The Belize Friends School was invited by the Statistics Institute of Belize to participate in an exhibition under the theme “Building Resilience of the Caribbean Community.” The exhibition was held on October 15th which is Caribbean Statistics Day. One motive for the exhibition was to spark an interest among students for the use of statistics and numbers to describe the world around us.The use of statistics can also help users plan for the future.
At the exhibit, there were presentations from various public agencies that collect and analyze data. The exhibitors included the Customs and Excise Department, the Public Health Department as well as the Central Bank of Belize. The Belize Crime Observatory presented data on crime statistics for the country in chart form as well with computer generated heat maps of crime statistics. The Statistics Institute of Belize, the key organizer for the exhibit also had their booth complete with chart displays and a well-publicized display of the upcoming 2020 Census population survey. Quite a few booths teased the students’ knowledge skills with test questions. In most cases students were able to walk away with gift items.
The students from Belize Friends School left after two hours thoroughly satisfied with the exposure to the show. The local media also featured our students and staff in the evening news items with passing shots. In short, an educational tour well worth the effort!
On October 19, Belize City Friends Center hosted an outreach event held by Belmopan Nazarene Church. The group came from Belmopan, the capital of Belize, which is about an hour from Belize City. They brought lawyers, counselors, a medical team (including doctors, a nurse, and a pharmacist), groceries, clothing, and shoes. The day ended with an enthusiastic streetside worship service. Teams of people went into the neighborhood in the morning to let people know what was happening, and a steady stream of people came all through the day to access the holistic services the group provided.
Nikki Holland says, "It was really amazing for me to see a group from a different city in Belize come to benefit ourcommunity. I'm grateful to them for coming and to Oscar for coordinating with the group for the use of our space. Oscar went out with one of the teams that walked through the Southside neighborhood to publicize the event. It was an unusually hot day, and Oscar told me that people in many of the homes he visited offered him cold water. "What could be better on a hot day?" he said. I love that our neighborhood was ministering to this group, even while the group was ministering to our neighborhood."
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