Carib Scope

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  • Students prepare for robotics world championship in US

    Students prepare for robotics world championship in US

    A cohort of talented secondary school students from across Barbados is set to make history this month, representing the small Caribbean island at the 2026 VEX World Robotics Championship in St. Louis, Missouri, following five months of nonstop work to design and build two fully custom competition robots from the ground up.

    Organized under the banner of the Gears Unboxed 246 Robotics Club, the team draws members from five of Barbados’ top secondary institutions: The St Michael School, Harrison College, Queen’s College, The Lodge School, and the Foundation School. Last week, the young innovators gathered at the Special Education Unit to showcase their months of work to educators, government officials, and program sponsors, demonstrating the core capabilities of their two creations, codenamed *Flying Fish* and *Broken Trident*.

    For the team’s volunteer mentors, this milestone is far more than a simple competition trip—it represents a decades-long push to shift Barbados’ relationship with technology from a net importer of foreign ideas and devices to a global exporter of homegrown innovation. “This is about representing the blue, yellow, and black of our nation,” said Shawn Hoyte, a lead coding and robotics mentor and teacher. “I told these young people from day one: this is not beyond us. We can’t keep relying on other countries to build our technology and create our ideas. These are indigenous innovations, built right here by Barbadian youth. They aren’t just leading the way for our country—they are the tip of the spear.”

    To reach this point, the team has followed a grueling schedule that far outpaces the average school extracurricular. For five months, members have worked from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. most days, including weekends, to troubleshoot designs, refine code, and test their robots. What makes the achievement even more notable is that most elite international competitors spend a full year preparing for the championship, while the Barbadian team condensed that entire process into half the time.

    Twelve-year-old Paula Bridgeman, a robot builder and driver from Queen’s College, walked audiences through the design of *Flying Fish*, the team’s entry in the championship’s pin-stacking competition, where teams earn points for strategically grouping colored pins. “The autonomous section is where the robot operates entirely on its own, completing all tasks without any human control,” Bridgeman explained. “A single connected pin earns one point, but mixed-color connected clusters give a five-point bonus, so the robot’s positioning and decision-making have to be perfectly calibrated.”

    Fifteen-year-old Tykiari Sergeant, a team member from Harrison College, detailed the steep learning curve the group faced to master advanced engineering concepts they had never studied before, including pneumatics and gear ratio tuning. “Every gear on this robot serves a specific purpose—it’s not just for aesthetics,” Sergeant said. “Adjusting the number of teeth on a gear changes the robot’s speed and torque, so we had to test dozens of combinations to get it right. We went through so many iterations because of stability issues, but after hours of research and trial and error, we finally landed on a design that worked.”

    Joshua Jupiter, 15, from The St Michael School, explained the team’s advanced technical work on autonomous navigation, noting that they implemented a custom Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) control algorithm to let the robot automatically correct its course during the fully autonomous phase of competition. The team’s second robot, *Broken Trident*, built for the VEX V5 division, features a one-of-a-kind S-shaped intake system engineered to collect and score game balls with far greater efficiency than most standard designs.

    The milestone drew praise from top leaders in Barbados’ education sector, with Chief Education Officer Dr. Ramona Archer-Bradshaw in attendance at the demonstration to celebrate the team. Dr. Archer-Bradshaw’s presence was particularly meaningful, as she has been one of the core driving forces behind bringing robotics education to Barbados’ schools for more than a decade. The entire initiative has been made possible by private sponsor support and the volunteer work of teachers who have stepped outside their regular job duties to serve as mentors for the students.

    Looking back, Dr. Archer-Bradshaw recalled the origins of the movement back in 2013, when she was a science tutor at Erdiston Teachers’ Training College with a simple but ambitious dream: to embed coding and robotics into Barbados’ national K-12 curriculum to build critical thinking skills among young people. “This journey didn’t start yesterday, and it didn’t start last year—it started back in 2013, when I believed that coding and robotics could change how our children learn to problem-solve,” she shared.

    The initiative grew out of an early partnership with the Caribbean Science Foundation and prominent Barbadian scientist Cardinal Ward. After completing personal training in robotics drivetrain design and block coding, Dr. Archer-Bradshaw led a nationwide effort to train teachers across Barbados, an effort that has now resulted in more than 300 local educators earning certification in various VEX robotics platforms.

