Partners of the Americas open convention
While on one side of the city gunmen, victims and police played out their deadly drama, across town the old capital put its best foot forward to host a diverse international gathering of people focussed on a more positive future. News Five’s Janelle Chanona has more.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
With pomp and circumstance, this morning the forty second international convention of Partners of the Americas was launched in Belize City.
Belize?s partnership with the service organization dates back four decades when it joined with Michigan to form the Belize-Michigan Partners in 1966.
Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
?Speaking Spanish: Un pueblo unido hamas cerra bencido. Translated: A united people will never be conquered.?
Following his keynote address to conference participants, Prime Minister Said Musa highlighted how Belize has benefited from Partners? programs.
Said Musa
?Michigan Partners has helped us a lot in the field of education in providing scholarships for many Belizeans. I?m told it might be as many as forty Belizeans have benefited. People like Carlos Santos, Dr. Garbutt all these people. They have received scholarships to study in Michigan so it has helped a lot. They are also doing work … many people don?t, some hide their bushel no or hide their good works under the bushel I should say and I think the Michigan Partners is one of those. But I, clearly I think it has a lot of potential to expand and grow.?
The Belize Michigan relations will grow quite literally in coming months with the launch of the Moringa Tree project.
Dr. Christopher Bennett, President, Belize Partners
?Right now in the pipeline we have a moringa tree project which is a health, a miracle tree in fact, so the plan to have these trees distributed across the country. It has immense nutritional benefits plus health benefits. It has seven times more vitamins than oranges, four times the calcium in milk. It?s a rapid growing tree and we are recommending that once the tree reaches a height of four feet we harvest because you can eat the leaves, you can eat the flowers, you can eat the pods. Again we have projects to provide sewing machines to women in Cayo, so there are a number of projects in the pipelines and we can foresee even bigger projects with more members.?
According to Bennett, in the initial phase of the project, more than three thousand seedlings will be distributed to Belizean families and high schools in every district. But big ideas need many hands.
Malcolm Butler, President, Partners of the Americas
?We would love to have more Belizeans involved because they share our core values of our organizations. Secondly, Belize, we saw the young people, the choir, the scouts they are a lot of young people. We need more young people in the Partners of the Americas and we would love to have Belizean young people. And finally it?s a way of contributing to understanding the countries of the hemisphere, but also it?s a way we have a lot of fun so we would really welcome more Belizeans.?
On Friday, members of Partners of the Americas will roll up their sleeves to refurbish the Noel Ferguson Park in Belize City and plant the first moringa trees.
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
The Belize Chapter of Partners of the Americas plans to officially adopt the Noel Ferguson Park later this year. In related news, Partners of the Americas has recognized local president Dr. Christopher Bennett as the Volunteer of the Year for his dedicated service to the organization’s goals.
