_{Namrita Balani is in charge of logistics at USPACES and comes from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology (MoECST).}

by Orlando Pulido

SANTA ELENA TOWN, Cayo District, Sun. Feb. 9, 2025

A child-and adolescent-friendly space was formally opened at the Benque House of Culture on Thursday, February 6, 2025. This follows similar culture and technology-rich USPACES having been opened in Corozal, Orange Walk, and Dangriga.

_{Area representative from Cayo West, Jorge Emilio Espat is third from left}.

In his presentation on Thursday afternoon, Minister of State in the Ministry of Investment, the Hon. Jorge Emilio Espat, referred to USPACES as a program that “will encourage personal growth.”

Minister Espat also referred to USPACES as having the potential to assist the future leaders of Belize.

_{Education Officer for the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund UNICEF, Natasha Mantock, on the far right, explaining the hardware for USPACES}

Natasha Mantock, a United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) representative, also told the audience that USPACES was a collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science, and Technology (MoECST).

“I am an education officer for UNICEF. This USPACE is a child-friendly space for children and adolescents, in and out of school, to access technology. There are going to be a lot of programs that they can access on their devices, including coding. They can [go] to the educational website, Access 501, where they can learn about history; and they can log into the people archives to make their own history,” she said.

_{Artist Yasser Musa highlighting USPACES}

Yasser Musa, a prominent Belizean visual artist, teacher, poet, and publisher, also did a presentation last Thursday. He stated that “Benque is the heart of cultural production in the state of Belize.”

In speaking with Amandala, Musa said, “I would like to say that the idea of making things connect, like technology, whether it is a tablet or a computer or a three-D printing — the jade head as an example, or whether it is an educational concept like, how do you set out a lesson, a curriculum, those things: technology, and education — are excellent when they come together. But to me, the bottom line is that when culture is involved, this is where the power of the people comes in, because culture, as you might know, is what we are and who we are.”

Head of logistics for USPACES, Namrita Balani, who comes from MoECST, has stated that participants will also be able to get involved with robotics in partnership with the Belize High School, located on Mercy Lane in Belize City. (The Belize High School has had a robotics program and has been able to compete internationally.)

_{Dance group performing at the House of Culture in Benque last Thursday}

At the opening of the House of Culture in Benque, the marimba group, Los Hijos del West, performed. On Thursday, a dancing group also performed for the audience.

At the end of the program, the coordinator of the Benque Viejo House of Culture, Nayelli Yacab thanked the MoECST, UNICEF, and the National Institute of Culture and History (NICH) for making USPACES possible. Other USPACES are being planned for Belize.

(AMANDALA Ed. Note: The UNICEF website describes USPACES as “the intersection of Education + Culture + Technology”.)