Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

The National Women's Commission had their Outstanding Women's Awards this morning.  Congratulations to all the winners! Dr. Aird, Galen's Provost, was awarded Outstanding Woman of the Year. Wow! 

Pictures from the event

'18th Annual Outstanding Women's Awards 2023 at the Best Western Biltmore Plaza in Belize City.'

The Belize Audubon Society will be giving away mahogany seedlings to celebrate Earth Day starting on Tuesday, April 20th.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNxsRLalyAY/

"With Earth Day approaching on 22nd April, we are excited to announce that we will be hosting another Mahogany tree giveaway as part of our 'Greening Across Belize' initiative!

We will have 500 Mahogany trees available from Tuesday 20th April, which can be collected from either Guanacaste National Park, or the BAS head office in Belize City.

Anyone is welcome to collect a tree; they will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis, so don't miss out on the chance to help create a #GreenBelize by planting our national tree in your own back yard!"

Belize has a new podcast.  Belizing.com has a whole series of podcast interviews, with Javier Gutierrez as the host.  The first episode is an interview with Jim Scott, and the 2nd and 3rd are with the creator and head of the Belize Raptor Center.  It's Cayo based, so they've had mostly Cayo people on the podcast.  

"Host Javier Gutierrez of The Belize Travelcast welcomes Jim Scott for a discussion about his journey to Belize from Michigan, USA and what made him stay in Belize all these years. Jim recounts his time in Belize City and how he assimilated into the culture of Belize and fell in love with the people. They discuss his love of nature and his experiences as a scuba diver, fly fisherman, avid hiker, and a professional in the Belize tourism industry. Jim is an advocate for hospitality training in Belize and together with Lorena Zaldana they own and operate Hospitality Training Services Belize which offers hospitality training and certification in Belize and around the world. They are also the proprietors of the 501Hub, a new restaurant in Belize City which also serves as a training hub for restaurant staff."

The Belize Road Safety Project has received a Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for collaborative use of the Safe System approach.  Well deserved.  They've significantly reduced road traffic fatalities on the George Price Highway.  

"The Project, which was launched in 2013 with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Government of Belize, received the commendation in the Road Safety Management category.  The Road Safety Project focuses on the corridor between Belize City and Belmopan, including Belmopan Ring Road.  Prior to 2013, this stretch of road accounted for almost 50 percent of all road traffic deaths in the country of Belize.  At the end of December 2015, this figure had fallen to less than 10 percent.

At the Awards, the Project was lauded for collaborative use of the Safe System approach.  Under this approach, road safety is considered to not only be about crash reduction, but also the prevention of death and serious injury.  The aim is to create a road system which can anticipate and accommodate human error, as well as provide effective post-incident care in the event of an accident."

Another short ad for Belize from the Belize Tourism Board, this time focusing on the Meat Pie Man in Belize.

"Meet the Meat Pie Man of Belize City. They say his call is just as satisfying as his delicious treats."

Video of the day.  And what an amazing video it is.  Wow!  Great footage, some done with a drone, great music, and the best audio bites too.  This is a must see video.  Thank you, Special Envoy for Women and Children! 

"The second national 20,000 Women's Empowerment Rally held in Belize City on March 11th, 2016."

Cayo was represented well at Oceana's Rock the Vote yesterday at Memorial Park in Belize City.  It was a fantastic concert, and most of the well known Belizean artists came out and performed to support the cause of 'No Offshore Drilling.'

The Garifuna Collective, World Culture Band, Melonie Gillett, Jackie Castillo, Tanya Carter, TR Shine, and many others really rocked the house.  Nello Player, who won the Belize theme competition a few years back, has a new band, and they are incredible.

Thanks to all the amazing artists that took the time to play for this noble cause!

The 2022 Brain Bikers Rally is Sunday, May 15th.  It starts in Belmopan, and ends at the Bikers Fest at BTL Park.  

