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The office for Special Envoy for Women and Children and Global Ambassador for Special Olympics - First Lady Kim Simplis Barrow- launched the second annual Children's Art Calendar at the House of Culture this morning.

Even though Barrow couldn't be present since she is away undergoing breast cancer treatment in the United States, she requested that the event go on with her.

The children's art calendar - inspired by young Belizean Minds - features art work from 12 Belizean children with disabilities.

Judith Alpuche - CEO, Ministry of Human Development
"At this morning's event the launch of the inspiration calendar and agenda is an effort by the special envoys' office. The special envoy for women and children, Mrs. Kim Simplis Barrow."

"Mrs. Barrow as we know is out of the country dealing with health issues, but she felt very strongly that this event really must go on, this is the second time that this calendar is being launched and now the efforts has been expanded with inclusion of an agenda, and what it is it's really - it feathers the art work of children with different abilities, children who are clients of Care Belize, who are special Olympics athletes and one child that was approached independently, but they are all special needs children."

"It really is an attempt to foster understanding and tolerance, the theme for the calendar and agenda is "Peace" and the art work features the children's interpretation of what peace means to them so it is really an excellent insight into their own thinking into what they desire for Belize because a lot of that has themes of what they would like to see their society be like."

"It is a great way to foster understanding of this group of children for - there is sometimes very unfairly and unfortunately a lot of stigma and discrimination surrounding persons with disabilities, that persons with disabilities really experience in their daily life and this kind of event and the art work and efforts really helps us to see the potential all that these children has to offer and the fact that they have different abilities, different talents and that they are very much, they very much have the potential to be productive, active members of the society on a whole. We just need to really provide the kind of space and environment for that to happen."

The calendars are not being sold, but if you are interested in getting a copy, you can visit the office of the Special Envoy.

Channel 7

Children's Artwork now Inspirational Calendar

Children with special needs from all over the country converged at the House of Culture for the launch of the Inspiration Calendar that is themed appropriately to promote peace at Christmas time. That message was captured in the artwork painstakingly done by the children and selected by CARE Belize and Special Olympics. News Five's Delahnie Bain reports.

Delahnie Bain, Reporting

Inspiration for every month of the year; that's what you'll find in the 2012 calendar, which features artwork by children with disabilities from across Belize. It's an initiative spearheaded by the Special Envoy for Women and Children, Kim Simplis Barrow, who is currently in Miami receiving medical treatment. While she could not be at the launch of the Inspiration Calendar today, a message was delivered on her behalf by Program Coordinator, Kendra Griffith.

Kendra Griffith, Prog. Coordinator, Special Envoy for Women and Children

"I am thrilled to present you with the second edition of our Inspiration Calendar, featuring artwork from children with varied abilities. Last year's publication was a resounding success and a true inspiration to all who received a copy. Once again, my office collaborated with Special Olympics and Care-Belize, asking them to submit drawings and paintings from children they work with. Peace was chosen as the 2012 theme as it is something each of us want within our lives; peace within our hearts and amongst our fellow brothers and sisters. Our aim with this calendar is to highlight the abilities of persons with disabilities. I hope that like me, you will once again be moved by the creativity and exuberant spirit of these children."

Each drawing and painting in the calendar depicts the views of the young artists and what they envision for Belize. And with Peace being the theme, several pieces send a message to end violence.

UNICEF Country Representative, Christine Norton, who was a guest speaker at the launch, commended the project for providing a creative avenue for the children to express themselves.

Christine Norton, Country Representative, UNICEF

"All children have a voice and they need to have a voice and they need to have a chance for expression and we need to create a space and we need to take it seriously. So this is not just about a calendar or an agenda, this is really children in Belize speaking out and sharing their thoughts and sharing their vision. The art and the expression is an important piece and I think that all efforts that we make to try to make that happen on a more continuous basis, I think in the end, we're trying to do this, we're trying to create this world fit for children and a world fit for children really starts with children and that's why this is important."

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With the help of McNab Design Limited, which produces the calendar, a 2012 agenda was also launched this year to raise funds that will be contributed to the construction of an Inspiration Center.

Tanya McNab, Designer/Director, McNab Design Ltd.

"For the first time this year, we embarked on our new agenda project, which we sold to local business and government offices throughout Belize. We got an overwhelming amount of support and Dots Per Inch committed fifty percent of the proceeds, which we are proud to say is twenty-eight thousand dollars. [applause�]. This twenty-eight thousand dollars will go to the special envoy to facilitate the establishment of the Inspiration Center, which is a multipurpose center that will provide day care, therapy and art classes for children."

Judith Alpuche, C.E.O., Ministry of Human Development

"This is another one of Mrs. Barrow's projects and the Inspiration Center is intended as a reverse inclusion center, meaning that it is a center that will be set up to cater for children with disabilities, to provide offices and all sorts of rehabilitation services-offices for CARE Belize and other partners and rehabilitations services and programs for children with disabilities, but will also be inclusive of other children."

Each of the children received a copy of the calendar. Delahnie Bain for News Five.

While the calendars are not for sale, the agendas can be purchased from McNabb Design for forty-five dollars each.

Channel 5

2012 INSPIRATION CALENDAR PRESENTED

The 2012 Inspiration Calendar, showcasing art done by Belizean children with special needs, was launched this morning during a ceremony at the Belize City House of Culture. Kendra Griffith is the Program Coordinator at the office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children. She told Love News how the calendar was put together.

Kendra Griffith - Program Coordinator
"This calendar is actually the brainchild of Mrs. Kim Simplis Barrow, she's our Special Envoy for Women and Children and one of the duties under that title is really advocacy. This calendar is a means of advocacy for children with disabilities because what it does is to showcase their abilities and to let people be aware that whatever disability that you may have, you still have a lot of abilities and so we are just highlighting one aspect of the abilities that these children have and also to show the resiliency of these children. To produce this calendar we collaborated with Care Belize and Special Olympics and the children that are chosen are actually chosen through them because they are all clients that they work with. Last year we did it and so they tried to find different children to highlight and so they are the ones that find them and they bring the art to us and we take it to McNab Designs who actually puts the calendar together and prints it for us."

Griffith says that work on the calendar started during the summer months. Since violence was a major concern this year, the theme of the 2012 calendar is PEACE. Also launched today was the 2012 Agenda which was realized through a partnering with the business community.

Kendra Griffith - Program Coordinator
"We thought, Mrs. Barrow thought maybe we can do something that we can raise some funds that we can sell for this Inspiration Center Project which will offer therapies for persons living with disabilities and so we once again approached McNab Designs and they came on board with it right away. We started looking into a possibility, approaching businesses and see if they would pre-order their agenda and so we had to start early as well because towards the end of the year a lot of people would have already out in their orders. We got really good responses and as a result of that the proceeds of $28,000.00 was handed over today that will be put into the account of for the center because that center will cost approximately $3 billion, it is a lot of money to raise but we really feel that Belizeans themselves they want to contribute to something and this is one way they can contribute to the Inspiration Center becoming a reality."

A limited quantity of agendas is on sale at forty dollars each. If you're interested in obtaining a copy, you can contact the office of the Special Envoy at telephone number 223-1941 or 223-1942.

LOVEFM
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