    While qualifying for the world championship represents the highest milestone for the program to date, Dr. Archer-Bradshaw emphasized that the initiative’s true value extends far beyond competition results. “Some people will look at this and say it’s just coding and robotics, but it’s so much more than that,” she explained. “This is a vehicle to teach young people how to think critically, how to solve problems, how to bounce back when you make a mistake, and how to collaborate and communicate with your teammates. Those are skills that will serve them for life, no matter what career they choose.”

    The program expanded dramatically in 2022, when the Ministry of Education Transformation supported the integration of coding into nursery, primary, and secondary school curricula, with education reform leaders spearheading sustainable institutional change. The expansion led to the appointment of a dedicated full-time education officer to oversee the program and ensure its long-term growth. When program coordinator Kenneth Harewood first approached Dr. Archer-Bradshaw last year to request support for sending a team to the world championship, she issued a clear challenge: this could not be a one-off event. The team had to build a pathway for future Barbadian teams to compete in years to come. The team met that challenge, clearing the way for this month’s 2026 trip and establishing a sustainable pipeline for future participation.

    The Gears Unboxed 246 team enters the championship focused on their ultimate goal of bringing home the world title, a win they frame as a history-making moment for Barbados’ education and technology sectors. “These students deserve to be celebrated, because nothing like this has ever been done for Barbados,” Hoyte said. “I love taking on challenges, and even with all the hard work, nothing compares to the pride of watching these young people represent our country on the world stage.”

    Closing out the demonstration, Dr. Archer-Bradshaw credited the initiative’s success to the hundreds of dedicated teachers across the island who have poured extra time into making the program a life-changing opportunity for Barbadian youth. “I’m so happy that the vision and the dream of coding and robotics in our schools has finally come to pass,” she said, as the audience erupted in applause for the departing team.

    The 15-member team includes competitors across two divisions: the VEX IQ team features Virineia Lakuboo (1st form, Harrison College), Joshua Jupiter (3rd form, St Michael School), Paula Bridgeman (2nd form, Queen’s College), and Tykairi Sargeant (4th form, Harrison College). The VEX V5 team includes J’nai Thomas (5th form, Christ Church Foundation), Nathan Whittaker (4th form, Alleyne School), Ashley Chase (5th form, St Michael School), and Tyler Marshall Branker (5th form, Christ Church Foundation).

  • Dr. Barnett’s Support Grows Amidst Trinidadian Opposition

    Dr. Barnett’s Support Grows Amidst Trinidadian Opposition

    A high-stakes political standoff is currently roiling the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), threatening to fray long-held regional unity amid a growing public rift over the reappointment of current Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett. What was on track to be a routine, procedural extension of Dr. Barnett’s tenure has instead erupted into one of the bloc’s most public and divisive disputes in recent memory, led by Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, who is challenging both the selection process and Dr. Barnett’s leadership of the 15-member regional organization.

    Persad-Bissessar has publicly rejected a second term for Dr. Barnett, anchoring her opposition in claims of inadequate transparency and violated procedural norms. In a viral social media post published Tuesday, the Trinidadian leader made clear her government would not soften its stance until the issue is addressed. “Until this matter is transparently resolved, the organization and its secretariat should absolutely expect no quarter from my government,” she wrote. “This is not a simple run-of-the-mill administrative appointment; it’s an appointment with long-term ramifications for my citizens.”

    Beyond procedural complaints, deeper underlying tensions have come to light, according to senior anonymous diplomatic sources who spoke to News Five. Trinidad and Tobago is the single largest contributor to CARICOM’s operational budget, accounting for more than 20% of total funding, giving its leadership significant leverage in bloc negotiations. Sources indicate the current standoff may stem in part from a years-long unresolved grievance over the 2022 arrest of Trinidadian national Brent Thomas in Barbados. Persad-Bissessar has accused the CARICOM Secretariat of failing to intervene in what she describes as the “kidnapping” of a Trinidadian citizen—a allegation that has drawn fierce pushback from Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

    Mottley pushed back forcefully against the claims, explaining that the arrest followed long-standing regional law enforcement practices. “It was clear that the Trinidad and Tobago police, as has been the practice for decades in this region would have supplied an arrest warrant, which the Barbados police would’ve acted upon,” Mottley said. “We understood at the time, and we said, our Attorney General said at the time that the formal process of extradition which we do extra regionally with other countries has not and was not practiced in the region among ourselves by any country in the region. And therefore, to that extent, we acknowledge that we need to be able to change how we operate. That is why the CARICOM arrest warrant is being pursued. That is why legislation has to be passed in every CARICOM country to be able to facilitate that CARICOM arrest warrant but to describe it as kidnapping or to suggest that any member of cabinet or any member of the permanent secretary class or government of Barbados is involved in kidnapping is a scurrilous lie and defamatory in the extreme.”

