37 years ago Margaret Juan came to Belize from England to work as a nurse. Since then, she has contributed significantly to the country's healthcare, particularly in western Belize where she's set up a clinic in the village of San Jose Succutz. For the past 20 years she has been laboring there in complete devotion and almost total obscurity. Those years of good will and good work were rewarded today when she was formally recognized as the winner of the First Caribbean bank's unsung hero award for Belize:
Margaret Juan – Unsung Hero Winner
"I'm very nervous and agitated. I'm not used to a lot of fuss. No it's not really what I'm used to you know. It's a tremendous privilege. I just feel very nervous but grateful and happy and I have some very serious repairs that need doing at the clinic and also I have a young nurse who is a practical nurse. I was able to get some funds to send her for her practical nurse training now I'm hoping to send her to get her professional nurse training. And maybe she can come back and take over the clinic when I am no longer able to do it."
Steven Duncan – Head First Caribbean Bank in Belize
"The idea behind it is to try to recognize those individuals who do a lot of good work in our communities for nothing. I mean they don't do it really for any fame or recognition or certainly not for money. For us it is part of the commitment that First Caribbean made when it was first formed in 2002. That it would give back a portion of its profits to the communities in which it operates and this is one way in which we do it. It's not the only way but it is certainly one way in which we do it."
Margaret Juan
"It's a wonderful thing actually. I think it's a wonderful thing because it gives you courage to carry on and those people who sometimes feel unappreciated they can then feel somebody cares and then there will be some funding to help them carry on with their project."
Nurse Juan will go on to the regional unsung heroes competition where she will go up against 13 other persons from countries where the bank presently offers services.