The photograph is of Griffin, the Dangriga mission?s new half-Pomeranian watchdog. On her first night of duty, 27th of September, thieves broke into the Church and stole the amplifier from the PA system. She can be excused this time as she is only seven weeks old. In fact as a puppy she is liable to being stolen herself! Theft is a very serious problem in Dangriga for everyone. The police are reluctant to take reports of burglaries and investigation and conviction is extremely rare. Yet the prison is overcrowded. The only sure solution that the public have found to the wave of burglaries is to chain Rottweilers, German shepherds, pit bull terriers or bullmastiffs all around the building so that, lacking exercise and occupation, they bite anyone who comes in range except the person who feeds it. Now and again such dogs are poisoned, presumably by would be burglars but possibly by neighbours frustrated at their barking all night. With so many animals about the human population suffers a lot from biting insects and intestinal worms.
The Parish Centre over which Griffin is being trained to keep watch is now ? finished and heavily used. It is a refurbishment of an old wooden convent that needed a new roof and completely refitting. As well as the living and working quarters of the Claretian Missionaries and the volunteers, it houses the parish office, the office for our school manager, and the counselling suite of the HIV care service, called Claret Care. One of the two meeting rooms, the Jade Room, is now in use. To give you an idea of the diversity of usage of the Jade Room, it includes the chess club, sessions reflecting on the parish response to poverty and need, meetings with the head teachers, the committee of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Associates and Women Living with HIV Support Group. Many thanks to you who have contributed to the costs of this refurbishment or to the costs of the diverse projects that are undertaken. The Claretian Mission in Belize is only possible with your fund raising efforts. |