    Behind closed doors at CARICOM’s headquarters, veteran regional diplomats say the public dispute has far less to do with Dr. Barnett’s job performance and far more to do with strategic political posturing by Trinidad and Tobago’s leadership. Despite the high-profile opposition, multiple regional insiders confirm that Dr. Barnett still commands the support of a majority of CARICOM heads of government, and that backing has increasingly gone public in recent days.

    Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali was the first major leader to issue a formal public endorsement, confirming his country’s unwavering support for the Secretary-General’s reappointment and clarifying his government’s stance in the growing regional debate. “Let me be fully transparent on this matter: I was involved in the discussions, as all other Heads, on the reappointment of the Secretary General,” Ali said. “We support the reappointment of the Secretary General, that’s the first thing, and I hope it brings clarity.”

    Ali’s endorsement followed an official statement from the office of Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne released on Holy Thursday, which affirmed that the Antigua and Barbuda Cabinet retains “very high confidence in her ability to carry out her duties and responsibilities as she has been doing effectively during her tenure thus far.”

    All eyes are now fixed on the upcoming CARICOM Heads of Government summit, where the simmering dispute is expected to reach a decisive climax. The outcome of the vote will not only determine Dr. Barnett’s future but also put CARICOM’s decades-old commitment to regional cohesion to its most serious test in recent history. This report was compiled by Shane Williams for News Five.

  • Police Reject Ransom Report; No Evidence of Humes’ Abduction

    Police Reject Ransom Report; No Evidence of Humes’ Abduction

    Date: April 8, 2026
    A high-profile missing person case in Dangriga has taken an unexpected turn, as Belizean law enforcement has refuted widespread claims that missing resident Jericho Humes was abducted for ransom.
    Humes was last spotted in the early hours of last Wednesday, when he left his residence to head to his workplace. When concerned family members went to check on him days later, they made a disturbing discovery: his home was in disarray, with a forced entry mark on the front door and shattered windows. The chaotic scene immediately sparked fears that Humes had been the victim of foul play, and relatives soon reported receiving anonymous phone calls demanding ransom payment in exchange for his safe release. The reports of a kidnapping sent ripples of concern through the local community, turning a local missing person case into a widely discussed public story.
    However, in an official press briefing Wednesday, police moved quickly to correct the misleading narrative, stating that no credible evidence has emerged to support the abduction and ransom claims. Investigators have not verified any actual demands for ransom, nor have they found proof that Humes is being held against his will, authorities confirmed.
    Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith, Staff Officer, shared key details of the ongoing investigation with reporters. Smith explained that a close relative of Humes has already discredited the ransom narrative, telling investigators the original claims were untrue. The relative did acknowledge viewing an online video that was rumored to show Humes in captivity, but confirmed the man in the footage is not his missing brother.
    Investigators still face key unanswered questions in the case, Smith noted. Authorities have not yet been able to confirm how the relative obtained the viral video, and detectives are working to identify any person who circulated the footage to determine if there is any criminal intent behind the false kidnapping claims. “I was not even able to ascertain how the relative came in possession of the video, because certainly whoever sent it would need to be somebody investigated,” Smith told reporters. “I don’t know if it was sent directly to him or something being circulated and information is being suggested to be his brother.”
    As of Wednesday, the case remains classified as an active missing person investigation, with no criminal abduction charges or confirmed claims of foul play. This report is adapted from a televised evening news transcript published online.

  • Inmate Dies After Asthma Attack at Central Prison

    Inmate Dies After Asthma Attack at Central Prison

    A preventable tragedy has unfolded at Belize’s maximum-security correctional facility, leaving one inmate dead and reigniting long-simmering debates over the adequacy of medical services for incarcerated people with chronic health conditions.

    Early on Tuesday morning, April 8, 32-year-old inmate Phillip Bowen suffered a life-threatening asthma exacerbation inside Belize Central Prison. According to official accounts from prison leadership, Bowen first reported acute breathing difficulties to correctional staff, who immediately brought him to the facility’s on-site medical team for evaluation. A decision was made to transport him by emergency transport to Belize’s largest public care center, Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, for advanced intervention. However, Bowen did not survive the trip, passing away before the transport team could reach the hospital.

