To Belize and Back

May 07, 2017 News

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By Kiana Wilburg

For four days and three nights, I was courted by another.

But as charming as this suitor was, in many ways, I only found myself falling in love all over again with the one that truly holds my heart—Guyana.
It was on April 23, last, that I began a journey to Belize for a conference on Climate Change. The event was a collaborative effort between the Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
J-CCP is a forum which brings together some of the world’s best policy makers, experts and representatives of communities. They all meet to pool their ideas on how they can best encourage policy innovation for climate change.
By doing so, the initiative helps to ensure that barriers to the implementation of climate -resilient technologies are addressed and overcome in a participatory and efficient manner.
The point of the programme that I attended was to build capacity among journalists in the Caribbean on reporting on climate change. Belize was selected as the host country for this workshop, as the effects of climate change in this English-speaking nation are not just obvious but saddening.
The trip was a relatively long one. It required travelling from Guyana to Trinidad and Tobago then a four-hour flight to Miami. After spending the night in the glorious state that is Florida, it was off to Belize the next day.
The journey from the airport in Belize to the hotel I was stationed at, the Ramada Belize City Princess Hotel was approximately 20 to 30 minutes. Immediately, it was apparent that like Guyana, Belize is as picturesque as it gets. There was dense, lush forest bordering the roadway to the hotel, but not many skyscrapers to see. In fact, tall buildings are not predominant in Belize City.

FOOD AND CULTURE
After settling in, it was of course time for one of my favourite parts of any day—eating! There are distinct disparities between Guyana and Belize in this regard. Although there are several Guyanese residing in Belize City, there is no outlet with cook-up rice, curried chicken or beef. There is no puri, no roti, no fried rice, no chowmein, lowmein or even saltfish and bakes.

Belizean food is in fact very simple, like their famous Salt and Pepper chicken. And with the exception of their juices which are made from local produce, almost every serving of food must have lots of onions and green peppers, from eggs to peas to rice and curried minced balls. It’s quite an experience for anyone’s palate.

THE CONFERENCE
The Climate Change conference garnered mixed reviews from many of the journalists who attended. We were asked to introduce ourselves through a headline. And things kicked off from there. The three presenters of the programme included Dr. Kalim Shah; Media and Journalism Training Expert, Mary Owen; and Dr. Everold Hosein.
Dr. Shah was the technical one. Bringing almost 15 years of experience in the wider Caribbean region, Shah took journalists through the nuts and bolts of understanding the fundamentals, myths and realities of climate change.
He also took his audience through the terminology associated with the topic and policies related with this complex science that are often misunderstood. Shah, who also has over 20 peer-reviewed research publications on climate

change, also shared expert information on how to find credible climate change data and tips for assessing that information.
As for Mary Owen, she is a writer, editor and photographer, who has worked in journalism for 15 years. She is a digital content producer at ABC News in Chicago, with responsibility for the network’s digital platform in the third largest TV market in the USA.
For the Climate Change programme, Mary’s focus was based on how journalists can get climate change stories on the front page. Participants were also placed into small groups to discuss story ideas that could be done on the subject matter. Her presentation also placed emphasis on how journalists can ask effective follow-up questions on complex issues as well as using digital tools for storytelling.
The favourite presenter was Media and Communications Training Expert, Dr. Hosein. It would take a separate feature to fully encapsulate the magnitude and importance of some of the tips and tricks he offered to journalists covering hardcore issues in their respective countries.
Be that as it may, Dr. Hosein has over 45 years of experience in strategic communication, integrated marketing communication, advocacy and public relations, communication for development, health education and behavioural impact and change.
His presentation was primarily focused on inspiring journalists to push past the barriers of simply educating the public.
One of his simple, yet powerful pieces of advice was, “Ok, so you have informed the public of this matter. Now what? What is your point? Is the information convincing enough to make the average man change his behaviour? Or

