He's climbed Victoria Peak and walked from the western border to the city, and for the past 2 months, 14 year old adventurer Rowan Garel has been preparing for his new adventure: diving the Blue Hole.
The courageous blind teenager will be the first blind Belizean to dive the blue hole and, of course, he's doing it for Charity. Rowan is raising awareness and funds for the BCVI summer camp which caters for visually impaired children from all over the country. Today we caught up with Rowan to see how excited he is as his big day draws nearer.
Rowan Garel - Diving for Charity
"I am excited for this actually because I've done the walk and the climb already and I was excited for those as well - all those were on land and this is in water and I'm really excited to see what the Blue Hole is like."
Monica Bodden
"Preparations for this - what did you have to do?"
Rowan Garel
"Well the BCVI just had to finalize who would come, who wouldn't come and who is diving, food and stuff like that. I finished the course for the 12th because we thought it would be the 14th but things didn't work out twice in a row which is disappointing but the point is we're going tomorrow so I'm really happy for that."
Monica Bodden
"Was the course challenging?"
Rowan Garel
"Yes, very challenging - it is dive theory and what they do is they have information that is read to you and then there's a quiz or several quizzes actually and then there is a knowledge review at the end of each section, there's six sections. Then there's an assessment so I did my course online with Asia and Carla from the BCVI - they also did theirs online like me and that's how the course works."
Monica Bodden
"What is the most challenging part for you?"
Rowan Garel
"Probably the exam because I almost had a heart attack multiple times."
Monica Bodden
"Tell me, how important is this for you? You guys are doing this as a fund raising event - it's something annual right? Can you just speak to us about the importance?"
Rowan Garel
"Ok sure, as I have said before - the BCVI is the only organization country wide that deals with blind or visually impaired people like myself and they provide services like - they actually go into people's houses and help us to be as independent as possible because that is what they are all about. They are about inclusive education and if it wasn't for the BCVI - a lot of blind people like myself just be shut up at home because people would be ashamed of having a disabled child out and the BCVI tries to integrate us with normal society so that's why it's so important."
Monica Bodden
"You guys are trying to raise $100,000 or more?"
Rowan Garel
"Yes that might sound like a lot but this is for the rehab program for the whole year and I mean things are free for us like laptops, brail, canes but they're not free for the BCVI and they give them to us for free because a lot of people are from the little villages in Belize and that's the service that the BCVI provides and it's crucial."
Rowan will be diving along with his father, members of the Belize Center for the Visually Impaired and a group of supporters.
