Early this morning, well at least by our standards, we headed to the University of Belize for two lectures. The first lecture was given by Joseph Sampson, a professor at the University of Belize in the History and Anthropology Department and teaches course on Belize and Latin American History.
The Mayans comprised the original population of Belize
In the 1600’s the Spaniards and English began creating small settlements throughout the country to cultivate the logwood
Quickly the Europeans recognized that a larger labor force was needed in order to have access to all of the resources in Belize, therefore slaves from Africa and the Caribbean were brought to Belize
Belize as a country is still attempting to fix what Columbus did, discovering is all perspective and Columbus did not discover the Americas, but rather stumbled into it
The average salary of a domestic worked in Belize is $3,000 US per year while the average salary of a ministry worker is $45,000-$50,000 US per year
The population of Belize is 350,000, approximately the same population as Corpus Christi, Texas
The second lecture contained information regarding the health ministry in Belize and was presented by Dr. Marjorie Parks.
The top three causes of death in Belize are Diabetes Mellitus, Ischemic Heart Disease, and homicide and injury purposely inflicted
There are 366 hospital beds available in the country, the majority are at Memorial Hospital in Belize City
Speech therapy is not available in Belize, Physical therapy is available on a limited basis
Both of these lectures gave us a further glimpse into Belize policy, the education system, the health care system, and the needs of the people.
Following the lectures and a delicious lunch, we headed back to the University to begin to work on our presentations for the Stella Maris school next week. On the walk back from the University, a few of us decided to join in on a futbol game with some of the local Belize children, thankfully they were good sports because we weren’t very good!
Before dinner, five of us wanted to walk around the town of Belmopan and walked into a local church, where three people were praying. They invited us to join them for a scripture reading as well as a gospel testimony. The women leading the service was 72 years old and was also the youth ministry at this particular church. She discussed the troubles that she sees with the youth’s lack of attendance to church and their difficulty discerning right from wrong. It was definitely interesting to here her discuss problems in Belize that we also see in America.
Meredith Kearney
Founding Board Member, Students for Global Communication
Playing soccer outside UB
University of Belize SGC Group
University of Belize with lectures and provost
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