will he simply continue on, doing the same thing day after day, regardless of what he reads? One of the objectives of journalism must be to bring about behavioural change. If it is not doing that, then you need to reassess your angle/approach and come again…”
Dr. Hosein, who started out his studies in journalism and has a passion for it to this day, holds on to the view that journalists should be “activist journalists”; inspiring change, going beyond informing the public and learning day by day how to provoke a nation to action. He shared useful information in this regard as well.
While some journalists shared the view that there were aspects of the programme more geared or suited to PR officers, it was agreed that Hosein’s contributions throughout the programme certainly made it extremely worthwhile and beneficial, while adding a much needed balance for journalists covering hardcore stories.
Another useful aspect of the programme was also spearheaded by Hosein. He engaged journalists in an activity of serious introspection of their own work. To achieve this, participants were placed into small groups. Each was given a story from a reputable new site to assess.
A very detailed and crucial list of criteria was presented to us to assess the stories given. It soon became clear that articles which would appear somewhat impressive at first glance really had a number of weaknesses.
A second filter for assessing stories was also offered. By the end of this activity, it was as if each participant was given a new pair of eyes with which they would assess their own work and that of others. It’s now impossible for me to even see my own work the way I did prior to this workshop.

SECURITY

Part of the trip also involved a visit to local communities of Southside, Belize. The communities in that area have experienced significant flooding over the years due to extreme weather and poor adaptive capacity.
Journalists had the opportunity to document the site and interview residents about the experience.
But an interesting development occurred before this little adventure.
A UNDP security official shared some statistics about the crime rate in Belize with particular reference to the area the journalists were being taken to. Of the stats, provided, the one that seemed to have alarmed most of the participants was that of 39 murders which occurred in Belize since January, 20 of which occurred in Southside. To top things off, the arrest rate in Belize is “Very Low”.
It quickly became a sensitive issue, as the event had participants from Belize who were not pleased at all, and to some extent offended by the alarmed reactions of the visiting participants to the statistics.
It made me wonder if the roles were reversed, how Guyanese would react if others were to hear our crime statistics. We would be just as annoyed and perhaps even offended?

With my food for thought in mind, I still attended the tour, but stayed close to my two colleagues Sharda Bacchus from Stabroek News and Royden James from Nightly News. There were no incidents and the security escorts did a commendable job in making participants feel safe.
From our observations, the communities in Southside are experiencing the effects of climate change at a rapid pace. In one instance, we were given a tour of a school that is located just mere metres away from the sea. The school is constantly under threat.
Flooding has become a norm for the children there. There is nothing they can do. They are unable to relocate due to unavailable lands. It was a reality check for me. I saw firsthand how fortunate and blessed Guyana is.
After being told prior to the trip that the crime rate in Belize was high and then receiving actual stats during the session, exploring the city and its depths and bounds was not high on my agenda. Like many other participants, I confined myself to the boundaries of my hotel.

SUPPORT FOR BUSINESS
Crime rate aside, Belize must be praised for how passionate it is about supporting its small businesses. The citizens hold fast to the belief that the small man must be pushed and pushed until he has fallen into the ocean of success. A classic example of this was the hotel I was stationed at. For breakfast, servers offered locally-made jellies and bread and the majority of the ingredients for the food were made with spices and products which were locally produced.
They also have a policy of only using locally produced sugars for sweeteners. This is always offered as a first preference, but should a foreigner specifically request a particular overseas brand of sugar, once it is available, it is provided. Additionally, beer or any alcohol made in Belize is more affordable than imported products. It’s one of the tactics they use to persuade the use of their own.

FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN
By the end of my trip, I was praying to get home; to have home-cooked food, to return to my job, to write this feature, to enjoy karaoke, to simply get back to regular programming.
Belize indeed wooed me with its great tasting beer, sumptuous foods and diverse culture while offering unique experiences for my career in journalism.
But truth be told, the journey was one which simply made me fall in love again with my homeland, and deepened my sense of appreciation for the part of the world I’m blessed to call a home.
Of course, several “unforgettable” things occurred while I stopped over in Miami. But what happens in Miami stays in Miami.

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