Back to school scholarships from Belize Kids First

Belize Kids First Scholarships

Channel 5 Belize | With the lingering effects of the economic hard times, many families battled to allocate the back to school dollar. For a few, it was a little less painful through initiatives that sprung to ensure that the children looked smart and were well equipped to report to the classrooms. News Five’s Isani Cayetano has the story of a scholarship program that recognized three students who love all that the classroom has to offer.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Primary schools across the country re-opened classrooms this morning to welcome their enrolment for the new academic year. It’s a difficult economic time, but parents and teachers have been busy getting things together to allow for a smooth transition. The process, for most, began in June at the end of the last school year and continued today with orientation. While some parents have been able to cover the cost of registration, others have been struggling to make ends meet. This morning one local organization, with help from the Belize City Council, made life a bit easier for a handful of needy students. Leading the charge to keep these students in school is Annie Palacio, founder of Belize Kids First.

Annie Palacio, Founder, Belize Kids First

“We have found out that many children attend school but they don’t really have what they need. Most of likely tuition is one of the main things and the organization was just there for them to get their tuition to go back to school but we found out that the children need much more than that. So we ended up paying for tuition, books, uniforms, other accessories including shoes, even down to socks because if you want to attend school you need to look successful. So we didn’t stop at just at tuition but we took care of everything else for most of these children and most of them come from homes that their parents are really trying. They’re unemployed, they’re seeking jobs but they can’t find it at the time and these children want to attend school.”

Realizing the importance of that idea to assist these children was Mayor Zenaida Moya-Flowers. (Continue Reading)

Benny’s Belizean Megastructure

Benny's New Superstore

7 News Belize | It is among the tallest structures in Belize and The long anticipated opening of the multi-million dollar Benny’s Superstore mile 2 and a half on the Northern Highway took place today. Our team was as curious as anyone else and found that the new six story mega structure offers a few welcome perks to customers.

Jim McFadzean, Reporting
It stands six storeys high and boasts more than 18,000 cubic feet of space, making it one of the most spacious commercial shopping centers in the old capital. So why all this space?

Sean Feinstein, Managing Director
“We have been in the same location for quite some time now, the company has expanded its lines; 3,4,5 fold over the years; we’ve gone into equipment; we’ve gone into appliances; we’ve gotten much deeper into the tool line, heavier into lighting and we basically outgrew our space 3 or 4 years ago.”

While space remains a premium at the old Benny’s showroom on Regent Street, as one can see behind me, there is no shortage of that here at this superstore. (Continue Reading)

New Green Globe Library features sustainability achievements

Green Globe Library

PR | Green Globe Certification launched the new Green Globe Library to promote the sustainability achievements of its members.

The Green Globe Library features case studies from Green Globe’s diverse membership including eco-resorts and urban convention centers. The case studies are researched and written by the members themselves in collaboration with Green Globe Certification. The main aim is to help members begin to communicate their own sustainability achievements in their own voice.

While the sustainability movement across the world has recently been dominated by global climate change issues, the member case studies are designed to put a human face on real work being done at the community level.

Beyond the environmental indicators of energy and water usage and waste production and recycling are many human stories. These stories reflect the efforts made by the workers and managers at tourism resorts and other travel companies to improve and protect their local communities while solving real challenges through cooperative and innovative actions. (Continue Reading)

Daily San Pedro Belize Weather Forecast September 1st

IR Satellite Photo

General Situation: Relatively warm and unstable weather conditions prevail. 24hr Forecast: Sunny with cloudy spells today and partially cloudy tonight. Showers will be generally isolated. Winds: Light and Variable becoming Easterly at 5 to 15 knots. Sea State: Slight/Light Chop. Outlook: Through Friday: Continuing warm and unstable conditions. Highs: 33°C/92°F  Lows: 25°C/77°F.

Tropical Weather Outlook: At 6:00am Cat 3 Hurricane Earl was centered about 780mls SSE Cape Hatteras North Carolina with maximum winds of 125mph and moving northwest at 16mph. Also at 6:00am Tropical Storm Fiona was centered about 145mls east of the Northern Leeward Islands with maximum winds of 60mph and moving to the west-northwest at 15mph. A broad area of low pressure about 800mls WSW of the Cape Verde Islands has a high chance of developing into a tropical depression during the next day or two as it moves west at 10 to 15mph. Elsewhere, tropical cyclone formation is not expected during the next 48 hours.

