By Lynn Baskfield with Wendy Sharpe
This article was to give information about my 2022 birthday fundraiser. The names of the family members in public articles have been changed to protect their privacy.
A few years ago, I started a project called Pay it Forward, Women Helping Women. This year my greatest hope is that you can help support a struggling, young family in Belize that I "adopted" and have been supporting over the last few years.
I am thinking today of my friend and single mom Mara and her three precious children in Belize. It is impossible for me to describe in this short request the abject poverty they live in and yet Mara keeps moving forward, sending the children to school and providing as much food as possible.
Hurricane season starts in June in Belize and lasts through November. The stilts that hold up Mara’s little home are rotting. It is urgent that the stilts be replaced by new boards, steel supports and cement before the hurricane winds and rain pound on their structure. The possibility of their house giving way brings a terrible scenario to mind.
The supplies needed to replace the stilts are—34 pieces of wood, 40 lengths of steel, cement and other miscellaneous supplies -$675. The labor alone is $400 US. The total cost to ensure the safety of this little family is $1075 US.
The per capita income in 2020 was $3,970 -- in the beginning of Covid and the shutdown of the tourist industry. Most people worked in hospitality and, like Mara, have not been called back, even though her boss Jack says she was a very hardworking and honest employee.
I am asking you today to Pay it Forward to help ensure the safety of Mara and her children. Mara wants to become a person that is able to Pay It Forward in the future and I have confidence in her that this will happen. Thank you in advance for making my birthday a joyous one!
P.S. Since we are nearing what we need for the house supports, I have added to our list two more pressing needs: A fence around the yard to replace the one that was recently dismantled to accommodate a new dirt road. Without this fence, random people walk through the yard and look through the stuff she stores under the house supports. $400.
Also, the road took trees that sheltered the outdoor toilet which doesn't have a door. Dina would like to have a door installed for privacy. $200.
