On Wednesday, RET International completed training with persons in the transportation industry on human trafficking. It was a programme that the University of Belize has signed on to as one of its e-courses. A significant number of the participants hailed from Belize City, the biggest municipality in terms of population. Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner says the training was key in helping individuals spot the activity around them.
Bernard Wagner
Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City
“Human trafficking is not only relegated to Belize. It’s all across the world. It’s a million, billion-dollar industry. And having this first step and this starting point, we really should begin to see some returns. RET has done a wonderful job in putting together this project, especially the training arm of it on just having the starter awareness on recognizing that human trafficking is a sophisticated sort of operation. And so having people aware – your bus drivers, your taxi drivers your enforcement officers being aware through this manual, you could begin to put some measure of dent in that activity. This sort of project really reemphasized and bring forth the awareness campaign to – you can participate in being able to highlight human trafficking. It may go right past you. You might see a young person attach onto to someone, a stranger, and you – it might just pass you look. Having this manual now and having the training done by RET individuals, you will be able to now quickly recognize that sort of activity.”
On Wednesday, the National Trade Union Congress of Belize issued a letter of complaint addressed to the board of directors of the Social Security Board. The letter details several concerns with recent decisions made by the S.S.B., such as the appointment of a Deputy C.E.O. Although the position has not been filled yet, the N.T.U.C.B. claims that the creation of the post was conducted without adherence to proper protocols, timely budget allocation. The letter further raises concerns about a lack of consultation with N.T.U.C.B. representatives on crucial matters and calls for better treatment and communication. We asked Deborah Ruiz, C.E.O. of the S.S.B. for a comment on the situation, however, she declined to comment, stating that the letter was never copied to her office. News Five called the S.S.B. office in Belize City and asked to speak to the chairperson, Nigeli Sosa, and we were told that she was in a meeting. We were also told that our calls would be returned. We are still waiting.
School may be out for the summer, but the learning continues for most children. Today, the STEAM Summer Academy wrapped up its four-week programme, culminating in a vibrant showcase where nearly fifty young minds displayed the skills and knowledge they’ve gained in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. From fascinating science experiments to creative art projects, these children are ready to shine! In tonight’s episode of Belize on Reel, News Five’s Britney Gordon takes us to the Edward P. York compound to celebrate their incredible talents and achievements. Here’s the story.
Britney Gordon
“Did you like dancing before you joined this class?”
Avon Richards
Avon Richards, Camper
“Well no, usually I didn’t like to dance because sometimes when I dance, I would just do some things that were not necessary but for this, that I did this, I do like to dance now.”
Britney Gordon
“So you feel like you’re going to keep dancing now that you’ve discovered that you like it?”
Avon Richards
“Yes.”
Britney Gordon, Reporting
Do you remember your childhood dreams of what you wanted to be when you grew up? Or the moment you decided on that career path? Discovering your passion is one of life’s most memorable milestones. This summer at the STEAM Summer Academy in Belize City, children experienced just that. Over the course of four weeks, participants explored the fascinating realms of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Co-director Joseph Stamp-Romero emphasized that, while academics were crucial, fostering a sense of community among the children was a key focus of the curriculum.
Joseph Stamp-Romero
Joseph Stamp-Romero, Co-director
“I think one of the biggest one of the biggest thing about the camp was just how kids can learn how to work together. I think how kids can learn how to plan, how they can learn how to design, and how they can critically look at the things that they do from a standpoint of trying to improve it. So I think one of the biggest topics that we always talked about a lot is just working together. Collaboration was huge. I think from teachers right down to right down to students. And I think that was, I think one of the most important details for the camp.”
No matter how big or small, finding a way to express themselves is a valuable lesson for every child to learn. Twelve-year-old Mia Meneses has found her way, Art.
Mia Meneses
Mia Meneses, Camper
“I learned in this summer camp that we have to be confident. That we have to be confident for the most things. That we can’t really be afraid about the art. It’s a free will that you are able to choose and it’s never too late to learn or practice art.”