    Virgilio Murillo, CEO of the Kolbe Foundation — the non-governmental organization that manages operations at Belize Central Prison — confirmed that Bowen had a well-documented, long-standing history of severe asthma that had already triggered multiple acute episodes during his time in custody. The 32-year-old had been held at the facility since 2021, when he was taken into custody and charged in connection with a high-profile double homicide in Hopkins Village. The victims of that 2020 incident were 55-year-old local resident Quentin Espinosa and 70-year-old American tourist Roman Burkley.

    The fatal incident has prompted sharp criticism from Bowen’s loved ones, who say the outcome was directly tied to inadequate and delayed care. In an interview with local outlet News Five, Bowen’s long-time friend Jose Salinas questioned the prison system’s ability to respond to chronic health emergencies. “I know the man was in the yard before he suffered the asthma attack. One of his family members knew he struggled with asthma, and he did everything he could to avoid triggering attacks,” Salinas explained, speaking in Belizean Kriol. “In my opinion, the facility was not prepared to respond when that attack hit. I’ve known other people who have had asthma attacks and still made it to the hospital 30 minutes after it started, but in this case, I feel like he never got the care he needed when he needed it, and that’s what cost him his life.”

    News Five attempted to request additional comment from Murillo and the Kolbe Foundation following Salinas’ statements, but had not received a response as of the outlet’s initial publication. The original report is a direct transcript of the outlet’s evening television broadcast, with Kriol language statements transcribed using a standardized spelling system for accessibility.

    Bowen’s death comes amid ongoing global scrutiny of correctional health systems, where chronic conditions like asthma are often under-monitored and emergency response protocols are frequently underfunded. The incident is expected to fuel calls for independent reviews of medical care standards at Belize Central Prison in the coming weeks.

  • Police Say Bradley Lost Control of Vehicle in Fatal Accident

    Police Say Bradley Lost Control of Vehicle in Fatal Accident

    A late-night single-vehicle crash near Mile 61 of Belize’s George Price Highway has claimed the life of a 29-year-old San Ignacio Town resident, Alexander Bradley, in an incident that police say highlights the persistent dangers of after-hours road travel.

    Emergency responders were first notified of the crash just before 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, after reports of an overturned vehicle reached officers at the Georgeville Police Substation. When law enforcement arrived at the scene, they discovered a heavily damaged white SUV that had flipped off the pavement, with Bradley lying critically injured beside the wreckage.

    Bradley was immediately airlifted by emergency medical personnel to the nearby San Ignacio Hospital for urgent care. Despite aggressive life-saving interventions by medical teams, Bradley succumbed to his severe injuries roughly four hours after the crash occurred.

    Assistant Superintendent Stacy Smith, the Staff Officer leading the preliminary investigation, outlined the key findings released to the public this week. Smith explained that early evidence suggests Bradley lost control of his vehicle as he navigated a curve in the road. The SUV then struck a roadside traffic sign, a collision that triggered the vehicle to roll over multiple times before coming to a rest off the highway.

    Local law enforcement is using Bradley’s death as a sobering public reminder of how quickly routine travel can turn deadly on Belize’s highways, particularly during late-night hours when limited visibility and reduced driver attention amplify road risks. The investigation remains ongoing as police work to confirm whether additional factors, such as speed, weather conditions, or driver fatigue, contributed to the fatal crash.

  • World Health Day: Protecting Belize’s Health Gains

    World Health Day: Protecting Belize’s Health Gains

    As nations across the globe marked World Health Day on Tuesday, April 8, 2026, the Central American nation of Belize centered its observations on a uniquely urgent local priority: locking in decades of hard-won public health gains that risk erasure amid shifting global health trends.

    Partnering with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Belize’s Ministry of Health and Wellness used the annual global occasion to reflect on the strategies that have positioned the country as a regional success story in disease prevention. Health officials highlighted that consistent science-backed policy frameworks, paired with widespread public cooperation, have allowed Belize to fend off a range of severe public health threats far more effectively than many peer nations.

    Aligning with this year’s global World Health Day theme, “Together for Health”, local health leaders emphasized that evidence-driven public health decision-making is not just an abstract bureaucratic exercise—it is a life-saving practice that has delivered measurable, transformative results for Belize’s communities. Those results are documented in landmark public health milestones: Belize has successfully eliminated measles, rubella, congenital rubella syndrome, and all mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and syphilis, achievements that few countries in the region can claim.

