Government Unveils Plans for Stella Maris Rehabilitation

There is a long-awaited relief and renewed hope tonight for the students and teachers of Stella Maris School. After years of lobbying and temporary fixes, the government has officially unveiled a sweeping rehabilitation plan that will completely transform Belize’s only dedicated institution for children with special needs. Shane Williams has this story.

 

Shane Williams, Reporting

From fully certified facilities for people with disabilities to new therapy rooms, upgraded life-skills workspaces and a modern playground, this multimillion-dollar project promises to finally deliver the safe, accessible and dignified learning environment Belize’s most vulnerable and often overlooked students deserve. The Director of the Project Execution Unit for Stella Maris Rehabilitation Project is Ingrid Acosta. She says the goal of the project is to uplift the very spirit of the institution.

 

Ingrid Acosta, Senior Program Coordinator, Ministry of Education

“Most of the works will happen in the administrative and the life skills teaching center of this school. For the administrative building it, the ramp is essential focus, but we also have upgrades to the administrative offices and the bathrooms. We are ensuring that they have ADA compliant stalls for the wheelchair bound students. And then in terms of the Life Skills Learning Center, we are bringing in an occupational and physical therapy room for the students. In addition to upgrading the kitchen, as you may know, Stella Maris students prepare snacks and juices and baked goods for sale. So their kitchen is being upgraded to provide more conducive work spaces for those programs as well as putting in a laundry room to teach them laundering services. We also – to support the school’s endeavor in providing a livelihood for the students, we are including a snack shop that will be accessible from the street side where the students can sell their products. So we’re really excited about supporting those programs here at Stella Maris.”

 

Beyond rehabilitating the building, the project includes major upgrades to the fences and compound to improve accessibility for students with disabilities. Drainage will be enhanced, sidewalks extended, and a brand-new playground built to meet American with Disabilities Act standards. But with construction now fast-tracked for completion by September, the Stella Maris community is adapting to life in a temporary home.

 

Doreth Pascasio Griffith, Principal, Stella Maris

“Right now, currently we are at the University of Belize, which is on the University Drive. We have one hundred and thirty-two students. We have one hundred and two males and we have thirty females. We know that with change, it’s new to the students, but with my hardworking and dedicated staff, and not only my staff but us along with my parents and my general manager, Mrs. Melissa Andrade, we make it happen. And the kids are, they’re well at the institution. They are happy. They’re doing their literacy; they’re doing their numeracy, and they’re established at the university right now. I must say, with the grace of God, everything is going well.”

 

Stella Maris School has long been a safe haven for children and young adults with disabilities, but for years its facilities have fallen short of meeting accessibility standards. The project is deeply personal to Minister of Education Francis Fonseca, whose father was visually impaired. He says this project aims to give the students the tools they need to live independent, dignified lives.”

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“Stella Maris holds a very special place in my heart. It’s an institution where we protect and uplift some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Young people, young adults who are differently abled. For a very long time, we have felt that the facilities are inadequate. They do not provide accessibility. They do not meet many of the standards required for persons with disabilities. So it’s something we’ve been working on for a number of years and I’m very happy that with the support of the Caribbean Development Bank and the support of our cabinet and government that we were able to get this project included in our Belize Education Sector Reform Project two. So it’s a fantastic opportunity for us to meaningfully invest in the upliftment of these young people for us. Stella Morris is about inclusion, but it’s also about ensuring that these young people have an opportunity to lead meaningful, productive, dignified lives and independent lives, equipping them with tools and skills they need, life skills that they need to provide for themselves so that they do not have to depend be at the mercy of the world and the society.”

The Stella Marris rehabilitation has been long overdue and took years of lobbying to get approved. The initial proposal was for around eight hundred thousand dollars in upgrades, but the Ministry of Education rallied relentlessly for the Caribbean Development Bank to support a more comprehensive project. In just eight months, one hundred and thirty-two students and more than forty teachers and staff will return to a campus transformed by three million dollars in upgrades.

 

Doreth Pascasio Griffith

“I’m actually excited about everything with the new roof, with the electrical, with the new dining area, the new ramps that will be in place, the new bathroom that will be in place. I’m excited for it all, but mostly I’m excited because my students deserve this new renovation of Stela Maris School. All of this is for them.”

 

Shane Williams for News Five.