Mia has always loved creating art, but she told us that being able to share the experience with others has made it an even better one.
Mia Meneses
“I also really like everyone’s art piece because everyone has a unique way of doing their art.”
It is this sense of creativity that art instructor, Shaira Young has tried to instill in the hearts of her students.
Shahira Young
Shahira Young, Art Instructor
“I believe that expressing ourselves. Don’t be afraid of who you are as an artist. You don’t have to paint exactly as you see the photo. Try to be unique. Try to be different. Use shape, use style, use techniques to express yourself.”
In a nearby room, eight aspiring roboticists proudly showcased the machines they assembled during the camp. Their impressive creations included devices for testing humidity levels and controlling stoplights. Robotic instructor Dr. Abraham Flowers emphasised that as technology continues to evolve, gaining experience with computers has become essential for success in today’s world.
Abraham Flowers
Dr. Abraham Flowers, Robotics Instructor
“We know every day we see that there is improvement when it comes to development in technology itself, right? So having the kids to basically have the ground level or the foundation would help them or prompt them to become much more better because today even our economy depends on the improvement of technology. And we’re talking from all the way from industrial all the way to personal or domestic. So doing this, I think is a huge step forward.”
After four weeks of science, math, and arts, all students went home having learned the important lesson of being themselves and cheering for others.
Avon Richards
“I feel pretty good because it’s how Is it not that how I am doing myself? Cause if I would do it myself, I would probably feel embarrassed. But with people here that I’m doing it, like I could finally express how I could be like alive and how I am doing the way of the dance that we have been practicing.”
Tonight, sixteen students are advancing their academic pursuits with full financial support from Belize Bank Limited. Over the years, the bank has awarded hundreds of scholarships to students across Belize, and this year is no exception. From over two hundred applications, the bank selected a group of students who have shown exceptional dedication to their studies and could greatly benefit from the financial assistance. News Five’s Paul Lopez brings us the details.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
Sixteen students entering high school and sixth form will be able to focus solely on their studies, thanks to Belize Bank Limited. Today, these students received full scholarships to cover all their educational expenses at their chosen institutions.
Fillipo Alario
Fillipo Alario, Chief Executive Officer, Belize Bank Limited
“Over the past decade we have had the privilege of supporting more than a hundred kids in their educational journey. We have about eighty-nine students that are in the program right now as we speak.”
Fillipo Alario, the Chief Executive Officer at Belize Bank Limited says seeing students progress as the bank continues to support them is a source of inspiration for the financial institution.
Fillipo Alario
“At the Belize Bank we believe that education is the cornerstone of personal and societal development. We are proud to have supported many of you. We even have kids that have moved on and gone to great universities. We have a graduate of Harvard University. He is so big; we cannot find him.”
Two former recipients of the scholarship were present at today’s award ceremony to encourage the 2024 cohort. Elmer Orellano received the scholarship at the secondary and tertiary levels. He is now an employee at Belize Bank. Dwight Gillett Junior received a high school scholarship from Belize Bank in 2020. Today, he got a second scholarship to attend Saint John’s Junior College.
Dwight Gillet Jr.
Dwight Gillet Jr., Scholarship Recipient
“Belize Bank has trusted me again for my academic years at the sixth form level. I was so anxious when they called me personally to say I got accepted for the scholarship. It was quite hilarious to see my family mouthing what they were saying. I am excited about what my future holds. With that I implore you students not to be fearful about what high school brings. Accept them wholeheartedly as most consider that period as the best of your life. I ask that while you should have fun, focus on your studies and goals and if you find yourself in a slump pick up yourself and don’t give up because the hard-working staff here at Belize Bank and those closest to you only expect great things from you.”
But today’s spotlight was really on the sixteen scholarship recipients who are preparing to start a new journey in their academic pursuits. Martin Leslie and Kiah Griffith are among this year’s recipients. They must maintain an average G.P.A. of two point seven five and above to keep the scholarship. Belize Bank Limited offers tutoring support and other services where needed.
