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The students could hardly contain their excitement this morning at Holy Redeemer school as they anxiously waited for the ribbon to be cut, officially marking the completion of this new playground set that was donated to the school thanks to the Rotary club and its partners. They have built up to 3 playgrounds at other schools in the city, making Holy Redeemer their 4th. The president for the Rotary club Belize Sunrise told us that this project would not be possible without their international and local collaborators.

Dinesh Bhojwani, President Rotary Club Belize sunrise
"The Rotary Club Belize Sunrise has focused a lot of their projects on education, so whether it is our program where we build bathroom blocks for various schools throughout Belize City, one of the other initiatives is the playground so this is probably our fourth, maybe fifth playground. And this one comes as many of them have through hope missions in Canada and this one we have done in conjunction with the Rotary Club of Vegreville and the Interact Club of Vegreville and they are instrumental, phenomenal in putting this together if it wasn't for them. I would be amiss, if I didn't mention Cisco woods Who also is a very important part of this initiative as well in hosting these guys and storing some of the equipment in the meantime so this is part of that, other than rotary club Belize sunrise it's a much a larger project with a lot more players."

"So the interactors from Vergreville and the Rotarians from Vegreville and the individuals who come from hope mission and the members from our club the interactors from Belize high school there are some recipients of a scholarship that the rotary club of Belize does with Puma, the recipients of those have also participated I can tell you there is blood, sweat and some tears for sure literally. They have been working from since Thursday coming out here drawing out the plan where its all going to go the build started on Saturday and Saturday and Sunday we had all those individuals I mentioned they have been out here digging, taking stuff in wheel barrows and building that wood wall you see over there. Everyone was kind of outside of their comfort zones especially me I can tell you that im not a big push stuff, physical stuff guy but we did it and it shows this is a part of the commitment the club has the rotarians from Vergeville the interactions, that's the commitment to service above self and putting in the work to, I mean look at that these kids are having a great time and that's what it is really about."

For Mady Nichol, who represented the interact club from Vergeville she says this is her third time in Belize with the organizations and hopes to continue coming back to assist in the construction of these playgrounds

Mady Nichol, President, Interact Club, Vegreville
"Its very exciting we came out on Saturday morning and we worked all day we had so much help it was so great and through all the obstacles because it is a used playground, we conquered through it and its just very exciting to see now all the kids playing on it very rewarding and I think its very, I think as a group it's very inspiring to see what we can do as a club of 15 to 18 year olds."

School Vice President, Fidelia Cuellar says that while the playground is the main attraction of the donation they also received essential school supplies and sports equipment thanks to Rotary and its partners.

Fidelia Cuellar, VP, Upper Division, Holy Redeemer School
"Well we got some the first and most important thing is we finally got our playground we had been promised from the last time they gave one over in the other section that they would deliver on one and so today we are very happy to receive this donation because as you can see the children have been waiting and in addition to that the kindness of the Canadians they brought some sporting equipment some school surprise and delight for the children to share with the children."

"Well the playground is from the organisations that work with the rotary club as far as I know, yes."

"This section holds 344 students and the entire school is over 900 so over 900."

"We are over the moon because it is very vital for us to offer children a well rounded education and while the academia is something that we are known for we also pride ourselves on sports so this is a great opportunity for the children to express themselves and get stronger too and play."

Adaija Burke, Holy Redeemer Student
"I am excited about the monkey bars because I really love the climb and it's very fun."

"I am really grateful and I want to give a big thank you to everyone who made this happen for us and I really love it so much."