"The month of May is celebrated as Brain Injury Awareness Month. We spread awareness of this through the Bikers Rally event. This will take place on Sunday, May 15th, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. from Belmopan 1st round about going to BTL Park in Belize City. With a Biker Fest following after with entertainments, biker games, business sales booth, food & drinks."

Video of the day.  The Institute for Social and Cultural Research had a seminar last year about the history of the Belize flag.  Interesting to see the old coat of arms, and how it's evolved itself.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEw5tSOBQVa/

"The Belize History Association (BHA) in collaboration with the Institute for Social and Cultural Research and its partners proudly presents its Sixth Annual September Lecture as part of the 2019 September Celebrations. The lecture is entitled “The History and Evolution of the Belize Flag”.

The lecture was delivered by Mr. Nigel Encalada, Director of the Institute for Social and Cultural Research of the National Institute of Culture and History.

The lecture was held at the Bliss Center in Belize City on Tuesday, 17th September 2019, at 8:00 p.m."

Congratulations, FCD Environmental Youth Group!  They won Club of the Year at last night's Belize Youth Awards in Belize City.  Well deserved, as they work on many different projects around Cayo that focus on sustainability and environmental awareness.  

"FCD Environmental Youth Group is Awarded Club of the Year at the National Youth Awards 2019. This Award is Awarded to an organization that has consistently led, engaged and encouraged youth development activities and programmes that positively impact young people in whatever field of development."

While Halloween in Cayo was superb, with the jungle rave, Ascenthium played at Riverside Tavern in Belize.  Donnie Rockwire was there to video some of the concert.  Skip to the 3 minute mark after the video loads to see the good part.  The first song you'll see them play is Separate Ways.  They also play We Will Rock You from Queen. 

If you were wondering why Bex didn't win at the Miss Universe pageant, this might fill in some of the backstory.  This series of articles - link is to the 5 and last part, and it's worth it to start at part 1 due to the amazing, incredible, and almost unbelievable story of the last year in Miss Universe Belize history.  

Bex DID WIN!  Remember that she brought a nation together, and her current mission is to do her best to keep it together.  Have a wonderful year, Ms. Rath, and thanks for all you are doing to make Belize, and the world, a better place.

"There is something you need to know about Rebecca Kathleen Rath, better known to everyone as Bex.  She is fiercely competitive, but only when challenged.  She will laugh, joke, and have fun playing any game.  But let there be consequences, let there be some adversity and the beast comes out.  When she was 15, Bex was already known in Dangriga as a promising volleyball player.  But all the action in this sport was in Belize City under the coaching of Lupita Quan, the godmother of volleyball in Belize.  Lupita was always scouting talent from around the country and had heard about a tall teenager in the South.  One weekend, she asked Bex and a few other players from out-district to come for an open tournament in Belize City."

Feelgood news of the day.  Vanilla Hills donated food and supplies to Caledonia, which was hit hard by Hurricane Earl.

"On August 4th Hurricane Earl made landfall on Belize. This hurricane had a huge impact on several areas in Belize. Not only in San Pedro, Belize City and San Ignacio. There were and still are many more villages affected. One of them is Caledonia close to Orange Walk where the people make their living cutting sugar cane. We heard from this village since the family from one of our worker is living there. The hurricane destroyed the crops and the people have no work, no income, no money to buy food.

When we talked about this to our family on our last trip to Germany. Claudia's Mom immediately decided to help. She used her birthday party as a fundraiser. Instead of getting any presents, she asked friends and family to donate some money. In the end she raised more than 3.300 BZ$. She gave us the money and we arranged everything here. We bought more than 1.800 lbs of rice, beans and flour, as well as coffee and for families with little children we bought milk and diapers. Yesterday we distributed everything to 45 families. Thanks to everybody who supported this little project and a special thanks to a wonderful person (Claudia's Mom) who was so generous starting this fundraiser."