Martin Leslie
Martin Leslie, Scholarship Recipient
“It will help my family because my mom is a single mother, and we need the money to help us with school uniforms and bags.”
Paul Lopez
“How hard did you work in primary school to get here?”
Martin Leslie
“Hard, hard, hard. My mom told me to push and strive for excellence in all I do.”
Reporter
“What did she say when she learnt you got it?”
Martin Leslie
“She was with me and she cried with me.”
Reporter
“For you what is your plans. I know you are just going to high school, but what do you hope to become and why?”
Martin Leslie
“I want to become a pediatrician when I get older, because I want to help sick children because I suffer from sickle cell, and I want to help them.”
Kiah Griffith
Kiah Griffith, Scholarship Recipient
“I decide to apply for this scholarship because I want to make my mom proud and make myself proud.”
Paul Lopez
“What was your response when you found you got it?”
The Ballin’ Like Her Girls basketball camp is underway, and girls from all over the country are participating. This three-day camp engages girls from pre-school age, ranging all the way to college age. It was started to encourage young women to engage in the sport in the hopes of expanding its popularity among the demographic. We spoke with Rosco Reese, President of the Belize District Basketball Association, and two participants to learn how successful the camp has been so far.
Rosco Reese
Rosco Reese, President, Belize District Basketball Association
“Basically FIBA wants to include females more in the sport of basketball. In our country, we know that there are a lot of young girls that play basketball, but there’s no real organized leagues or camps for young girls. So through the Belize District Basketball Association, we came up with the idea to plan a female basketball camp and this is the results right here.”
Britney Gordon
“Have you ever been able to play basketball with so many girls before?”
Kenisha Avila
Kenisha Avila, Participant, Seventeen-years-old
“No, not really. It’s the first time, but at our high school, San Pedro High School, we play basketball. We have our own team. And yeah, those are the only team I have played with before. And this is very new to me and I really love it.”
Mila Guerrero
Mila Guerrero, Participant, Ten-years-old
“So, this is one of my first times playing, but my brother plays a lot, and my sister actually played here and won here.”
Britney Gordon
“How does it feel to be surrounded by so many girls playing a sport like you?”
Mila Guerrero
“It makes me just feel happy because a lot of people share the same interests as me.”
This morning marked the conclusion of the free life-saving swimming lessons provided by the Belize Police Department and the Belize Coast Guard. The camp successfully equipped children with essential swimming skills for survival in emergencies. News Five’s Azain Heredia visited the classes at the Princess Ramada to learn more. Here’s that story.
Azain Heredia, Reporting
At the start of the summer, none of the children you’re seeing here knew how to swim, but by the end of it, all of the participants in the Community Policing Unit Swimming Camp were confident in their ability to do so. The annual programme concluded today after bringing together coast guards and the community policing unit to assist children with free swimming lessons.
A.C.P. Howard Gillett, Commander of the National Community Police Center says that this programme is vital because many children may not be able to afford lessons due to their circumstances.
Howell Gillett
A.C.P. Howell Gillett, Nat’l Commander, Community Policing Unit
“It builds a better relationship with young people because oftentimes young people see law enforcement as, people who are making arrests or they see the bad side of what happens in law enforcement, But we are not all about that, we are here to work with our young people, so that we can deliver them to successful adulthood. The idea is to have no need for policing or policing reason for arresting our young people.”
For years, the Belize Coast Guard has coordinated with the Belize Police Department to carry out the program. Lieutenant Junior Moody told us how the programme has evolved over the years to strengthen its approach.
Junior Andrew Moody
Lieutenant, Junior Andrew Moody, Swim Coordinator
“What I’ve seen is that the children are more eager to learn. Alright, they’re not afraid as the previous classes. We have seen that the children were a little bit afraid. In this class here we seen that they’ve become a little more excited t learn how to swim.”
