Project Belize 2011 Participants Share Their Stories, Day Three
Jul 19, 2011 12:00 PM ET
Project Belize 2011 participants share their stories
Brett Glowacki, Senior Associate - Transfer Pricing (Philadelphia, PA)
Day 3: Compounding Interest: A Technical and Emotional Tool
Day 3: Adventures at the Bank Today, the students and staff loaded onto the rickety, yellow school bus for a fieldtrip to the Belize Bank and the University of Belize (UB) to engage in a practical application of some of the concepts we taught in the classroom. Once at the Belize Bank, the Branch Manager, who is also the mother of two boys in our group, spoke about several of the relevant services the bank provides including savings, credit cards, and consumer loans as well as took us on a tour of the Bank. To reinforce the value of saving even small amounts of money, one of the Bank Officers told the students that if they gave up one soda a day, they could save $2 per day and at the end of high school they would have almost $3,000 BZ - enough to pay for their first year at University. The second stop of the day was a classroom building at UB. An admissions officer discussed the requirements for acceptance and what kinds of courses the students should study for particular careers, like taking biology classes in order to become a Doctor. Then, a representative from the Ministry of Education presented some scholarship opportunities to the students. Then one of the professors at UB gave his personal account of working hard to achieve goals and even earning Masters and Doctorate degrees in the United States. I was so impressed by the poised behavior of the children and the intelligent questions they asked throughout the presentation. In the afternoon, we held a competition to review what we had learned in the morning. The children definitely love games and competing. Before the game began, each team created a team name and flag. My favorite was the team: Go Unstoppable Pirates! Arrgh! Between working together in the competition, lunch, and college application activity, I felt the team grow closer and the bonds grow tighter. In addition to the educational goals of the eight students in my small group, I also learned about their families, their favorite hobbies, and their dreams. For example, one energetic girl named Chelsea wants to study law at the University of West Indies in Jamaica and then come back to Belize as a female politician. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know these kids and sharing experiences back and forth. I hope that we have exposed them to some new opportunities and that they will carry forward the ideas and lessons into the future. PWC15387