Health Fair Opens Education Showcase

Health and education are not normally paired together, unless it’s a subject in school. But the Belize District Education Center is kicking off the Education Showcase held every May by emphasizing knowledge of health and wellness. Its first ever community health fair brought together students from across the Old Capital with health-related organizations, both governmental and non-governmental. News Five’s Aaron Humes has more.

Aaron Humes, Reporting

The chosen theme for the month-long Education Showcase is “Literacy: A Ladder to Learning and Earning.” It is another emphasis of the Ministry of Education’s recently announced plan to promote literacy in schools. But what does that have to with a health fair? Education officer at the Belize District Education Center, Erica Clother, has the answer.

Erica Clother

Erica Clother, Education Officer, Belize District Education Center

“This health fair seeks to serve as a strong reminder of how important personal action is in preventing diseases. In the theme, literacy is focusing on the ability to read and write. But in this context, I will use another definition to it, which is to have competence or knowledge in a specified area. Becoming health literate is a ladder to knowledge of self, knowing how to keep oneself healthy and stress-free. It is also a ladder to learning, as one must be healthy in order to work efficiently and be able to care for oneself and family financially; also to live a long life and earn all the memories that is gained from being with friends and loved ones.”

From the health point of view, HECOPAB’s Emer Castaneda spoke to the importance of human capital and tied literacy to being healthy, wealthy and wise.

Emer Castaneda

Emer Castaneda, HECOPAB

“The introduction of human capital – that is, our skills, our knowledge, our education, has changed the way economists look at the determinants of economic growth. Economic growth used to be conceptualized, essentially, as a function of an increase in the stack of physical capital, such as machinery, equipment and structures; of labour, such as the number of people employed or the number of hours worked.  As we support “Literacy: A Ladder to Learning and Earning,” let’s take advantage of getting to know our health status. Let’s educate ourselves. Remember, prevention is better than cure.”

Aaron Humes reporting for News Five.