It serves one of the largest communities in the city and the Catholic Diocesan Child Development Center located on Oleander Street in the Lake Independence Area will now be able to serve more and serve them better with a new building. We found out more.
Alfonso Noble Reporting,
It cost $169,749 funded by the Caribbean Development Bank, the Social Investment Fund with an additional $6,250 dollars from the community and the Hands in Hands Ministries. And the 1,480 square foot extension to the Catholic Diocesan Child Development center is a welcome addition to the existing building for both staff and children who will both now have use of the building with a lot more space.
"This addition is very important because our children never had a dining room before. We always to eat either in the classroom or outside. So now we have a dining room here and we have a kitchen, we always wanted the kitchen right next to the dining room so that the children can just be served right over instead of having to walk around or go out of the way. Also too I needed a office space, I was kind of cramped in my first office, if you were before, and we needed more space for our daycare because my old office space has been utilized for the daycare and presently behind me here we have the daycare, its expanded and we have a entertainment area for them and a sleeping area and this extension helped us to alleviate the clamor up that we had. All the staff, we are all ecstatic right now because we have seen the fruition of the dream that we had."
And while Smith is appreciative, Hugh O'Brien Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of National Development says this kind of input is priority for his ministry.
Hugh O'Brien, CEO - National Development
"There is an exploding population of young people in Belize, South Stann Creek for example has a massive increase in population and as the country grows and young people increase in the numbers, there is a dire need for more facilities, better quality teacher, better health centers, and quality services to be delivered to our people so the Ministry of National Development plays a key role in trying to ensure that there are resources available, either from grant sources, known sources, as well as directly from taxpayers money through the government of Belize. This investment is only one of the kind of investment that the Social Investment Fund is implementing throughout the country. Actually to a larger extent, there is about three classes of investments being made, largely in educational facilities, secondly in water systems, and thirdly in health centers. There is a fourth component that is building up strength now as we speak and that is promoting social development and entrepreneurial skills."
And now with this investment, proof is there that what O'Brien says is being put into practice, and the use of it has never been more evident.
The day care section of the CDCDC is now able to accommodate 50 children and the pre school can accommodate 40 children in morning and afternoon sessions.
