The Ministry of Human Development and Social Transformation in partnership with the Family Preservation Institute of New Mexico State University and UNICEF conducted a two-part training seminar for 100% of Belize’s Social Workers. The Seminar took place from Tuesday, June 30, to Friday, July 3, and it was entitled “Back to Basics – Reconnecting with our Values and Purpose”.
Hon. Peter Eden Martinez, Minister of Human Development and Social Transformation, spoke about the purpose of the course. He said, “The Back to Basics course is to educate and further train to improve the skills and knowledge base of our Social Workers because we recognize that it is extremely important for them to be prepared to give the quality service that Belizeans deserve.”
The seminar was facilitated by six university professors who are well published and have many years of experience. These professors are Alvin Sallee, P.J. Shannon, Dr. Robert Blair, Dr. Anita Barbee, Ms. Tracy Tippett and Dr. Carolyn Gentle-Genety. In the United States, the cost for one individual to take such course is US$400. Thanks to what Minister Martinez referred to as “a close partnership” between the Ministry of Human Development and Family Preservation Institute, all Social Workers in Belize will take the course free of charge. That is because the professors agreed to come to Belize using their own finances. They also agreed to facilitate the workshop free of charge. The cost of hosting the workshop was paid for by the Ministry and UNICEF.
Minister Martinez himself is a product of the training that the Social Workers participated in last week. He took the course in 1993 and he spoke about how the course impacted his life. He said, “It helped me to have gained the skills and the knowledge base that I needed. Social Work is not like any other profession because dealing with people you could either enhance the person’s way of life or you could damage their way of life. For example, if you go and remove a child out of a home when you don’t know what are the conditions you can wreck that child’s life. Therefore, it really changed my life because I learnt to respect people and recognize that everyone has their own rights and dignity that needs to be upheld at all times.”
Professor Alvin Sallee presented Minister Martinez with a book and congratulated him on his success. Sallee remembered when the Minister took the course in 1993. He said, “One day in class it was about 4:30 p.m. Class was scheduled to be completed at 5. I said, ‘Well we will rap up for the day because it is 4:30 and I don’t think anyone will mind.’ A young man lifted his hands and said, ‘I got up 4:30 this morning to catch a bus from PG to come and take this class. I will mind sir.’ That young man is now the Minister of Human Development in Belize.”
