The Cornerstone Foundation and the Scouts Association will be holding a candlelight vigil in memory of young Jasmine Lowe.
When: Saturday 9th June 2012
Where: In front of the San Ignacio Police Station
Time: Starting 7pm sharp
We need all to attend and support. Bring your candles and white t-shirts! Let’s pray for our country and children.
Jasmine Lowe
Jasmine was so bright that she was skipped a grade BUT dad decided she was too young. Instead he has been working with her in the family business and spending what is sure to become treasured time with his daughter. Read the following from Channel 5:
Jasmine Lowe – victim of a child predator
The average person sees a young, lanky and carefree child going about her business. She laughs and finds simple joys in the innocent things in life. She may still play with dolls or dream up a marriage to her prince charming. She may still watch cartoons or chat all day with her giggly friends about insignificant consequences. She probably says a prayer every night as she fades into a dream state, her mind anxious to relive the day of hanging out with her friends and enjoying simple pleasures.
The child predator sees the same thing, except he has an unquenchable thirst filled with lust for the child he sees every day. So powerful is the feeling, he begins to stalk her, he knows everything about her. He salivates with every laugher and with each movement of her body, his loin throbs. He transforms into an animal. He loses all sensibilities and is motivated on pure unadulterated aching lust. His fixation seals her destiny. She remains innocent to a sadistic plan that will cause her demise. Each day seeing her, the compulsion to rape and kill grows and he becomes less human. Initially he attempts to fight the monster within and tries to adjust to some semblance of humanity; but he enjoys the pleasure of stalking and ruining innocence too much. The other victims left in his path paints a scary story. He has no internal conscience of right or wrong. He sits and waits for a window of opportunity.
On June 4, 2012, the window of opportunity opened up when Jasmine was spotted alone heading to meet her mom. He probably befriended her in the past, or may be a family friend or a familiar face. She felt an element of safety to accept his generosity to take her to her mom. He was elated his plan was coming to fruition. He drives off with young innocent Jasmine into oblivion leaving behind a traumatized country frantically, desperately and prayerfully demanding her safe return. As night drew nearer, the father, family and friends feels a surreal panicked fear knowing Jasmine would never just run off.
Jasmine probably told her abductor he missed the turn. He pretends to have made a mistake or probably convinced her that he needed to do something else first. An instinctive fear probably builds in her as she knows something is wrong. He offers to calm her down and maybe even offer some treat to her. He drives her to a safe place. A place other victims have seen before. A place where he fulfills his despicable inhumane desires.
He takes pleasure ripping away everything innocent in her. All her moments of happiness destroyed. Her soul leaves her fragile, battered and ravaged body. He savours as life escapes her …then she takes her last gasp for air; her eyes become dim as he temporarily satisfies his insatiable thirst. He no longer has any use for her, so he dumps her body on the Cristo Rey road.
He drives off, probably not even looking back. He could care less that he stole Jasmine’s innocence, life, and future. He could care less that he robbed a community of its peace of mind. He could careless that he devastated a family. Where was all this concern when his innocence was stolen? He probably headed back to a viewing area looking at the kids running around and laughing and playing…suddenly his attention is drawn to a young, pretty, twelve year old giggling with her friends…he feels a familiar stirring..
I perused the internet for child serial killers and chatted with a person who is a behavioral specialist. It is horrifying what these men admit to. Many come from very disturbing origins and kill without remorse. Many get an intense pleasure from living and killing in the their communities. He may be a psychopath. For more on how psychos see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
Don’t be surprised if the monster is someone you would least expect, and may explain why he has been able to move around undetected. He may be well respected and may be wishing the family his “sincere” condolences while smirking inside. He may be your family or friend. He may be a “stable” family man with his own children. He will be monitoring the news and social sites for the latest. There is no picture of who he is. It is the biggest secret he keeps to himself and it gives him immense pleasure that he knows the answer while the entire community is left in a state of shock and despair. There is a monster in the midst….he will strike again!
Barton Creek Outpost Belize is organizing a fund raising effort to help Jasmine’s family at this time of great despair and need.
Chris and Jasmin Lowe worked the peanut butter/granola business together. She was an important part of that operation. We are taking a collection to help take the pressure off of Chris to get straight back to work. We will shortly announce a San Ignacio drop off point for funds. Additionally we will receive Paypal and credit card donations through our Paypal account. If you have paypal you can send your donation to belizebritts@yahoo.com. If you want to make a donation otherwise please contact us and we will send you a paypal invoice that you can pay with a credit/debit card. Any amount at all will be helpful. If you want to do something, this is it.
