Festival 2019 Join us!

CANCELED

Due to Unforeseen Circumstances

NEXT FESTIVAL: TBA

1. Mental Health Awareness - 2019

2. The Inspiration Center - 2017

3. Hurricane Earl Relief-2016

4. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit- 2015

5. St. Martin de Porres Toy Drive- 2013

Mental Health Awareness- 2019

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has found that suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in youth ages 10-24, and that 90% of those who commit suicide have an “underlying mental illness”.

According to the 2014 Regional Report of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), there is one suicide in the world every 40 seconds. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also identified "depression as the single largest contribution to global disability" and as the major contributor to suicide death, "which number close to 800,000 per year".

Statistics in Belize

As per the 2010-2015 Belize National Mental Health Policy:

"In 2005, 12,318 patients were seen at various psychiatric units throughout the country and in 2006 the number increased to 14,556. Of the total number of patients seen in 2005, 26.8 % were new patients; 73.2% were old or returning patients. Slightly more than one-fourth of all patients were seen for schizophrenia/psychotic disorder (26%), followed by mood disorders (19.5%), and “associated” conditions (11.6%). Nationwide, 6.8% of individuals were seen for relational problems and 6.7% for anxiety disorders. Documented patient visits for problems related to abuse (1.2%) and substance-induced disorders (3.5%) were relatively small, though anecdotal accounts of the devastating, long-term effects of these conditions on individuals and families are plentiful, and evidence of the confounding of each is well established (Kohn, et al., 2005). The number of children seen (2.6%), and older adults (0.7%) treated, reflects the growing identification of mental conditions among the youngest and oldest members of the population."

Unfortunately...

In 2018, Belize had its youngest victim of suicide, 7-year-old Antwone Marin. This incident is hard to grasp, until today, but it shows that children also experience depression and thoughts of suicide.

Because of the shortage in psychologists and psychiatrists in Belize, there is a great need for more health care professionals in the area of mental health to be trained, more cohesive mental health awareness, and an educational campaign to save more youth and children from being untreated.

The Inspiration Center- 2017

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The Inspiration Center is a first of its kind non-government organization headquartered in Belize City and began offering services in March 2014. It was founded by Mrs. Kim Simplis-Barrow, Belize’s Special Envoy for Women and Children and Global Ambassador for Special Olympics International, in collaboration with CARE-Belize, the Government of Belize and numerous donors and stakeholders.

The center provides physical and speech therapy, community based rehabilitation, basic medical services and social support for the holistic care of children with special needs (birth to 16 years) and their families.

Fortunately...

Thanks to sponsors and the continuous support of See & Taste Belize's partners (BTB, Beltraide and NICH), the second fundraising event, See & Taste Belize Festival 2017, was held on October 7, 2017 at the FIU Kovens Conference Center, raising $80,000 USD.

This Project:

Provided financial funding to The Inspiration Center in the amount of $160,000 BZD.
Benefitted the children that receive health and therapy services through The Center.
Attracted hundreds of Belizean living in the U.S. and exposed prospective foreign investors and visitors to Belize's tourism, trade and culture.

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Hurricane Earl Victim Relief - 2016

Hurricane Earl made landfall in Belize on August 4th, 2016 wreaking havoc and extensive damage to homes and villages.

This Project:

Launched a GoFundMe campaign the very same day Hurricane Earl made landfall in Belize, August 4th, 2016, asking Belizeans living in the U.S. to contribute with voluntary donations.
Reached 4,9K shares in social media, raising $5,370 USD in less than a month thanks to the kindness of many generous donors and See & Taste Belize, Inc.

The funds raised were donated to the Belize Red Cross which distributed the funds to the victims of Hurricane Earl.

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)-2015

“With this unit, we can help to give Belize’s children and babies

the best possible start in life."

- Mrs. Kim Simplis Barrow

Providing optimal care for the specific needs of critically ill pediatric and neonatal patients, best occurs in an intensive care unit specifically designed for that purpose.

Although the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) is the national referral hospital for the children in Belize, it did not have a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) nor a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to properly care for newborn and infants.

The unfortunate result was...

that, for the children who survived, they were struggling to recover from regular childhood illnesses hindering their development due to a lack of treatment options; children with cancer and other diseases, needing tertiary care had to be airlifted to neighboring countries for urgent medical treatment.

Fortunately...

thanks to the partnership with the Office of the Special Envoy of Belize, Belize Tourism Board (BTB), Flavors of Belize, Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) and the Florida International University’s (FIU) School of Hospitality Management and Tourism, See & Taste Belize, Inc. was able to donate $85,200 BZD toward the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

This Project:

Provided future opportunities for research to improve evidence-base decision making, and continuing improvement in quality of tertiary level care in Belize.
Expanded opportunities for specialized services provided at KHMH and gave rise to new and innovative specialized services for children in Belize.
Provided opportunities for training of healthcare workers nationally.
Provided opportunities for telehealth services nationally and internationally.