Hundreds of Belize City youths get a message of Hope

A pep rally of sorts was held this afternoon at the Queen’s room of the Princess Hotel. Organized by Restore Belize, six hundred students from primary and secondary schools gave their undivided attention to the moving stories of three renowned motivational speakers. With the youth at risk due to crime and violence, the message was one of hope. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.

Lt. Col. Consuelo Kickbusch, Motivational Speaker

Consuelo Kickbusch

“Ladies and gentlemen, that little girl, that young lady got a full scholarship and left her home, left her sick mama, her father, a laborer and a daughter of a maid and went to a private school where people looked at her and said, “Oh, she’ll be gone in sixth months.”  And this little girl, this young lady joined the United States Army and served for twenty years and broke records but she never forgot where she came from.  I am from the devil’s den and I am that little girl.  It can be done.”

The compelling autobiography of Lt. Col. Consuelo Kickbusch, a former U.S. military officer turned motivational speaker, is testament that with hard work, commitment and dedication one can rise above personal adversities to become successful.  With rapt attention students from various primary and secondary schools across Belize City are captivated by her life story.  After all, it is one that is relatable.

Gilroy Clother

Gilroy Clother, Student, Excelsior High School

“The message weh I di get frahn dis da yo haftu laan how fi forgive and forget and yo haftu laan how fi tek advantage of your opportunities because no everybody have the chance fu get weh you di get.  And something weh I notice like dah noh everybody have wa good relationship even if dehn noh di show it.”

Isani Cayetano

“After listening to some of the testimonies that these speakers have presented, what would be one of the messages that you would want to share with your friends and your family, having heard what is being said here today?”

Gilroy Clother

“That no matter weh nobody say that you da somebody and you will amount to something if you try.”

Marie Munoz

The idea of presenting three renowned and influential speakers to share their experiences with a youthful audience of six hundred boys and girls was a collaborative effort that enlisted the assistance of Restore Belize.

Marie Munoz, Restore Belize

“One of the goals at Restore Belize is [that] we are always reaching out to the community in different ways and one of our strong partners are the youths of Belize.  And so it was very timely when we partnered with Belize Telemedia to bring the inspirational speakers.  We fall that we’re at a crucial juncture where there is so much happening in our community in terms of crime and violence and so our youths are really feeling down pressed.  So, as you can see if you’ve been observing, some of the youths are really feeling low on self-esteem and we just felt that they needed a charge and so we partnered with Telemedia and we brought it to the youths of Belize City.”

According to Telemedia’s Public Relations Manager Dionne Chamberlain, the initiative goes beyond promoting a favorable image for the company.  It’s an opportunity to impart a crucial message to the youths of our nation.

Dionne Chamberlain

Dionne Chamberlain, P.R. Manager, B.T.L.

“This is about our people, this is about us motivating these young people because Isani these [young men and women] are really our future.  I won’t have a pension or a retirement if our young people don’t rise out of the ashes like the phoenix that we really need to get them to that level and this is about building their morale, letting them know that their dreams can occur and that they have to believe in themselves.”

Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.