Donations to help Chris Lowe through this time can be made at the Pacz Tours office on Burns Ave. We can also receive your donations via credit/debit card or Paypal account. Please contact us if you wish to help in that manner. This is something significant, something real, we can do. Let’s come together.
-Reprinted from Barton Creek Outpost Belize Facebook Page
The following statement was released by the Belize Press Office stating that Kim is out of the hospital:
When someone utters the words “everybody knows anyway” before spilling confidential information about some un-suspecting soul, they are telling you they have a poor level of respect for an individual’s privacy. It is also an indicator to beware of the things you share with such a person. Humans by nature love to share information. Mark Zuckerberg was a genius to identify our nature to connect with each other. Facebook has almost a billion members sharing information. In other words, gossiping and sharing is not a Belizean or “kruffy” thing. It is a human thing. Some say it is human’s narcissistic craving for constant attention. I honestly believe that Facebook makes people feel like they are part of a bigger picture, their opinions count and they have an audience like never before seen in the history of mankind.
Facebook is a great networking tool. A great place to exchange ideas, friendships and life experiences, but it also reflects a dark side of humanity. People are sharing misleading, blatantly false or even confidential information. We forget our responsibilities as people and spread dangerous gossip and disperse information without verification of the facts or thought of consequences. Just a decade ago, people had to meet face to face or call each other on the phone to share gossip, now a person boasting thousands of friends can destroy or slander an individual’s name and reputation as quick as it takes to update a Facebook status. I noticed even credible media personalities are on Facebook, engaging and encouraging this level of unfiltered gossiping in their forums.
There are certain professions that dictate the utmost confidentiality. Attorneys, accountants, anyone in the medical profession, counselors, bankers, civil servants, priests and pastors all require a high level of integrity and adherence to confidentiality. When people seek out advice or services of the aforementioned professionals, they expect that their information ought to be held in the strictest of confidence. I believe these professionals also have a legal obligation to respect people’s privacy. With that said, I am amazed at some of the information people are promulgating on Facebook; information that could only come out of the mouths of some of these very professionals. Belize needs a Facebook policy for professionals. We need to start establishing ethical guidance and rules for our society. We cannot allow destructive behaviors to be excused as part of our culture.
An attorney friend told me he made a comment once in a forum and was advised by the administrator that postings in forums are being monitored by certain elements in Belize and they are taking account of what is being said. She advised him that his post could be construed as libel (poor girl did not know she was talking to an attorney). However, that information resonated with me, since I posted in these forums before and received no such warning. It is a warning that people should definitely think about though. Be careful of the things that could land you in a court of law. You can be held accountable for defaming a person’s character. Now if we could only get people in court to share what they see, hear and know our crime rate would probably drop precipitously.
She is someone’s child
This picture is going around ..not sure who she is or even if she is Belizean, American or what. Most people are sympathetic but many myths and simply wrong information is being perpetuated as well. One person said that the reason it keeps happening is because the women tolerate it and don’t press charges….
I have serious beef with this one.
There is a psychological process going on here that is being willingly ignored. A woman doesn’t grow up thinking “I’m going to marry an abuser when I grow up.” Even if she is in a home where she witnesses violence, she is hoping for someone who loves her and will care for her. So when this person, in whom she has placed her trust, to whom she has made a commitment, pledged her love, starts to hurt her, she is confused, betrayed and embarrassed. She is ashamed because she believed that she was a smart person who “knows better” and makes good decisions. So at first she may hide it and not tell anyone because she hopes it is just a one time thing….a phase, it will go away.
And then she has children with him and they can have a decent life with Christenings and Easter vacations, Christmas gifts and Valentine dinners. All the while, she is being beaten and told she is worthless. He isolates her from her friends, calls her a whore if she wants to go out with them. He tells her she can’t talk to so and so because she is a bad influence. Before you know it, she doesn’t even go to visit her mother because he accuses her of neglecting her duties as a wife. Soon, she doesn’t have time anyway because he expects a clean house, three meals a day and the kids must be clean and in bed on time.
He monitors everything…her cell phone…who is she talking to? who is she texting? why shi di waste time pan facebook? Even if she works, he might confiscate her paycheck or make it impossible for her to save anything because he spends it on liquor, electronics, gambling, friends.
Everything about her is attacked: her independence, her intelligence, her capabilities, her security, her mental and emotional well being, her identity. This is the woman you want to go to the police station and tell her story to a bunch of untrained bullies? When they arrest the abuser, he threatens her in front of them but they do nothing? She is frightened that he will come after her and her children. He promises to kill her when he is released on bail. Where is she supposed to go? How is she supposed to feed her children? Pay the mortgage?
Everyone has a lot to say. I will help you. You need to leave him. Have some pride. How can you let someone do this to you?
The problem is who will be there in the wee hours of the night when every creak and whisper makes her jump? afraid he has come to make good on his promise?
My aunt-in-law went to live with my uncle and aunt in the hopes that they could protect her. She left her son with the man who married her at 14, raped her everyday and punished her by making her sit on a hot comal, bare assed. He came for her in the middle of the day when my aunt and uncle had gone to run some errands. He slit her throat and sliced her belly open in front of his 4 year old son and his two nieces. They watched as my mother scooped up my aunt’s guts and press them back into her abdomen until they could get her to the hospital. She lived but only because my uncle could afford to send her to Jamaica to recover and also make sure that my other uncle was prosecuted and sent to jail….
Most people don’t have that and still…she almost died anyway.
We just don’t have the proper supports set up to protect those who need it most. The most we can do is help each other on a one on one level. Don’t hang with people you know are abusive…shun them…make them know you disapprove. You men who like to say that the women deserve it because they stay…go yell at the guy beating her…tell him you are watching him and that YOU won’t tolerate HIM. You women who sleep with them knowing what they do to their wives, just don’t…tell them you deserve better. Raise sons to respect people. Raise daughters to fight for themselves. Be part of a community movement to address and confront this issue because in the end…it will affect all of us in some way. And stop blaming the victim. Please.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
Lord Michael Ashcroft
Has a truce been reached? it appears so. On May 12, 2012 The Prime Minister delivered a key note address in commemoration of Belize Bank’s 25th Anniversary of Banking in Belize. It was reported that Lord Ashcroft was in attendance. While the Prime Minister’s speech does not mention Ashcroft by name, there are certain clues in the speech which indicates that the Prime Minister has become weary of the endless litigation.
Belize is burdened with a global recession affecting our economy; a debt burden crushing our standard of living; escalating violence fueled by the drug and weapons trade; the widening gap between rich and poor; countless citizens suffering from mental health and medical problems; poor law enforcement and prosecution and many other issues. Belize does not have time or resources for endless litigation. We need leadership whose agenda is focused on problem solving.
The truce seemed to cause quite a stir amongst members of the opposition. In Godfrey Smith‘s article Ashcroft-Barrow Détente in Flashpoint, he eloquently speculates or maybe gives an insider’s perspective on the renewed relationship between Ashcroft and the Prime Minister. After all Godfrey Smith was one of Ashcroft litigators and would probably have knowledge regarding the litigation intentions of the Lord. Once you get beyond the eloquence, politics and flair of Smith’s essay, he makes a solid point excerpted from one of his previous writings. ” In protracted battles in which opponents are roughly evenly matched, a truce is sometimes declared to save money, time and resources, the initial fit of egotistical pique that precipitated the battle having succumbed to the reality of the pointlessness of it. “ I dont think it was pointless however. I believe it was necessary to curb the insatiable greed of investors’ feeding frenzy upon our rich resources in Belize.
My personal speculation is that the truce is the result of waning hope regarding the legal challenges to the general elections results. The opposition’s hopes of gaining power through the court system is unlikely and many Belizeans of all political faiths have accepted that the United Democratic Party is the Government of Belize for the next five years, including Lord Ashcroft. Stagnating the government and economy with numerous litigation is counter-productive to Ashcroft’s businesses also, so the time for fighting has seemingly ended.
And now that the olive branch or tree (as some joked) has been extended, I assume the litigating attorneys are no longer needed, maybe the reason for the outcry? Who knows! I can only hope the country and people of Belize wins in this scenario. My hope is for better laws and oversight when it comes to investment and investors in our jewel. According to the Prime Minister “[a] banking and financial system occupies a crucial place in any economy, and so special rules are put in place for its management and regulation. And any government will hope for smooth and cooperative relations among the entities serving the business community and general public in the financial sector.”
I applaud the Prime Minster for offering an olive branch. The Prime Minister made a pledge to the business community to work towards fostering an atmosphere conducive for investments. As the Prime Minister said in his speech ” It is no secret…confrontation rather than cooperation has been, in at least one case, too much the Belizean norm…. This is discomfiting all round and a large dose of shared goodwill is now required to address the problem.”
Lord Ashcroft has implanted his fangs deeply into the veins of our society and is one of the most prominent businessmen in Belize. Belize Bank “[is] perhaps the major source of financing for the productive sector in this nation, and that it currently represents some 40% of the banking system.” (PM speech 5/12/2012) I believe that both the Prime Minister and Ashcroft have come to the realization that a working relationship is better than no relationship or worse, an embattled relationship. My eyes are now wide open on Ashcroft reemergence in our society. I implore Belizeans to sleep with one eye shut.
Below is the Prime Minister Speech delivered to Belize Bank and also a link to Godfrey Smith’s article in Flashpoint.