    But the celebratory tone of the day was tempered by a critical warning: these public health victories are not permanent. Ongoing vigilance and sustained investment are required to protect the progress that thousands of frontline health workers have built. The caution comes amid a documented global decline in routine measles vaccination coverage over the past decade, a trend that has reignited outbreak risks even in countries that had previously fully controlled the disease. For Belize’s health authorities, this global trend serves as a stark reminder that immunization remains one of the most cost-effective, powerful tools in the entire public health toolkit.

    Beyond the ongoing fight against infectious diseases, this World Health Day also drew renewed attention to a slower-growing but increasingly dangerous threat to Belize’s population: the rising burden of non-communicable diseases. Conditions including heart disease, diabetes, and multiple forms of cancer have seen steady prevalence increases across the country, with public health data linking most of that growth to modifiable lifestyle factors. To reverse this trend, officials emphasized that individual everyday choices play an equally critical role as government policy: adopting nutrient-dense dietary patterns, prioritizing regular physical activity, and reducing tobacco and alcohol consumption can dramatically cut individual risk of these conditions and reduce strain on the country’s public health system.

    This report originated as a transcribed segment from a national evening television newscast, with standardized spelling provided for any Kriol-language commentary included in the original broadcast.

  • Israel-Lebanon Tensions Threaten Fragile Ceasefire Gains

    Israel-Lebanon Tensions Threaten Fragile Ceasefire Gains

    On Thursday, 9 April 2026, the United Nations issued a stark warning that escalating Israeli military operations across Lebanon threaten to unravel a fragile two-week ceasefire brokered between Israel, Iran and other key stakeholders, putting hard-won progress toward regional stability in jeopardy.

    UN Secretary-General António Guterres acknowledged that the current pause in cross-region hostilities opened a rare, critical window to negotiate a broader, lasting peace deal. He has called on every involved party to uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, emphasizing that a full end to fighting is non-negotiable both to protect innocent civilian lives and alleviate the rapidly worsening humanitarian catastrophe unfolding across the region. Guterres also extended gratitude to Pakistan and other regional nations that supported ceasefire facilitation, confirming that his Personal Envoy Jean Arnault is currently on the ground working to advance ongoing diplomatic outreach. Per regional diplomatic sources, U.S. Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to lead a high-level delegation to Pakistan in the coming days to hold further negotiations focused on solidifying the truce.

    Even as diplomatic momentum builds, however, recent violence has cast a deep shadow over peace prospects. The UN has issued a firm condemnation of recent Israeli strikes across Lebanese territory that have already claimed civilian lives. Senior UN officials cautioned that persistent offensive operations will not only collapse the fragile truce but also push an already desperate humanitarian situation into a far worse state. The international body has repeated its urgent call for all parties to immediately stop all hostilities and recommit to full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, the landmark framework established to secure long-term stability in southern Lebanon.

    “There is no military solution to this conflict,” the UN reaffirmed, stressing that inclusive dialogue remains the only sustainable path toward ending decades of regional tension.

    UN peacekeeping forces deployed in Lebanon have not been spared from the rising violence. Six UN peacekeepers were wounded in a recent exchange of rocket and artillery fire near the southern Lebanese town of At Tiri, where multiple UN vehicles also sustained significant damage. In a separate provocative incident, the Israel Defense Forces blocked a UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) logistics convoy and detained one peacekeeper. The service member was released within an hour after direct intervention by senior UN leadership. The UN has formally labeled the detention a clear violation of international law and demanded an immediate end to all interference with the mission’s authorized operations.

    On the humanitarian side, conditions across Lebanon are declining at an alarming rate. Mass displacement of civilians, concentrated in areas south of the Zahrani River and the southern suburbs of Beirut, has sent demand for emergency life-saving assistance soaring. The UN Refugee Agency, working in partnership with the Lebanese government and local humanitarian partners, has been rushing to deploy emergency shelter and critical supplies to families fleeing conflict zones. But overcrowded, underserviced shelter facilities and a lack of adequate sanitation have already triggered outbreaks of scabies and lice, placing vulnerable groups including children and elderly residents at particularly high health risk.

