Features
Rhaburn?s Awards Show ? a smashing success!!
Some of the most celebrated Belizean entertainers from at home and abroad?including ?Prof? Drummond, who had not been in Belize for 30 years?performed on Friday night, December 10, at a sold-out show held at the Bliss Center for the Performing Arts in Belize City?and the performers, who span the era from the 1950?s to the present day, did not disappoint!
(Gerald) Lord Rhaburn opened the show, backed up by the Playaz Band, with the dancers of the National Dance Company, paving the way for Michael Usher?s smooth steel pan rendition of Ave Maria.
Mali Cayetano sings of love and its pitfalls
The young and vibrant Afro-Euro songbird, Mali Cayetano is only 20 years, but in her compositions that form a part of her latest album, I?m not doing well getting over you, she demonstrates a level of insight and maturity that is unusual for a young woman her age.
The Belizean singer, guitarist, song writer and poet gets high praises from Billie Jean Young, a renowned poet, actress, educator, and cultural worker of Alabama, USA.
Argentina ? an example of how the IMF ruins economies. Is Belize its next target?
?Holding back government spending in a contracting economy is like turning off the engines of an airplane in stall.?
Mark Weisbrot,
co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research
When the Prime Minister, Said Musa, invited the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to Belize about two months ago, some sentiments in social and economic circles were that of relief, while the sentiments of other Belizeans were that of trepidation.
When the seams of the Social Security Board fiasco burst during the summer, some Belizeans got up in the public spotlight and suggested, and in fact, in some instances, demanded, that Belize follow IMF measures. Some said that it would be better if the IMF could come to Belize and ?suggest? how the government could improve its economic strategies. Meanwhile, there were other Belizeans who were saying that it would be one of the worst stratagems that Belize could possibly entertain.
Social Security update ? audited 2003 report
Contributions increase 17%; benefits to workers increase 5%; investment income declines 15%
Amandala has received the 2003 annual report published by the Social Security Board (SSB) and it indicates that the total assets of the SSB have grown 3%, from about $268 million in 2002 to roughly $277 million in 2003.
According to former Finance Minister, Hon. Ralph Fonseca, who presented the Minister?s Message at the head of the report, ?Consolidating the efficiency and effectiveness of the administration of Social Security was a priority during 2003.?
The Garifuna Odyssey
It was during the era which millions of Africans were forcibly hauled off to the Americas that many of them also celebrated their newfound freedom here. The Garinagu?a people rooted in African traditions and whose identity became transformed as they mixed with the indigenous peoples of the region?demonstrate the importance of the struggle for freedom. It?s an odyssey that is perhaps best narrated from the point of enslavement.
The journey is believed to have begun in West Africa, from where millions of our African ancestors were packed into Spanish ships and hauled over the Atlantic, to the so-called New World. During the era of the slave trade, our African ancestors were uprooted from their traditional way of life?shackled and imprisoned as the chattel of the Europeans to serve their selfish, imperialistic agenda.
The Garifuna Settlement Day movement ? A cause for The Jewel
Garifuna Settlement Day, founded by Honduranean Carib Thomas Vincent Ramos, became a national holiday in 1977. This was an acknowledgement of the national importance of the Garifuna Settlement Day movement.
While much credit has gone to Ramos as the founder of Garifuna Settlement Day, the role of his immediate supporters and colleagues, Mateo Avaloy, C. S. Benguche, Domingo Ventura and Panteleon Hernandez, cannot be ignored. No man is an island, and Ramos recognized that his vision was one that was shared by his brothers and sisters, and hence the unanimous decision at the November 17, 1941 meeting for the day to be commemorated.
Charity for charity
California-based singer, Charity Goodin, is currently in Belize, where she is to perform along with some of the country?s finest jazz musicians on Friday night, November 5, for a YMCA benefit concert. The wine and cheese event is expected to begin at 8:00 p.m. at the House of Culture in Belize City.
The YMCA said that all the proceeds of the concert are going to the organization, which is requesting a $50 contribution from each person who attends.
Charity for charity
California-based singer, Charity Goodin, is currently in Belize, where she is to perform along with some of the country?s finest jazz musicians on Friday night, November 5, for a YMCA benefit concert. The wine and cheese event is expected to begin at 8:00 p.m. at the House of Culture in Belize City.
The YMCA said that all the proceeds of the concert are going to the organization, which is requesting a $50 contribution from each person who attends.
Dan Man comes ?Outta Trenchtown!
He is not a newcomer on the music scene by any estimation, but the energetic Allison Hemsley, popularly known as ?Dan Man,? is a newcomer to the world of published music. On Friday, Dan Man will launch a limited edition of his very first album, Outta Trenchtown.
Dan Man?s coming out as a recorded artist is his way of leaving a tangible piece of his original compositions with his fans, who range from the very young to the middle-aged?at least these are the people who he said have been following his music since he burst on the scene eight years ago.
Remembering Maurice Jones ? the ?70s superstriker!
Legendary striker, Maurice Jones, 49, credits himself with scoring over 300 goals during his football career in the first and second divisions.
At 6 feet and 2 inches tall and with a weight of about 170 pounds, Jones was an indomitable player.
