Blue Creek wouldn't be the same without its children. If you arrive during a school
break, the children will be the first ones to greet you with smiles and greetings:
"Hello, hello". You will see them bathing in the river, and a few riding old
bicycles three times too big for them. Older girls help their mothers washing the
laundry next to toddlers siting naked in the water. The kids quickly adopted us. Some
joined us in jungle walks. Others proudly showed us some of their latest animal or map
drawings. We visited their school and attended their classes for a morning.
The 95 students are divided in 3 classrooms. The three Garifuna teachers from Punta
Gorda are kept busy. The first class is divided in 2 rows, one facing each direction with
a blackboard on each side. The teacher teaches the infant 1 while the infant 2 (Grade 1
and 2) are drawing, then the teacher changes sides and teaches the second half. In the two
other classes are found grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. (Corresponding to Grade 3 to 8). Each
teacher teaches 3 grades in the same class.
During recess the boys like to play soccer and the girls softball. The problem is that
this equipment doesn't last forever. I went looking for some but even in the town of Punta
Gorda (capitol of the Toledo district) I couldn't find any. Even if available, families in
Blue Creek live from their own farming and usually don't have the financial means to
purchase sports equipment. The school is operated by the government, but small villages
aren't a priority. Some students aspire to go to high school but unlike elementary and
junior high, high-school costs $400 per term, a fee most families can't afford. Out of all
the teenagers in Blue Creek, only 3 families send one of their children to Punta Gorda for
high-school. The students first have to ride their old bike for 12 miles on a dirt road to
the paved main road where they catch the bus to the big town. No children from Blue Creek
has yet entered a university. Ignacio Coc hopes it will change. He started to work with
IZE to provide for 2 scholarships. The 2 best students if they want to continue their
studies now have a way to do so. Ignacio explained that the village needs more educated
people and he wishes those people to be natives from the village.
The future of Blue Creek is still uncertain. Blue Creek is small town that has kept
much of its culture and traditions because farmers are still able to provide for their
kids. But with electricity coming to the village many things might change. Blue
Creek will either become an eco-tourism success or the children might be forced to move
out to look for low paying jobs in factories or plantations. In the worst case, some will
end up in the streets of Belize city. This is what Ignacio would like to prevent. He
understands the potential of Blue Creek's natural beauty and cultural heritage. He also
understands the importance of modern education in a modernizing world. The children of
Blue Creek are its future and they should be given a chance. Ignacio is working on various
projects for the town: library, scholarship program, limited tourism development, lobbying
for governmental or NGO support to obtain more services for the village.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT BY JEAN-PHILIPPE SOULE 1999
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