    While public health teams have been deployed to respond to outbreaks and aid groups are working to scale up access to clean water and medical stockpiles, relief operations are buckling under unprecedented pressure. As of the latest update, less than one-third of the $308 million UN Lebanon Flash Appeal has been funded, leaving critical aid gaps that cannot be filled with existing resources.

    The UN concluded its briefing with a final warning: without an immediate surge in international donor support and a sustained end to all hostilities, both humanitarian conditions across Lebanon and the fragile prospects for long-term regional peace will continue to unravel.

  • Prime Minister Drew endorses reinstatement of Associate Degree in Nursing Programme at CFBC

    Prime Minister Drew endorses reinstatement of Associate Degree in Nursing Programme at CFBC

    BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts – In a bold move to shore up the federation’s public health infrastructure, the government of Saint Kitts and Nevis is moving forward with plans to reinstate the Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program at Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC), an initiative that has earned the full endorsement of Prime Minister and Health Minister Dr. Terrance Drew.

    Announced in an official statement April 8, 2026, the program revival is framed as a targeted, long-overdue response to a persistent crisis that has strained local healthcare services: a critical shortage of nurses trained within Saint Kitts and Nevis. Speaking on the initiative, Dr. Drew framed the reinstatement as far more than an education policy adjustment—it is a core investment in the nation’s ability to deliver quality, accessible care to all residents.

    “It is with great pride and a deep sense of national purpose that I lend my full support to the reinstatement of the Associate Degree in Nursing Programme at Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College,” Dr. Drew said. “This initiative represents a timely and strategic response to one of our most pressing public health challenges, the persistent shortage of locally trained nurses in the Federation.”

    While the federation has long benefited from the contributions of foreign-trained healthcare workers, Dr. Drew emphasized that lasting healthcare resilience cannot depend on external recruitment alone. Building a sustainable, homegrown nursing workforce is critical to meeting the unique needs of local communities, he argued.

    “Healthcare is a fundamental right, and a robust nursing workforce is central to delivering on that promise,” he stated. “It is imperative that we invest in building a homegrown workforce — nurses who understand our communities, our culture, and our unique health landscape.”

    Addressing potential questions about the role of the ADN program alongside existing nursing education pathways, Dr. Drew clarified that the reinstatement is a progressive, pragmatic step rather than a reversal of prior reforms. The ADN model offers a competency-based, patient-centered training framework that has a proven track record of producing skilled, compassionate, and confident nursing professionals across the Caribbean region, he noted.

    Government projections estimate that the revived program will boost the annual number of qualified nurses entering the local workforce, cut long-term dependence on overseas recruitment, and open new accessible career pathways for young Saint Kitts and Nevis residents seeking to enter healthcare.

    The initiative aligns fully with the administration’s broader National Health Policy, which centers on achieving universal access to high-quality care for all residents of the federation, Dr. Drew added. He also extended recognition to the cross-sector collaboration that made the program revival possible, thanking the Ministry of Health, local nursing leadership, the St. Christopher and Nevis Nurses and Midwives Council, and all other participating stakeholders for their work to advance the initiative.

    This report is based on a press release from the St. Kitts and Nevis Information Service (SKNIS) published via SKNVibes.com.

  • ‘No retreat’: Face challenges, pursue dreams, President Bostic tells camp boys

    ‘No retreat’: Face challenges, pursue dreams, President Bostic tells camp boys

    On a recent Wednesday visit to the annual Boys 2 Men Easter Camp hosted at St James’ Western Light Church of the Nazarene, Barbados President Jeffrey Bostic delivered a stirring, interactive address centered on building resilience, claiming purpose and nurturing unshakable self-belief among the nation’s young men. Speaking directly to the teen campers, Bostic framed life’s unavoidable hurdles not as permanent barriers, but as natural stepping stones along the journey to personal and professional success, using a simple wooden chair to illustrate his point. If an obstacle blocks your path, he explained, you do not turn around and abandon your goals — you find another way forward. “Challenges will always be in your life, but you do not allow the challenge to stop you from realising your dreams. Find a way. Face the challenge… no retreat, no surrender,” Bostic told the gathered youth. “If you fall, you pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”

    The president turned next to one of the most pressing shared challenges facing many of the camp’s participants: growing up in fatherless households. Acknowledging that this gap can create significant hardships, he emphasized that communities, faith groups, schools, and targeted mentorship initiatives like Boys 2 Men can step in to provide the guidance and support young men need to thrive. Drawing from his own experience growing up in Barbados, Bostic shared that many people from his generation also grew up without fathers in the home, but benefited from positive father figures in community spaces, local sports teams, churches, and school campuses who helped steer them toward healthy, productive lives.

