Well, for the past few weeks it's been missing, and today, Restore Belize explained that its because they've been work on another outreach program which has been shelved for months.

Today, the Public Outreach Officer told us about how the finally launched something they've been delaying since the inception of the organization called Restore Belize:

Marie Munoz – Public Outreach Officer, Restore Belize
"One of the first meetings we had was with the Primary School principals and they expressed to us that they had a serious concern on the reading standards of children moving through the Primary School system. So one of the first points that we ended up putting in our strategic plan was the intention to try to locate a literacy software that will be able to assist students in learning to read. We found a state of the art facility - it's a computer assisted solution and very expensive, a little bit pricey and we partnered with implementing agencies in the community - people who are already on the ground in different communities working who were teaching children to read. Maybe they hired teachers and we said we can assist to kind of insolate the school system because we know that teachers are already have burdened - so we wanted to do something to assist that process and the end goal is to keep children in school. The campaign is called 'Time to Read' and it means two things, investing the time to learn to read, you're guaranteed with the software that if you spend 40 hours that you will be able to move up a grade level and so if that investment is made then you will be able to learn to read. It doesn't matter if you're an adult, child, in school, out of school - now is the chance and it is all over the city so that you can find a location near you. All we ask that the people who participate in this program - to get the maximum benefit you have to come at least four times a week."

And as you saw in the interview, one of the locations where Restore Belize will implement this program is at the Water Walkers Boys and Girls Club on Albert Street.

Today, we asked the Director of the organization how this will assist them in reaching out to the community's children:

Julie Miguel - Director, Water Walkers International
"We've been opened in this community for the children in the neighborhood for exactly a year and I've been dealing with them from the different schools in the area forthe after school program. I've opened the facility for them to come and do homework and from my experience with them I realized that there's a major problem with the reading and when I heard about restore Belize launching this literacy program, it's actually a literacy and numeracy program as well - I was really excited. I applied for it and fortunately they chose Water Walkers so now it's finally been activated and I'm really excited to be a part of it. I'm committed to the children of this neighborhood and the children that belong to the Boys and Girls club."

The program starts next week Monday, and it will run for 4 weeks. The computer assisted learning solution is also located at UBAD Educational Foundation, YMCA, Eglah's Training Center, The Port Loyola Library, NARCIE, The Youth Hostel, and the Kolbe Foundation.

The program is made possible due to the assistance of Embassy of China and Taiwan and Atlantic Bank Limited.