DAVE AT CORNERSTONE

At the Cornerstone Foundation in San Ignacio, I was in charge of the design of all the materials necessary for the Caring for Children campaign. The goal of the campaign is to provide necessary items, such as food, toiletries, clothing, shoes, and school supplies, for children who have been infected with or affected by HIV and AIDS. After designing all the materials we needed on Microsoft Publisher, I needed to find price quotes for all of these items, and help to decide how to allocate $5,000, provided by UNICEF for the production costs, among all the materials we needed to purchase. The concept of creation care espoused in Cornerstone’s mission and practice can be described by the term “relational justice”. This term describes the battle for honesty and respect that Cornerstone strives to embody in daily life among the staff and volunteers, and also in the community. Whether dealing with cases of domestic abuse or a child being neglected in a classroom, Cornerstone demands fair treatment for people overlooked by others. This applies whether the perpetrator is the government or just another person in the community. So my work fit into this mission, as my goal was to provide for children who are typically stigmatized from the community, or otherwise are simply unable to have the opportunities other Belizean children do on account of HIV and AIDS. It could be necessary for these children to stay home from school in order to care for a parent, or they may be unable to eat because the income is going to toward care of another family member. Whatever the situation is, this program seeks to provide these children with all that they need to thrive and grow.