 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Bars on its five windows separate children from the unwanted homeless, yet also make it less of a home for the 13 unwanted youngsters who live there.
The inner walls are devoid of paintings or even stray crayon marks. An unusable freezer sits unnoticed in the kitchen. The children's beds are actually thin mattresses that sit on floors so infested by rats that you can actually hear the rodents scream
"It's like a prison and I don't know when I'm going to get out," said Leonard, an 11-year-old tenant.
Located on the second level of a two-story office building, Marla's House of Hope was the brainchild of Dr. Marla Berry Holder, for years one of Belize's most highly respected farming philanthropists.
However, two months before the government-funded shelter's March 13, 1998 opening, Holder died while unsuccessfully trying to save 8-year-old Adir August from drowning in the Pribacion River. With dollars already in place, the safe-haven for physically and sexually abused kids took in its first inhabitants.
For a short time, money was no problem. Grants and donations kept the children clothed, fed and in a loving environment far removed from the drugs, alcohol and rape that had dominated their previous lives. But after a while, without Holder's friendships with wealthy financiers, as well as less-than-promised support from the Belizean government, the kids were living without air conditioning, hot water and other essentials.
"I'm trying to buy raincoats one a week for them," said 29-year-old Candy Lizama, the 'Mom' at Marla's House of Hope since Day one. "I can't afford to buy them all at once."
Now, boys and girls ranging from the ages of one to 15, live in the shelter. Lizama and the house cook prepare food, but for the most part, the children take care of and entertain themselves. Some toys of choice: Diana, 4, plays with her tennis shoes and gets violent toward anyone that threatens them; and Isaac, 6, creates makeshift cars out of bottlecaps and runs them up and down the walls with his own humming noises providing the engine sounds.
"We used to have more toys and games for them to play with," said Lizama, while pointing to Life and Twister boxes which are without most of their pieces. "Now, with the money not really coming in anymore, whatever we get goes toward food.
"That's our biggest concern."
Yet, even with the less-than-ideal living conditions, none of the children would have anywhere to go if it weren't for Marla's House of Hope.
"When I lived at home, I would go to school and be so hungry," said Shannia, 9, the middle of three siblings that were sexually abused by their father. "They wouldn't give me money or food to use at break. Here, if we don't have enough money, we still get crackers or a biscuit."
"So, it's better here."
-- Lee Ferinden