Mata Chica Resort employee dies during altercation at staff party

Sergeant Dwane McCulloch, CIB, San Pedro

Channel 5 Belize | Early Monday night, a staff party ended fatally for an employee of a resort in San Pedro. Fifty-seven year old Gregorio Conejo, a father of two, was hit in the face by a guest at the party at Mata Chica where he was employed for at least ten years. He fell off the pier and into the sea. Conejo was retrieved from the water and transported by boat to the area of the Fido’s dock in town. But he did not survive the incident and passed away before he could get medical attention. Various persons have been detained but no formal charges have been levied.

Jose Sanchez
“The empty beaches on San Pedro signifies the end of the tourist season. The staff of the Mata Chica Resort decided to commemorate this occasion with a staff party. But before the night was over, one man was dead.”

Sergeant Dwane McCulloch, CIB, San Pedro
“San Pedro Police visited a dock here in town where they observed the lifeless body of a male person who was later pronounced dead by doctor Daniel Gonzales. Investigation revealed that while he was at a staff party at a resort, about four miles north of San Pedro, he was involved in an altercation with a male person who punched him in the face and fell into the water. He was later retrieved from the water and placed inside a boat where he started to regurgitate a substance that appeared to be water. He was rushed to town to seek medical attention where he died on arrival.” (Continue Reading)

The Resort Says

Channel 7 Belize | A Press Release was sent out by Mata Chica Resort and it proffers a slightly different version of events. The release states that on yesterday while the resort was having its staff closure reunion – there was an altercation and between an invited guest and one of the resort’s employees.

The release states that “The confrontation got out of hand with others joining in and during the commotion the deceased fell into the sea off the dock.”

The release goes on to say that they were not aware that he couldn’t swim and when it was realized that he didn’t come out of the water, he was rescued and given CPR – but he was declared dead on arrival in San Pedro.

Queen of the Bay Contestants Visit San Pedro

Queen of the Bay Contestants Visit San Pedro

Ambergris Today | Ten beautiful contestants of the Queen of the Bay pageant arrived this morning in San Pedro, along with the reigning queen Miss Reena Usher for a short visit to tour the island as part of their activities prior to pageant night.

Pictured above (left to right) are Miss Freewtown – 19-year-old – Audralee Enriquez, Queen of the West – 16-year-old – Daniellie Rodriquez, Queen of the Bay Corozal – 17-year-old – Salomie Cardinez, Miss Belize City – 17-year-old – Diana Hemmans, Miss Punta Gorda – 18-year-old – Julie Vargas, Queen of the Bay 2009-2010 – Miss Reena Usher, Miss Independence – 19-year-old – Lisa Gutierrez, Queen of the Bay Belmopan – 20-year-old – Shaina Evelyn, Miss Placencia – 17-year-old – Ashley Glenn, Miss Belizean Pride – 17-year-old- Shanice Flowers and Miss Belizean Heaven – 18-year-old Shanice Skeen.

The contestants were greeted by Deputy Mayor Pablo Ico along with other members of the San Pedro Town Council and Mr. Eiden Salazar of the Reef Radio. The Queen of the Bay Pageant takes place this Saturday, September 4 at 7:00p.m. at Byrd’s Isle in Belize City.

Councilors Pablo Ico and Juan Alamilla present the contestants with gifts on behalf of the San Pedro Town Council. They were hosted for lunch at BC’s Bar & Grill.

Editorial: Season of Stress

Amandala | Well now, here we go again. In Belize we believe the hurricane season really begins with September and ends in October. These two months are when we have historically experienced most of our hurricane excitement.

The thing about a major hurricane is that in a matter of three or four days, after the first serious warning, you may have to pick up everything you can and run for your life, and when you reach your place of refuge, sometimes less than a day after that you may be given the “all clear.” Go back home, and resume life as usual. Hurricanes, beloved, are humbling experiences. They put things in perspective. There are no guarantees in life.

In the years since Hurricane Mitch scared the bejesus out of Belizeans in 1998, then swerved south at the last minute to devastate Honduras and the Bay Islands, San Pedro Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker have been battered by Keith, Placencia has been levelled by Iris, and Corozal Town and environs seriously damaged by Dean. Casualties have been minimal, but structural damage immense. It is impossible to make an accurate assessment of the damage to agricultural crops and marine fisheries.

Despite these serious storms, Belizeans realize that, compared to New Orleans, say, we have been fortunate. Since the last time Belize City was struck by a major storm, Hurricane Hattie in 1961, New Orleans has been struck twice by brutes – Betsy in 1965 and Katrina in 2005. The law of averages suggests Belize’s population center, which was merely bothered by Hurricane Greta in 1978, would be wise to say some prayers. (Continue Reading)

Living in Belize: A True Retirement Paradise

Imagine Life in Belize

International Living | For anyone looking for that perfect second-home or retirement paradise, living in Belize is hard to beat. This little Central American country has so much going for it—sun, sand, sea and an incredible retiree program. Three Major Reasons Why You Should Consider Living in Belize

1. English is Spoken Here
Once known as British Honduras, Belize gained its independence in 1981, but still retains English as its national language. Spanish and Creole are widely spoken, but you won’t have to learn them to get by in Belize… English is everywhere, making it incredibly easy to get along no matter where you are or what you’re doing.

2. The Belize Retiree Program
Belize’s offshore laws ensure maximum financial privacy, allow asset-protection trusts, and encourage international business and banking. Of particular interest to those living in Belize is the “qualified retired persons” (QRP) program, which resembles Panama’s popular pensionado program.

Foreign residents under the QRP program are exempted from all taxes on income from sources outside Belize. They can own and operate international businesses based in Belize, again exempt from all local taxes. They can also import personal effects without paying import duties.

3. Relaxed Beach-Living
If you’re looking for the perfect beach…power-white sand, waving palm trees, calm, clear water glinting in the tropical sun… Belize has the genuine article. Many genuine articles, in fact! Below are some areas of Belize worth considering as your ideal retirement or second home destination: (Continue Reading)

How a Fort Worth Museum Pulls Mayan Culture From its Watery Depths

Lobster effigy, c. 1550, Lamanai, Belize. National Institute of Culture and History, Belize.

D Magazine | I arrived at the preview of the Kimbell’s new exhibition, Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, a few minutes early and wandered through the show’s four galleries without looking at the accompanying wall essays, cue cards, or catalogue scholarship. Moving through the neatly arranged collection of artifacts, I was struck by their strange incomprehensibility. I saw small animal figurines with human heads sticking out; exquisitely painted pottery with ornate scenes depicting moments in very unknown stories; plates decorated with royal scenes, dense with indecipherable symbols; stone reliefs covered in boxy hieroglyphics; tiny precious gems and jewelry; and what looked like trifling play things – tiny sculpted frogs, human figurines – that were executed with the utmost care and craftsmanship.

It is rare to encounter the artifacts of a culture in such an unadulterated way, absent the usual associations that are the byproduct of cultural references, adaptations, and assimilations. Even the Dallas Museum of Art’s African Masks exhibition isn’t this culturally raw (we can all conjure an image of an African mask in our minds without seeing that show). For most of us, encountering this Mayan work is an unfettered experience, an approach of something bafflingly new and utterly foreign.

As it turns out, I’m not the first to be baffled by these bizarre and fascinating objects from the ancient culture. The scholarly project of Fiery Pool is the culmination of twenty years of new research into Mayan culture that followed the important deciphering of a single glyph: the symbol the Mayans used for “sea.” This discovery led to a reimagining of the workings of Mayan culture and brought to light the central role the sea played in the daily and spiritual lives of the Mayan people. The exhibition, organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, brings together some key objects to help flesh out our understanding of the sea and the Mayan people. “Fiery Pool” is the phrase the Mayans used to describe the sea, and as a culture nearly surrounded by water, the sun’s rising and setting on the water, the fiery reflections of orange and yellow on the sea’s surface, created the context for the Mayan understanding of the world. (Continue Reading)