A group of high school students have been mulling over ideas for turning the nations trash problem into a financial opportunity. Amandala got a chance to speak with some of them on Tuesday, when we visited the ITVET to learn more about financial literacy training being undertaken by Peacework in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, as a part of a two-week long education showcase.
Shiyanne Perez, a third form student of Pallotti High School, was the spokesperson for her group: Universal Greenies. Perez and her teammates, Zaadia Flores, Courtney Garnett, Dayra Gutierrez and Zyania Alonzo, have been busy creating works of art from soda bottles, plastic bags and old tires.
They made a lamp shade from soda bottles, a flower vase from a glass bottle, a table and stool from old tires, and a purse and pencil case from fused plastic bags.
Perez said that their proposal is for the establishment of a recycling center where people can drop off items such as plastics, electronics clothing and uniforms for possible modification and resale.
“The whole idea behind it is to try and take out non-biodegradable materials and reuse them,” she told us.
We also got a chance to speak with two third formers from Maud Williams High School: Brhea Bowen and Zaron Elrington, whose project idea seemed complimentary to that proposed by Universal Greenies.
Their team is Maud Williams Waste Watchers – a group which they hope would operate something like a neighborhood watch program. The refuse they collect could be channeled to Universal Greenies for conversion into usable items.
“Our ideas are to start a 3-month campaign to inform everybody about the big effort to start to pick up and clean, and recycle,” said Bowen.
Waste Watchers have been practicing for the oral presentation on Wednesday, when all teams would have to pitch their ideas to their audience at the ITVET, as part of the high school innovation challenge.
The plan calls for the support of the business community, mostly through in-kind contributions: “We don’t really want all of our sponsors to be giving money. We actually need the supplies…” Bowen said.
Elrington told us that they have a written plan and even if they don’t succeed in the competition, they would still aim to do the project at a more local scale – at least on campus at their school.
“The focus is to come up with a business solution to the waste management issues. So it’s about environmental justice,” said Kelly Behrend, Director of Strategy and Innovation at Peacework, the spokesperson for the event.
Behrend told Amandala: “We believe in partnership with the Ministry of Education that financial literacy and entrepreneurship are some of the most basic skills that young people can develop to live successful lives, to be professionals, enter into the workforce, to have confidence in themselves. Financial literacy is much more than just Math – it’s public speaking, it’s business planning, it’s planning for your future and we believe that every child should have not just numeracy and grammar skills but also pathways to building a future of success and to be happy.”
She said that those participating in the high school innovation challenge were the top performing students from 10 high schools in the Belize District. Among them were Anglican Cathedral College, Belize High School, Edward P. Yorke High School, Gwen Lizarraga High School, Ladyville Tech, Pallotti, Maud Williams and Wesley.
She said that Peacework has been working in Belize for 15 years, and over the past 7 years they have engaged 5,000 youths in Belize City.
She urges the business community to continue supporting the innovative ideas proposed by the students.
“We are hoping that the local business community will help support the ideas of these young people,” Behrend said.
(Final competition results: First place – Ladyville Tech, second place – E.P. Yorke, and third place – ACC.)