Seine Bight honours returning hero
He returned to the United States on Monday, but during his four-day visit to Belize, Milton Palacio demonstrated that his Belizean instincts are as sharp as his jump shot. After speaking at the Youth for the Future rally on Friday in Belize City, the NBA player headed south. On Saturday he received a hero’s welcome in his family’s home village of Seine Bight. Here’s the scene as captured by the cameras of the Government Press Office.
Milton Palacio
“The one thing that I want to leave everybody with, is the word called pride. I think everybody has that, and I know you guys have pride because you guys have pride in Seine Bight. I’m going to break the word pride down for you. Starting with the letter “P”, it is about positive mental attitude. I think that everybody here has a positive mental attitude because everybody came today to celebrate. Positive mental attitude is the attitude you have to have to whatever you want to be, to whatever you aspire to be, a school teacher, a lawyer, a doctor, professional soccer player, even an NBA basketball player or football player. But you have to have that positive mental attitude because there’s going to be a lot of people along the way who say you can’t make it. A lot of people told me that, said I was too small, said I wouldn’t do this, said I wouldn’t do that, I wasn’t handsome enough. The letter “R”, that’s respect. I think that’s the biggest thing, you can always learn and you can never forget it. I think you guys have to have respect for everybody, respect for each other, your classmates and your friends, and you have to respect your family and your parents. The letter “I” is intelligent choice, and I think that’s the biggest choice we have to make in today’s society. Because a lot of kids nowadays figure that, I can go with my friends here or I’ll look cool because I do this, it’s cool to hang out, it’s cool to do drugs or not to stay in school, but I think the best decision is to stay in school and you guys have done that. I see you guys with your nice uniforms on, so I know everybody here is attending school. The letter “D” is for dreams and goals. I know everybody here has a dream to be whatever they want to be. And one thing you can do is don’t let anybody step in the way if your dream. And you have to have goals to get to that dream. Lastly what I’ll leave with you is “E”, for effort and education. I know everybody here is putting their effort in their education and your parents are saying to get your education and stay in school. So I just want to leave that with you today. It’s just a word called pride and I think that’s the biggest thing everybody has, pride and I know you guys have pride of Seine Bight and I have the pride of my family and the last name that I carry on my jersey. But it’s not even the last name, it’s just the whole country of Belize that I try to carry on my shoulder and I try to represent you guys the best way I could. Thanks a lot.”
Palacio, who plays for the Phoenix Suns, has agreed to return to Belize in August where he will spend a week conducting basketball camps in Belize City, San Ignacio, Caye Caulker and Dangriga.
