26 Students are Awarded B&B Scholarships
A group of students were in a celebratory mood at Bowen and Bowen Brewery in Ladyville, Belize District. And for good reason, twenty-six of them will go on to further their studies at different institutions around the country. Bowen and Bowen has awarded the deserving group with scholarships. The awardees share one thing in common; they are relatives of employees of the company. Here is Duane Moody with a report.
Duane Moody, Reporting
Over one hundred and ten persons have and continue to benefit from the scholarship programme of Bowen and Bowen Limited. In its fifth year, over forty persons applied and after they were assessed on their academic grades, career goals and financial need, twenty-six students became beneficiaries of the programme. With these additional students, there are now sixty-two active scholars of the B and B programme. In an interesting twist, the recipients are relatives of one thousand two hundred employees of the company.
John Palacio
John Palacio, Public Relations Coordinator, Bowen & Bowen
“We decide when it comes to a lot of things, we decide to do it in house. Why not help each other? We do a few things here, we do a few things there, but we believe that when we educate our people, then we tend to educate our country. And that is the reason why we decided when it comes to the scholarship programme it is a B and B thing. There was a selection process; this was actually our biggest intake so far over the five [years]. What we were looking for ideally were ten for vocational/technical, ten for high school and ten for tertiary level. But while we only received one for vocational/technical, we said why not push the others when it comes to high school and tertiary level.”
Thirteen are high school scholarships, twelve for associate’s programme and one vocational technical; four are previous scholars who graduated this year. The star scholar is Ivanne Cano who will be attending the Sacred Heart Junior College in San Ignacio, Cayo.
Ivanne Cano
Ivanne Cano, Star Scholar 2019
“It was a very unexpected opportunity, but at least my hard work paid off; the four long years of high school. I was in standard six in primary school and my mom had to undergo a surgery. I was very young and it was a time that came close to the beginning of high school and it cost more than primary. It was very challenging for us financially.”
Duane Moody
“With this opportunity, what is it that you are going to be studying at Sacred Heart Junior College?”
Ivanne Cano
“I will be studying accounting; I will get my associate’s in accounting.”
Duane Moody
“With a goal to become a…”
Ivanne Cano
“My goal is to become an accounting manager in like the tourism sector.”
Cano’s message to her peers is for them to study hard and persevere. Meanwhile, Minister of Education Patrick Faber says it is a gift that should be cherished. He says that programmes like these by corporate citizens help to build the nation.
Patrick Faber
Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“The work of educating a nation, having a functional education system is not easy, but bigger than that, it is not cheap. Education is expensive and to carry out the function of education in our country, the government foots a lot of the bill, but we also rely on other players to help in this fight. We rely on bilateral agreements with other countries. Those who are recipients of the B and B scholarships that in fact this is a gift. While your parents are employees of Bowen and Bowen, it is a gift and it is a wonderful gift that ought to be cherished.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
