Gwen Liz Scholarships Invest in Belize’s Storytellers

Five aspiring historians will soon study at the University of Belize without worrying about tuition or fees. The new scholarship program honors national heroine Gwendolyn Lizarraga while preparing another generation to preserve Belize’s history, strengthen its identity and help the country better understand the issues shaping it today. The launch also includes a new partnership between the University of Belize and NICH. Britney Gordon reports.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

A country cannot protect its history without people trained to study, explain and preserve it. Belize is now investing in five university students who could become the country’s next researchers, educators and cultural advocates. The scholarship program forms part of a wider partnership involving the University of Belize, the Ministry of Education and NICH. Through a new memorandum of understanding, the institutions plan to collaborate on research, education, cultural promotion and heritage preservation.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Technology

“I’m very happy to be here at the National University of Belize today for two important, achievements really. One is to sign a MOU between the National University of Belize and NICH, to ensure that these two very critically important national institutions, can work more closely together, collaborate on research, on education, on cultural promotion and cultural preservation. So very, very important.”

 

The program carries the name of national heroine Gwendolyn Lizarraga, Belize’s first female Cabinet minister. It will cover tuition and fees for five history students throughout their degree program at the University of Belize. But organizers say the investment goes beyond paying school fees. The scholarship is intended to keep Lizarraga’s legacy alive while encouraging young Belizeans to examine their history and better understand their national identity.

 

Francis Fonseca

“We wanted, of course, as I said to make sure that we are preserving and promoting history and also remembering the legacy of Madam Liz. That’s a part of our history. So it was important for us to do it through the history program, which is really about empowering Belizeans making sure that we know who we are as a people, strengthening our national identity, and these were all things that were very important to Gwendolyn Lizarraga.”

 

History Lecturer Delmer Tzib says that work has practical value. Historians help the public connect present-day challenges to the events and decisions that shaped them. They also manage cultural heritage, develop public exhibits and build skills that can lead to careers in research, diplomacy and law.

 

Delmer Tzib, History Lecturer, University of Belize

“It is crucial for our democracy. We cannot continue understanding our present as thinking as issues of only now, but rather looking at it as a product of history. So that’s one of the major things. The other thing is that we do have a need as a nation to have people who are able to manage, cultural heritage, people who are able to promote, public history, who are able to craft exhibits and so forth. So there is a practical need, and beyond the disciplines or practices that are directly related to history, we also produce, scholars, researchers, people who eventually go into diplomacy, law, and so forth.”

 

The launch also introduced the Dr. Angel Cal Grant Program, named after the first president of the University of Belize and one of the figures behind its history program. The grant will assist junior college graduates who want to continue studying history at the university.

 

Delmer Tzib

“The history program was developed in 2008 and launched in 2008, and he was coincidentally here, and we still have him here. So it is an honor to his legacy, to the work that he’s done. And, of course, he’s been doing a lot of work in education, but he’s also been doing research. He’s also been in administration and had or has had and continues to have contributions in various sectors of our society.”

 

Applications open through the University of Belize History Department in the coming weeks. Five students will receive scholarships under the pilot program, which could become an annual opportunity. For them, it removes a financial barrier. For Belize, it helps preserve the country’s history. Britney Gordon for News Five.

 

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.

 

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