After completing the programme, the participants walked away with exceptional swimming skills.
Azain Heredia
“How was your experience with this camp?”
Nathan Lambey
Nathan Lambey, Participant
“I just feel like I didn’t know how to swim, but when I believed myself.”
For the better part of two weeks, the Dangriga Town Council has been in the news because of an ongoing rift between the Mayor, Robert Mariano and the Town Administrator, Austin Petillo. Petillo reportedly got wind of a missing file for an F – One Fifty Vehicle from the records clerk. Petillo wrote to the employee who was said to be responsible for the missing file and inquired about it. But then there were instructions from the mayor’s office to the council’s security that they should not allow Petillo back on the compound. Then there’s the other side, which claims that Petillo was having problems with some of the employees. When the mayor intervened to resolve the matter, it is reported that Petillo got upset and walked off the job. And when Mariano instructed that Petillo could only be allowed back on the compound after he called the mayor to discuss the matter, there was a report that he was banned from entering the premises. Today, News Five contacted the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Local Government, which is responsible for municipal governments. He said that the dispute is one that the Dangriga Town Council will have to resolve on its own, but that the administrator, Austin Petillo, is already back at work.
Valentino Shal, C.E.O., Ministry of Local Government
“There are different roles that the mayor plays on the tongue administration administrator plays, and I think they need to be clear about what those specific roles are. Those roles are actually specified in the tongue councils act. The mayor is the chief executive. According to the legislation of the council, and so the administrator is required to answer to the mayor on any decisions taken or any actions taken– a discussion that should happen with the mayor. This issue is a matter to be resolved by the congregate on console itself. The act itself empowers them to, to address it and I’m quite sure that they will. We are in contact with it, but we can’t do their job for them. They have been elected by their residents. They are a council, they are empowered by law to address these matters, and so it is, something that they need to deal with. And we are very reluctant to intervene when, really it is something within their prerogative. These are matters that are constantly before the councils and they’re tabled and discussed at council meetings. And so I think the representations that have been made in the media and on social media are completely unnecessary. These are things that – it’s a day-to-day thing that happens in the lives of councils.”
Marion Ali
“Are they inaccurate?”
Valentino Shal
“Absolutely. I understand from the console that Mr. Pettilo is the town administrator is back in office.”
Things are getting tense in the United Democratic Party. As we reported earlier this week, a meeting consisting of eighteen ‘anti-Shyne’ U.D.P. standards bearers met in Orange Walk to discuss ‘general reform’. The party leader, Moses Barrow, has described such a meeting as ‘phantom’. But, the threat to his leadership within the party is real. Albert Area Representative, Tracy Panton, is emerging as Barrow’s contender. And, her supporters are not afraid of showing it. Several prominent U.D.P. figures, including Patrick Faber, and Beverly Williams, took to Facebook to pledge their support for Panton, using the phrase “I am with her.” Along with them was John Saldivar, who is no longer the party’s regional leader for the west. Barrow says that Saldivar was ousted. However, sources say that Saldivar smelled the rat from a mile away and resigned before he was replaced for supporting Panton. Omar Figueroa is the new regional leader for the west for the U.D.P.
He served an unprecedented three consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Belize. The Right Honourable Dean Barrow has been immortalized through the Dean Barrow Story, a biography of the nation’s fourth prime minister, written by Lawrence Vernon. This is Vernon’s fifth biography. He describes this one as a labour of love. It was not commissioned by the former prime minister, but according to Vernon, Barrow gave it his blessing and even contributed through interviews with Vernon. The thirty-two-chapter book was officially launched today. News Five’s Paul Lopez reports.
Paul Lopez, Reporting
The Dean Barrow Story recounts the life and political contributions of the nation’s fourth prime minister. The biography was written by author Lawrence Vernon.
Lawrence Vernon
Lawrence Vernon, Author
“The actual book took me about two years to research and write. I wanted to get everything that was written about Dean Barrow from the newspapers, in the archives and from press releases and articles and from my interview with him.”
