7 News Belize

Rotary Renovates Children’s Home
posted (June 12, 2013)
The Dorothy Menzies Childcare Center has been in operation since 1975. It has provided a temporary safe and caring environment for children of all ages, races and backgrounds to seek refuge during difficult periods in their lives. But to sustain one of Belize's biggest orphanages, it takes a lot of resources – and that is why the Rotary Club of Belize has been engaged with the institution over the last 3 years to conduct a renovation project.



Maria Coye- President, Rotary Club of Belize
"Well as you know Rotary is a Humanitarian Organization - we do raise funds. So this time we are in the third phase of the refurbishing of the home . The first phase was moving the kitchen out of the building into the downstairs of where the activity center is - the second phase we dealt with separating the boys from the girls and we built bathrooms and we refurbished the bedrooms that they now sleep in. Now we're in the third phase that we're renovating the top floors for the girls, putting in bathrooms and making the space more pleasing to them so that the girls have their own space."





Virginia Echols- Member, Board of Governors
"The building started out with residents of 25 and now we have 60 children in the center. Now we have a washroom, we changed the downstairs into a boys dorm, the downstairs as the girls dorm. They have an area where they can sit and watch television and have this whole outside for recreation. The building to my right to the back is the building that is the learning center where they go and study and do homework, they have computers upstairs. Also downstairs has been turned into a kitchen and the kitchen is there where all the children can go and eat so the main building is residential and now the blessing today is the fact that we do have a place specific for the child care center. Not only for the children but the staff also so with this building here, our administrative, it will house a conference room - it has places for private sessions, for counseling so that the children are given a holistic rehabilitation."

This project is a part of the Rotary Club of Belize humanitarian agenda that is made possible through annual fundraising activities.


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