Armstrong
“Because of the stigma and discrimination, it is very challenging to engage or recruit new clients because if they come around this centre, people will look at the and say I have HIV, that person has AIDS and that person has AIDS. This centre, yes, is to provide care for these children and their families but we need to love these people as normal human beings; they are still a person and we should continue to care for them to the best of our ability.”
Forty children and their families are currently accessing the services offered at the Outreach Centre but a new study by the United Nations Children’s Fund is seeking to determine exactly how many minors are affected by the disease. Most of Hand in Hand’s programmes focus on children.
The organisation supports the Catholic Diocese Child Development Centre in the St Martin’s area and the feeding program at the Lucky Strike Government School.
Anna Reyes, Principal, Lucky Strike Primary School
“It makes a big difference because the kids get a full meal while when the program wasn’t on for the beginning of the school year they didn’t get a meal so they would be a bit restless and stuff like that. A few of them live close to home but most children come on the bus everyday, we have two bus full that come, and they stay at school all day. Very few go home.”
Janelle Chanona
“So if they don’t get that meal, what do they eat?”
Anna Reyes
“Well they would bring a sandwich tortilla with a little bit of beans or butter from home, you know.”
Older beneficiaries of Hand in Hand include thirty university and high school students. As part of their scholarships, the recipients tutor the younger students and once a month, interact with HIV positive persons.
Roxanne Jones, University Scholarship Recipient
“It has been amazing, I believe some of the students have actually matured over the time, over the period that they have received the service and so the mindset is different and I definitely believe that that will contribute to good practices in their personal lives.”
“Just working in the prevention mode, you know, and just thinking about the ones who will say, I am going to be responsible, those are the reasons that I would think would keep us going in sustaining such a program.”
One of the first programs launched by Hand in Hand was “Building for Change”. Through the initiative, basic housing is provided to the poor, HIV positive persons, the disabled and the elderly. But according to Director of Special Programmes Bernard Panton, the idea is to build homes, not houses.
Bernard Panton, Director, Special Programmes, Hand in Hand
“Assisting them in parenting, in self-esteem, employability, hygiene and that kind of thing and we have these sessions two times a month for about four months at any given time.”
“Through this programme, they get to work for themselves; we empower them to go on and better themselves and then better help other people. So I think it’s something I feel great about and I really like working with people, it’s a part of my history.”
And according to tamales vendor Vincent Burgess, Hand in Hand has changed his outlook on life.
Vincent Burgess, Tamales Vendor
“Like a cloudy day and then the sun burst out it seems like a joyful day. It’s the same thing moving from old to new.”
“Sometimes you working so hard and you know in Belize it’s very expensive right now in everything and these little dollars have to stretch a long way but when you know especially a house, when you see a house and you get one yourself and you didn’t have to put anything down, eh, it’s like Christmas comes, double.”
Hand in Hand describes itself as an international faith based service organization providing life essentials to poorest of the poor; giving them dignity for today, hope for tomorrow.
Mark Thessing, Director, International Programmes, Hand in Hand
“When you ask me who we are though I say Hand in Hand is all about relationships, we are all about changing one family, one person, one house, one community at a time and Hand in Hand really looks at the cross spectrum of needs when we go into an area.”
Implementing the Belize programmes, as well as Hand in Hand’s other international projects is Mark Thessing. After five years in the country, Thessing is proud of the organisation’s accomplishments.
Mark Thessing
“And just kind of build on it, you know, just kind of do what we do everyday and follow that, our passion and follow our faith which calls us to do what we do at Hand in Hand but just seeing the growth over time has been amazing for all us to be a witness to and to be involved in.”
“We find a lot of people in their rush of daily life, it takes you from work in the morning, you go back, you go home, you don’t really see certain areas of the city where poverty is really affecting certain areas and we expose people to that and I think that people really can see the change that we are making and do something about it because we have the ability in Belize to really make a strong impact, if we really focus, if we really concentrate our efforts and we communicate in a way that we really want to have a greater impact we can do it and we are seeing that happen.”
Hand in Hand is hoping to expand its services countrywide but that will take more volunteers and more money. Every year the organization holds a fundraiser to support its initiatives. This year’s event is a concert featuring Belizean born musician and composer Errollyn Wallen.
Mark Thessing
“Not a lot of people know who she is so she’s like Belize’s secret and so for us it’s nice to bring her here to help the awareness of Hand in Hand in fundraising but also promote her work.”
While in Belize, Wallen will tour Hand in Hand’s projects and participate in a creative music session with budding artists on Thursday afternoon at the Bliss. Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
The Hand in Hand Benefit Concert will take place at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts this Saturday night at seven. Premiere tickets are sixty dollars while general seating is twenty-five. For more information on the event or to find out how you can support Hand in Hand, please visit them at 144 North Front Street or call 227-6273.