The thirty-two-chapter biography opens with excerpts from Barrow’s final Independence Day speech in 2020 at the foot of the National Assembly Building. At the time, Barrow had delivered more than two decades of Independence Day speeches, both as leader of the opposition and Belize’s prime minister. The book’s final chapter, titled “A Man of Character,” looks at how Barrow navigated Belize’s economic challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lawrence Vernon
“Apart from a successful law career, Dean Barrow’s venture into politics, covered thirty-seven years, almost thirteen of which was him serving as prime minister of Belize. Let me offer two quotes found in the book. The first one, like his grandfather, Dean got into electoral politics by way of the Belize City Council elections. This was in December of 1983 as one of the U.D.P. candidates when his party was successful. When Dean Barrow made a decision to become a member of the U.D.P., he was well qualified political in terms of being aware of public policy, being visible in the community, good public speaking, up to date on current events and had a thick skin.”
The biography also takes a closer look at Barrow’s upbringing, the fact that his father, Arthur Barrow, was a pharmacist, and his mother, Joyce Barrow, was a housewife. Born on March second, 1950, he was the first in a family of three children. The book explores Barrow’s connection with politics through Ebenezer Barrow who was the leader of the pro-colonialist Nationalist Party established one year after his birth. Lawrence Vernon describes this body of literary work as a labour of love. His son, Dylan Vernon, says his father writes for the love of informing a nation.
Dylan Vernon
Dylan Vernon, Son of Author
“What motivates him to write? I am sure that he writes primarily as he would say himself, for the same reason that he became a librarian, to share accessible information and knowledge and to contribute to the body of written material on his beloved Belize for current and future generation. That is why he does it. It is sad to say that this kind of writing does not really pay. It is not really valued in our current society. But Lawrence Vernon has done for the love of informing people and to motivate others to research, read, and write.”
The Dean Barrow Story was not commissioned by Barrow, though Vernon explained that they sat down for interviews over the two years he spent writing. Barrow was also unable to be present at today’s event. The two hundred and eight-three-page biography was printed by The Angelus Press Limited.
Jermain Sanchez
Jermain Sanchez, The Angelus Press LTD.
“I want to tell you that we have printed many books before and this is one of the few books that we did probably one percent edit. So, congratulations to you Mr. Vernon. Your word choice, your selection was perfect, because when we use to go to school ninety-nine percent was good. Nobody topped that, so you got a ninety-nine percent. I wont tell the people what the one percent was about. We will talk about that after.”
Lawrence Vernon
“Although as I said, he didn’t commission it, I volunteer to do it, but he was happy to have his achievements, especially as prime minister revealed. In the newspapers you have little snippets here and there, but you put it in one book now and people can have access to it and read it in one place. My only thing is that it was suppose to be published by Amazon, that was in the time of COVID. When I returned to them, they raised the price for printing so I said why not do it in country. So we have a local printer doing the book and I think they did a good job of with it.”
The U.S. is seeking to strengthen relations with Central America and the Caribbean, and according to Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Belize is a top priority in that endeavor. Jacobstein made the journey to Belize from Washington, D.C., to discuss matters such as international security, democratic governance, and migration with Belizean government officials. At the annual CARSI-E.S.F. award ceremony hosted in Belmopan today, he explained why he believes it is important to have these discussions between nations.
Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Western Hemisphere Affairs
“It’s such an honor to be here in Belize with our fantastic ambassador, Michelle Kwan. And I would just say that Biden-Harris administration, our relationship with Belize is a top priority. We recognize Belize’s leadership on democracy in the region, its leadership on a number of issues, its recognition of Taiwan, its leadership in Haiti, on migration through the Los Angeles declaration process, on migration management. For me, it’s really an opportunity to check in with government leaders, have important conversations, and really demonstrate our strong support for the U.S. Belize partnership.”
