Belize Unveils Theme for 45th Independence

Belize’s 45th Independence celebrations now have an official theme. Today, the National Celebrations Commission unveiled “Look At Me: I Am Belize at 45,” a submission by Amber Mariano that will serve as the rallying call for this year’s September festivities nationwide. The National Celebrations Commission says the theme celebrates the ordinary Belizeans whose contributions have shaped the nation over the past forty-five years. We caught up with Minister of Culture, Francis Fonseca at the unveiling of this year’s theme.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Culture

“We kick off the September celebrations every year by launching the theme. So we go through, of course, an extensive process selecting the theme. We have a committee that does that. Every year we are very, glad to receive thousands of, submissions from across the country. People in every corner of the country want to participate. And this year the committee selected this theme “Look at me. I am Belize at 45.” It’s different. It’s a different theme, but I think what the National Celebrations Commission really wanted to capture was a really a spirit of reflection at forty-five. Let us take a look at ourselves as a country. Let us take a look at ourselves as citizens of Belize. What am I doing to make Belize better? How am I contributing to the growth and development of Belize? So that’s the whole spirit behind the selection of this year’s theme “Look at me. I am Belize at 45. To me it means how can I challenge myself to do more for Belize? How can I challenge myself to be a better public servant of the people? So and I think that’s the challenge of the theme for every one of us. Everyone, if you’re working in the media look at yourself and say, “How can I be a better media person? How can I be a better reporter? How can I be a better camera man or woman? How can I be more committed to Belize?” So I think that’s what I see in the theme.”

 

Now that the theme has been unveiled, preparations for this year’s September Celebrations begin across the country.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: