Meet the 25 Recipients of the B.T.L. Scholarship Programme
A number of students today received financial support to fulfil their educational goals. Belize Telemedia Limited issued twenty-five scholarships to students who met the criteria for the awards. Most are moving on to high school, one to Saint John’s College Junior College and another was granted an additional award for further education at the University of Belize. The award ceremony was a happy occasion for the deserving youths and their families who won’t have the worry of paying tuition fees. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Twenty-five students from across the country are joining about eighty others who are currently part of the scholarship programme of Belize Telemedia Limited. Today, at the Radisson in Belize City, the successful applicants were gifted scholarships to attend a high school of their choice or a tertiary level institution to further their educational ambitions. Since the inception of the programme over six hundred persons have benefited, with the number of recipients growing each year.
Rochus Schreiber
Rochus Schreiber, C.E.O., B.T.L.
“Since 1991, we have issued and awarded over six hundred scholarships and the number of scholarships we have given every year is growing annually. As you said, this is year is twenty-five. It’s with great joy and great pleasure that our employees participate in this and dedicate their time to work with the families, review the applications and select the best of the best for the programme. We are part of the society and we cannot exist as a successful enterprise without functioning and working in a successful, evolving and progressive society. Therefore, we see ourselves as one of the many guardians of the progress; there are many other companies who are doing great job on providing scholarships and providing assistance to families and giving back to the society. We are one of the many; we want to be leading on the charge on working for better Belize, for brighter future and our future depends on the future of the country.”
C.E.O. Rochus Schreiber says that the students are now part of the B.T.L. family where staff members will mentor them and keep track of their progress in school. He also shared the criteria used to select the awardees.
Rochus Schreiber
“There is a committee which consists of employees as well as board members who review the applications and select the best submissions based on their performance in school, based on their financial need and based on their general aptitude and attitude towards achievements and the future that they want to go after.”
The financial need is often times the defining factor behind a child not being able to attend high school. And for Myvelin Lopez, the scholarship ensures that she has a future, starting with her enrolment at Saint Ignatius High School in Santa Elena.
Myvelin Lopez
Myvelin Lopez, Scholarship Recipient
“I’m proud because my mom didn’t have the money to afford to send me to high school and I applied and they tell me yes. My mom didn’t have the money so she said maybe next year or maybe she no mi wah send me to high school. So they give me this scholarship and I am proud and happy and everything.”
Duane Moody
“You have any idea as to what you want to be in life?”
Myvelin Lopez
“In my life, I want to become a police or a secretary.”
Interestingly, two of the successful applicants, Henrick Williams and Abdi Bochub: were issued scholarship to attend Saint John’s College Junior College and the University of Belize, respectively. In the case of sixteen-year-old Bochub, back in 2014, he was given a spot in the scholarship programme and he was awarded yet another two years to pursue an Associate’s Degree in Mathematics and Physics in the hopes of becoming an IT technician.
Abdi Bochub
Abdi Bochub, Scholarship Recipient
“I am grateful to God because I wouldn’t be able to do it by myself; it’s only him. I also would like to thank my parents, my family; also my teachers. My teachers as well because they played a role in what I learnt and this shaped me because something I had to learn the tough way and I get to learn from them. It’s been quite challenging but overall, I made it through.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
