E.U. funds village internet, other rural projects

On yesterday’s newscast we reported on agreements signed with the European Union to assist farmers and residents of the sugar and banana belts. But not all the E.U.’s aid goes toward improving the efficiency of farmers in the north and south. News Five’s Marion Ali is just back from the Cayo District where she visited one small village that’s about to enter the digital age.

Marion Ali, Reporting
While students of most urban areas have internet access at their fingertips, one rural community can now boast the same. This morning the Cotton Tree Women’s Internet Café was officially inaugurated through funds from the European Union’s Belize Rural Development Programme. It’s an initiative that’s been in the making for several months, says B.R.D.P’s Technical Director, Dr. Marcelino Avila.

Dr. Marcelino Avila, Technical Director, Belize Rural Development Prog.
“We usually will invest in improving the infrastructure, getting the right kind of equipment or installations organised and trying to help them as well with the appropriate technology. In this case with the computers, the internet connection, photocopier, etcetera; whatever they need in order to be able to do the business. We also have sort of a guideline of how much we can invest that’s in between in the order of fifteen to twenty-five thousand that we can invest. In this particular one, I think it’s around twenty-two thousand that we’re investing with them.”

It’s an investment that President of the seventeen-member Women’s Group, Rose Anderson, says will continue through efforts that will keep the programme not only alive but sustainable.

Rose Anderson, Pres., Cotton Tree Women’s Internet Café
“Apart from the internet café, the group have other activities. We also do food processing, we sell used clothing and we do like fast food on weekends.”

Marion Ali
“Anybody can come here?”

Rose Anderson
“Anybody…”

And while anybody can use the services for a minimal three dollars an hour fee, Cotton Tree’s student population of three hundred will be the biggest beneficiaries.

Marion Ali
“Deon before now, what you used to have to do fi get your homeworks done?”

Deon Anthony, Std six student, Cotton Tree Village
“I really just write down the homework and I give my father so he can research it on the internet at his work. He basically did that and he gave me and I bring it to school and so I just write it down in my homework book and that’s how mainly we use the internet here cause it didn’t have …”
Marion Ali
“So this convenient now.”

Deon Anthony
“Yes ma’am, very convenient. So now dah just use the computer, easier fi we, less hassle.”

Gamaliel Vela, Std. six student, Cotton Tree Village
“I used to copy all the notes and the questions weh I mi have to do then they give it my bredda mek ih ker it Belmopan and if he have time because he used to go dah school too, if ih got time mek ih go and do the homework weh I fi do and then mek he bring it back and then mek I go da school.”

Marion Ali
“This da how you used to your homework all the time when you had assignments, internet assignments?”

Gamaliel Vela
“Yes.

Marion Ali
“Now that yo have this center right eena di community it’s much better?”

Gamaliel Vela
“Yes. Because I noh have to worry bout if I have to give my bredda the homework or something. I could come right ya and then I have much time fi mek I could do my homework.”

Marion Ali
“And play games.”

Gamaliel Vela
“Noh so much.”

The B.R.D.P. also provides the necessary training that managers and supervisors will need to properly run the operation.

Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.

The residents of Cotton Tree Village were not the only beneficiaries of investments made today. The European Union’s Head of Delegation, Marco Mazzochi-Alemanni, was on hand in San Ignacio to present grants to four separate non-govermental groups. They included the Toledo Teacher’s Credit Union in Tandem with Plenty Belize, the Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology, the Young Women’s Christian Association, and the United Nation’s Development Programme.

Chris Villafranco, Treasurer of the T.T.C.U. Board of Directors
“Small grants will be given out for various projects in the Toledo District in the rural areas. It’s mainly for small businesses, to establish small businesses. Also, a part of the money will be used for capacity building. It will be groups of five members will fill out an application form and then those will be assessed and then the grants will be awarded.”

Marion Ali
“So in this case, the credit union also gives out grants?”

Chris Villafranco
“Well, no. The credit union doesn’t give out grants, just this special programme, through this special programme a committee will be formed with the three organisations which will be responsible for giving out those grants, yes.”

Dennis Jones, Managing Dir., BEST
“Well, the money is for providing a hundred grants—a minimum of a hundred grants to poor, marginalised families in Belize, Cayo and Toledo Districts. We haven’t worked out exactly how many loans or how many grants we’ll get per district but the grants are for enterprising, small businesses which can be either agriculturally based or service based so that will have a source of income from the initial invesments that we make.”

Marion Ali
“How do you work out who qualifies, do these applicants have to show you some documentation?”

Dennis Jones
“Well, What we do is we have to get income information from them but as you well know, in rural families sometimes they don’t have income tax returns that they file. So we have to use proxies for income, we look at things like the quality of the house they live in, the state of the family, the number of children in the family; those kinds of things.”

Jessica Faieta, U.N.D.P. Resident Representative
“Particularly to benefit the rural communities of Belize especially in the central western part of Belize and also something to the north and south. Its basically funds that will go to improve the competitiveness in the quality of the small farmers, rural farmers and producers to help them increase their value of the products and also to reach markets better.”

Elaine Middleton, President, Y.W.C.A.
“It’s going to be in the general training of rural women, especially the areas that have difficulty with mothers with a number of children and not having any employment. So we are going to be concentrating on subjects like day care training, business entrepreneurship, marketing and we will also be having residential classes with women who will be coming as far away as from Punta Gorda. We are going to be expanding the building so we have hostel facilities so that the women can live there during their course of training. Then we will assist them to start up small businesses of their own.”

The Toledo Teacher’s Credit Union and Plenty Belize received five hundred and sixty thousand dollars, BEST was granted four hundred and eighty two thousand dollars, while the U.N.D.P. benefited from three point six four million. The Y.W.C.A received eight hundred and forty thousand dollars for its various projects.

The last beneficiaries of aid from the European Union received their money almost seven months ago and today saw the project come to fruition. Phase one of the new San Ignacio market adjacent to Joseph Andrews Drive, is complete. The E.U’s Head of Delegation, Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni explained how these projects are considered for funding while Mayor John August says the project is already improving the appearance of the town.

Marco Mazzocchi-Alemanni, Head of Delegation, E.U.
“We have had for a number of years, a very important project here in Belize which addresses rural development, in particular the rural poor. This project is endowed with over twenty million Belize dollars and today we have taken some very important steps. First of all, we have just signed four extremely important agreements for a total of more than five million out of the twenty one million Belize and they go toward different areas. Actually inaugurating another project, which we signed a year ago and as you can see it’s ready. It is the Cayo market and this project has cost half a million Belize and it’s going to benefit seventy families.”

John August, Mayor, San Ignacio
“The project will comprise of two phases; phase one and phase two and this phase one and this definatley what we hoped the project would look like.

Marion Ali
“What will phase two incorporate?”

John August
“Phase two will incorporate building and additional ten more stalls—sorry nine more stalls, doing some paving, landscaping and a food court where people will have access to sell food during the week and on weekends also. The stalls here, yes they will be rented, monthly rent that they will be paying. We are catering right now we have fifteen stalls that are being built so we are catering for fifteen what we call permanent vendors.”