The Prime Minister of Belize Speech delivered on May 12, 2012 at the Radisson Fort George on the 25th Anniversary of Belize Bank.
I am happy to have been asked to make some brief remarks on this occasion celebrating the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Belize Bank. That first step ramified, of course, and led later to the establishment of the Belize Bank Group of Companies, so very much a part of the banking and commercial life of our country.
Now twenty five years of unbroken successful operation is an event worthy of note in the life of any business enterprise. But one must also add to this the fact that the Belize Bank has been perhaps the major source of financing for the productive sector in this nation, and that it currently represents some 40% of the banking system. Clearly, then, we are talking about an institution of which, generally, management and staff can be proud.
And there is even more. Because, in truth, the institution is more than 25 years old. Indeed, this 25th anniversary merely represents the length of time during which it has been operating under the Belize Bank name. So that in fact the institution is closer to 110 years old, having been established in 1902 as the Bank of British Honduras. Then in 1912 it became a part of the Royal Bank of Canada, operating as the local branch of this multinational until 1987 when it was bought by the current owners and rebadged as the Belize Bank. It must be with a sense of great satisfaction, then, that the management, staff and clients of this bank look back at its long past, and look forward to its even longer future.
But pride of place in the financial system of Belize as the country’s largest and oldest bank, also carries a heavy responsibility. Management and staff must work extra hard to maintain that coveted number one position. And that work must be undertaken and that position maintained in a manner that sets an example in the best traditions of banking. This means providing top quality advice to clients; it means speed and efficiency in financial transactions; and it means preserving reliability, confidentiality and, above all, stability. Potential borrowers and investors must be confident that at all times the bank will offer effective, hand-holding guidance. And depositors must equally know that their funds are always being studiously safeguarded.
A banking and financial system occupies a crucial place in any economy, and so special rules are put in place for its management and regulation. And any government will hope for smooth and cooperative relations among the entities serving the business community and general public in the financial sector. Even more important, the state will want to see an ordered and mutually supportive relationship between the financial system players and the financial system regulators. It is no secret, though, that in this regard confrontation rather than cooperation has been, in at least one case, too much the Belizean norm in recent times. This is discomfiting all round and a large dose of shared goodwill is now required to address the problem.
The fact is that the regulator has a job to do, and is given financial oversight authority by the laws of the land. On the other hand, that authority should never be exercised in a bull-in-a-china-shop fashion. Sensitivity, as well as firmness, is required. Now nobody is naive enough to expect that the regulatory relationship will never turn adversarial. But the occasions when this happens must be the exception rather than the rule. And a financial system cannot function properly in a climate of unceasing litigation. A way must, therefore, be found out of this thicket, this briar patch.
Global banking standards of prudence and stability must be upheld, but without imposing requirements on institutions that are impossible for them to meet. Of course, where individual institutions have, through past practices, put themselves in especially difficult positions, they must be prepared to take extraordinary measures to extricate themselves. Again, I reiterate that it is always a question of balance. Matters are not helped by certain negative developments in banking worldwide, which have understandably resulted in a regulatory mindset to err, if anything, on the side of caution. In that context it is hard to get away from the general requirement for increasing capitalization in order to reduce risk. The recent financial crisis has seen governments, including those of the United States and the United Kingdom, injecting previously unheard of amounts of capital into private banks. It is a situation that we cannot afford here in Belize. And it is worth remembering that the debacle abroad was in large measure caused by regulators operating in a light touch, almost laissez faire manner, resulting in grossly inadequate supervision.
But the effort to avoid a replication of that scenario in our country is complicated by a reliance on provisioning arrangements that are no longer effective for non-performing loans. So those arrangements needed to be changed. But not in a way as to suck all the air out of the system, depriving both the banking and business sector of oxygen. It must be clear by now that I am asking for some sort of middle ground between commercial banks and the regulator. And striking the right balance is not nearly as Jesuitical an exercise as might first appear. If the ultimate authority of the Central Bank is respected, and the Central Bank in turn is realistic and flexible, a via media can indeed be found. Government, as the ultimate custodian of the public welfare, is-needless to say-ready to help. So I declare tonight to the Belize Bank that we fully expect it to partner with us, to use its leadership role, its ingenuity and its resources, to help find a way out of the impasse. And that is the note on which I close, congratulating the bank once again as we look to a new beginning that will signal its continuing success; and the expansion of its large and, we hope, always positive footprint.
Flashpoint article : Ashcroft-Barrow Détente written by Godfrey Smith on May 14, 2012 http://www.flashpointbelize.com/flashpointarticles/tabid/103/EntryId/141/Ashcroft-Barrow-Detente.aspx
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