Four Anglican schools yesterday received what are called back to school kits from the Yerwood Center in the USA. The link between Connecticut and Belize was forged by Yerwood founder, Deborah Sewell whose roots go right back to the Anglican Church of Belize. She linked with Harry Pilgrim of the Anglican Men's Fellowship and the match was made. The kits include all kinds of books and school bags. They were handed over to four principals yesterday and they are to assist underprivileged children in those schools. And while it's never good to watch a gift horse too closely, we asked Sewell if it will work within the existing curriculum.
Deborah Sewell,
"We really believe in focusing on life skills, everyday skills that people can use and how to integrate that in the classroom. So when we talk about excellence we always talk about helping children identify things that are not so hard to get their hands on, but things that are right before their eyes every single day and how to take those situations and make them into positive situations."
Jules Vasquez,
How will these books not undermine or destroy from their curriculum?
Deborah Sewell,
"Well these books are an enhancement to the curriculum so it helps them to look at, for example I was a horrible math student but looking at math in a different way helped me to learn algebra, to learn the subjects that were difficult for me. So what these books will do is enhance the existing curriculum."
Harry Pilgrim,
"We want to make it a partnership and a partnership means that there will be two sides to it. We believe that Belizeans have a lot to offer people in the United States. Kids in inner cities in the United States can benefit from a lot of the experiences that we here in Belize have and so it's not just that we are looking for hands out from the Yerwood Center. We feel that in a partnership, we are going to be able to give them a lot of things."
Bishop Phillip Wright,
"The Men's Fellowship quickly sees upon themselves the outreach element of the church and what we are seeing here now are some of the fruits of that effort. As I mentioned earlier, we were able to give $10,000 to the Red Cross, a lot of that came from the monies. So I would rather the public see all of this as part of our outreach."
A number of the bags and supplies were also donated to St. Paul's School in Corozal Town to assist those families who suffered losses from Hurricane Dean. The Yerwood Center is a not for profit organization headed by Ms. Deborah Sewell.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift