Students get first glimpse of museum
How many of you really know about the first people who settled in our country, or that two board bridges were in place before the manually operated swing bridge? Those are just some of the historical questions primary school students are asked in their social studies class. And while the new Museum of Belize is not a place where children can go to sit and study, it’s certainly one institution that the boys and girls can tour and get as much information about Belize’s past and present…as News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams found out this morning.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
The Museum of Belize located on Gaol Lane in Belize City, has a rich collection of photographs, which tells the story of a people; where we come from and who we are. Since the official inauguration last week, school children and their teachers have been making use of the opportunity to learn about our country’s history.
St. Mary’s School principal Grace Williams brought her standard 5 and 6 classes.
Grace Williams, Principal, St. Mary’s School
“There is a lot of things that children don’t know nowadays about Belize. I mean, I don’t even know if some of them know it was British Honduras before, and it goes way back to the 1800s. So I think it’s something very educational for the children of today.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“What you find interesting in the museum?”
Michael Francis, Student, St. Mary’s School
“Our ancient history.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“What about our ancient history?”
Michael Francis
“That Belize is so popular that so much famous people come and visit our country.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Some of the famous faces are?”
Michael Francis
“Princess Margaret, Muhammad Ali an different people.”
Bernarda Rivera, Student, St. Mary’s School
“It tells about St. Mary’s Church. Wesley Church and St. Mary’s Church were the beautiful buildings here in Belize. And when the hurricane came down, destroyed the building, so they had to build them all over and they look very different. They still look a little bit smaller, but they look beautiful still.”
And the beautiful stills of the churches form part of the historical display on the first floor of the museum. Archaeologist, John Morris is the curator of the Mayan Masterpieces section.
John Morris, Curator, Mayan Masterpieces
“We have a wide collection of ancient Maya artefacts that deals with the ceramics, the sculpture, the architecture. We feel that it is important for the children to come to both sections. But if they do come upstairs, it’s important for them to understand the grandeur and that excellence that this civilisation produced, and that it’s a part of their cultural heritage.”
Stacey Nicholas, Student, St. Mary’s School
“It have a lot of old things, a lot of old fashioned things like fire, hurricanes, and how it mi look and different people who come to Belize that are famous and lot more things.”
Ann-Marie Williams for News 5.
Schools wishing to tour the facility are invited to call John Morris at 08-23307 or 08-23302.
