A Diaspora Donation

Two months after the devastation hurricane Lisa, community efforts to assist those that were affected are still underway. One such example is Nazarene High School; they recently distributed supplies that were sent to them by Belizean women in the Diaspora.  Those items were shared with students who were affected by the category one storm. Sabreena Daly took a visit to the institution to learn more about the overseas assistance.

Sabreena Daly, Reporting

Nazarene High School recently received a shipment of supplies to be distributed to needy students who were affected by Hurricane Lisa. The initiative comes two months after the country experienced a category one storm that damaged various structures, including schools and homes. Community Outreach Coordinator of the high school, Danessa Castro-Garcia, told us more.

Denessa Castro-Garcia

Denessa Castro-Garcia, Community Outreach Coordinator, Nazarene High School

“We were doing relief after Hurricane Lisa, community outreach program where we ask our kids to where we asked our kids to bring in donations for thanksgiving, and the Sisters from the Diaspora, they heard of our initiative and they decided to reach out to one of our teachers to help along with us. However what they were sending got delayed and it came in long after. We still went ahead with our community relief and then another in December as well but now, we just thought that we would go ahead with it and this is what came about.”

The shipment was sent by Belizean women in the Diaspora who identify themselves as “Sistas of Belize”. Fifteen gift baskets were prepared by volunteer students who then divided them to be distributed to neighboring schools.

Denessa Castro-Garcia

“It’s important for us as a school to teach our students to give back. What we want is that when they leave here, these are going to be our entrepreneurs and leaders in our community, in the nation, and we want to continuously be a nation that never forgets about the needs of others.”

Avery Young

Avery Young, Head Boy, Nazarene High School

“Me and several other classmates, we got news that a shipment came in with some helpful goods that we could distribute to our neighboring schools so we packaged it and made it look nice and family. We included everything that we believed would be helpful and useful to other people.”

Ciaran Whitelaw

Ciaran Whitelaw, Student, Nazarene High School

“I don’t know anyone personally but it means a lot to me that I can know that I helped someone in need, doing something good and being a good person in my country.”

Avery Young

“It’s awesome to know that I can help other people like myself. Personally, I wasn’t to a certain extent impacted, my house was fine and everything was intact. But I know a couple people that were severely impacted and it’s heartbreaking to know that but it’s okay now, since we have these goods that we can give back and try to make the situation better.”

Buttonwood Bay Nazarene School, a sister institution, was first on the list of recipients to receive the much needed supplies.

Avril Arthurs

Avril Arthurs, Vice Principal, Buttonwood Bay Nazarene Primary School

“Looking at the physical appearance of the school, we didn’t have a lot of damage, however, we have a lot of families that were affected by the hurricane and some of these families tend to be from the lower classes. They are the ones that tend to suffer more and keeping in mind that they were already struggling due to the Covid pandemic, the hurricane just brought more pressure on them. So, for them receiving these baskets, it helps to alleviate some of the stress.”

…and a good neighbor that also received a visit was Edward P. Yorke High School. Counselor Samson Jacobs described how appreciative they were to receive these items and what it means to a student body that is otherwise misrepresented.

Samson Jacobs

Samson Jacobs, Counselor, E. P. Yorke High School

“I think for the most part, E. P. Yorke was labeled as only the privileged students came to our school, but we realized that while they may be academically inclined, they really come from disenfranchised backgrounds. So, the support, the help from the Belizeans living abroad and Nazarene High School is much welcomed.”

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