Jaden Foundation: July 2007

When I first arrived here in Belize, the Jaden Foundation was basically used to help send our local kids to school. As none of the kids living here at Banana Bank had ever gone to school, Simone started to raise money and has made very big changes in the kids' lives but getting their education started. The money was basically used to pay for the transportation to and from school as well as purchasing all the books for the kids.

My involvement in it was minimal other than to help Simone now and then and to keep track of the accounts. This past year I got a bit more involved by doing a bike race as a fundraiser for the foundation and raised approximately $10,000 Belize Dollars.

Also, when my friends and family come to visit I usually ask them to collect shoes, clothes and/or toys to bring down for the kids and when I go home to Canada I usually collect a bunch of stuff to bring back as well.

This past October when I was home, I set up a sort of 'pen pal' group with a class from Westview School in Prince Rupert, BC who has raised some money to buy school supplies for the upcoming year as well as sent letters and pictures to the kids here. This has been a great experience for both sets of kids, each learning about the different ways of life and also the similarities!

So I just wanted to post a few pictures from the last few years.

Karen