    To further drive home his message of possibility, Bostic pointed to two of Barbados’ most iconic national heroes — legendary cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers and global music icon Rihanna — as examples of how humble origins do not limit extraordinary achievement. He also called on the teens to embrace the core philosophy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., encouraging them to pursue excellence in every path they choose, stressing that success is not measured by being first, but by giving one’s full effort in every endeavor.

    After the prepared address, Bostic opened the floor for questions from campers and counsellors, who quizzed him on his own path to the presidency, his personal life, and updates on the upcoming Chapman Challenge youth initiative. Bostic revealed that the programme, which targets young people ranging from third-grade primary school students to 24-year-old young adults, is in its final stages of development and will launch imminently. Designed to build the mental and psychological preparedness young people need to access existing opportunities, the initiative aims to close the persistent gap between youth and the resources available to help them succeed, he explained. “We have to prepare them to make use of the opportunities… and if we start early, we will see a difference,” Bostic said.

    Maria Ambrose, who co-directs the camp with her husband Ambrose Carter, echoed the president’s praise for targeted youth empowerment work, noting that the majority of the camp’s participants come from single-parent households headed by women. Over the course of the one-week programme, facilitators work to instill core life skills and positive habits, from personal conduct to safe online behavior, she explained.

    The Boys 2 Men camp is run by the Charity Ammar Empowerment Network, and 2024 marks its third cohort of participants. The daily programme runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day for a full week, serving 20 young men between the ages of 13 and 19. A parallel programme for young women, called Preparing Princesses, follows the same core structure. In addition to mentorship and character building, the camp exposes participants to practical, income-generating trades including hat-making, handmade soap production, sewing, baking, and pottery. These hands-on skills are designed to give young people tools to build financial independence and pursue entrepreneurship if they choose. At the close of the president’s visit, campers and co-director Maria Carter presented Bostic with two handcrafted gifts as a token of gratitude for his time, insight, and ongoing support for youth empowerment efforts across the country.

  • Regional Measles Spike Brings New Health Warning for Belizeans

    Regional Measles Spike Brings New Health Warning for Belizeans

    As of early April 2026, public health officials in Belize have issued a pressing warning to residents over a surging measles outbreak sweeping across the Americas, with transmission risks amplified by nearby cases in neighboring nations. Just three months into the year, the Pan-American region has already logged 75% of the total measles cases reported across all of 2025, and public health data confirms case counts continue to climb at an accelerating rate. Eleven confirmed deaths have already been linked to the current outbreak, nearly all concentrated in Belize’s bordering countries Guatemala and Mexico, a geographic proximity that has put cross-border spread at the top of local health authorities’ list of concerns.

    Contrary to a common misperception that measles is a trivial childhood illness, health leaders stress it is an extremely contagious viral infection that can trigger permanent, life-altering health complications. After exposure, symptoms typically develop within a window of 7 to 21 days. Initial signs include high fever, nasal congestion, and inflamed, watery eyes, which are followed several days later by a distinct rash that originates at the hairline before spreading across the entire body. A particularly insidious feature of the virus is its ability to spread before an infected person shows obvious symptoms: carriers can transmit the pathogen starting four days before the rash emerges, and for four days after it appears, meaning many people spread the illness without knowing they are infected.

    Despite the alarming spread of the outbreak, Belize’s Ministry of Health and Wellness emphasizes that measles is entirely preventable through vaccination. The widely used MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine is documented as safe and extremely effective, with a two-dose series offering lifelong protection against the virus. Preliminary data from 2025 shows Belize achieved an 88% coverage rate for the first dose of the MMR vaccine, but gaps in immunization leave large swathes of the population vulnerable. Unvaccinated people face a 90% chance of contracting measles if exposed to the virus, making widespread vaccination not just a matter of individual health, but a critical defense for community-wide herd immunity.

    In response to the current threat, Belizean health authorities are calling on all unvaccinated residents of all ages to schedule an appointment at their nearest public health facility to get vaccinated as soon as possible. For residents planning cross-border travel to neighboring countries or other destinations in the Americas, the Ministry strongly advises that unvaccinated travelers complete their vaccine series at least two weeks before departing, to allow the body to build full immunity ahead of potential exposure.