4 more months. Brother Henry Gordon has brought it to our attention that, by the painful letter of the law, a Belize government can hold on to the reins, more critically, the keys to the gold vault, for 5 years and 4 whopping months! You know what that means? We get bex and vote out the Reds in 1998 for the wrong reason! And we mek dem wait some more in 2003 because we mi think dehn mek we wait een a 98! What price…If we mi only know. But it is not our fault. The Reds had the wisdom and in folly they did not separate us from our ignorance.
Braa, you can bet the Blue will not fail to apprise us of the cold facts if they bow to horrible mischief and extend their term past the expiration date…March 08! Whoo, can you imagine the hot days of May and the faded Blue in its present form (21-8) is still clinging to government? Attrition, attrition, they will attrition us poor people till wi kyaahn tek noh moh!
87%. I have heard that Ministry of Education stats show 87-88% of our primary school students go on to high school. Are they saying that 87-88% of students who enter primary school go on to high school? Or are they saying that 87-88% of primary school students who reach Standard Six go on to high school? Whatever, we can do better.
Abandoned houses in cities and towns can be rented cheaply and turned into schools. In the villages, in a central area, large thatched houses can be constructed cheaply and turned into schools. Retired teachers and civil servants can be recruited to teach English, Spanish, Arithmetic, Life Science, Civics, and a trade. These teachers should be paid…cheaply… at a rate not more than half of what is paid to regular teachers. Bring it on.
It is morally wrong to send a child into the world in 2007 without a high school education. The world has changed so much over these last years.
Lazy man. One of my bosses (when I was a boy) passed on a bit of wisdom from his grandfather to me re- the hiring of workers on the farm: it’s all in weh di pants tayr! My boss said that his grampa seh that a man who pants tayr da di bati, da wahn lazy man – don’t hire him. But a man who pants tayr da di knee, that is a working man. Give him a job. Of course, in this age of the computer, the man who could sih down pahn ih fat backside all day long is king!
ACMC. Everything is politics these days, so let me explain something about covering the ACMC, a football tournament sponsored by Mr. Charles Galvez and the PUP Cayo South Committee.
I have explained before that I do not care for politicians being so close to sports. If I were king, no politician would own any team, or be so near to our games. But I applaud these men like Mr. Ramon Witz and Mr. Hubert Enriquez and Mr. Elvin Penner (originally from our area) and Mr. John Saldivar and Mr. Galvez, who, in the vacuum of government apathy towards sports, and mal administration, light a little candle in the dark. Our youths need to kick and bounce and throw ball. And to be recognized when they do well.
When former All-Belize football star, Mr. Denmark Casey got the job to co-ordinate the ACMC, he came to my house to ask my advice. I was honored that he did. When I think of all that Denmark put into football and the little he got out of it, because of visionless men who stand in the path of progress, I cannot hold back my two cents. I hope he does well, gains the experience, and joins the fight for the next generation…so they are not denied the way he was.
Miss Solo. You must have heard the story about the girl at the Women’s World Cup, Hope Solo, who said that if she were in goal Brazil would not have beaten the USA. Now it is okay for an athlete to feel that way, but in team sports you can’t get more wrong than making such selfish thoughts known. Too many people in high places in Belize don’t understand the tremendous value of proper sports upbringing in nation building. That’s why we have produced these tons of selfish people who only think of what their country can do for them. They ruin a good country.
Women team sports are young, there isn’t much culture (history) there yet, so it is understandable why the young American portero blundered so terribly. There are individual sports for people who insist on having it their way. In team sports you have to hold it down for the group. There are times when you have to stand up…corrupt management, hanky panky, etc., but you can’t criticize the coach for choosing Jack over Joe for the job. Her punishment was severe.
The well-structured sports program is invaluable to a nation’s growth. The British masters had a sound sports program in Belize, as can be attested to by our excellence in Central America and the Caribbean way up into the sixties; and the discipline of our elders. The Peaceful Constructive Belizean Revolution was right to throw out the British. Because the PCBR didn’t see the value of sports, that baby was thrown out with the bath water. For that, we have harvested indiscipline and international shame.
Sports will not make saints of men. But it will teach us how to share the pelota.