Peter Bol is a 22 year-old community radio volunteer from the Toledo District of Belize. He has been volunteering with the community radio Ak’Kutan Radio for just 4 months now, after meeting another community radio volunteer at a workshop on Mopan Mayan hieroglyphs in August of this year. He was interested in volunteering with the radio due to his awareness of the marginalization experienced by Indigenous communities of the Toledo District. According to Peter, “There have been a lot of barriers between the Mayan culture and the rest of the country, such as language and illiteracy. With us involved, we can better disseminate information to those who do not understand English. This will allow Mayan community to participate more effective with the national Development of our country.”
[[{"fid":"62120","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_copyright[und][0][value]":"","taxonomy_vocabulary_16[und]":"_none","field_media_page[und]":"1","field_folder[und]":"3046","field_tags[und]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]
Peter (far left) demonstrating a traditional dance from his Indigenous community with his Belizean peers at the First International Indigenous Youth Conference in El Salvador.
Peter became a volunteer at his community radio just as our team had begun working on a project that aims to improve integration for Indigenous Radio Youth from Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador. Peter has taken part in two International Indigenous Youth Conferences in the last three months and has created many important friendships across borders. Despite the language barrier between the English-speaking Belize youth and the Spanish-speaking Guatemalan and El Salvadorian youth, Peter managed to make an impact at the youth conferences. Always taking a leadership role, Peter presented, acted as a Belize youth representative and participated in group work at both conferences.
[[{"fid":"62121","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_copyright[und][0][value]":"","taxonomy_vocabulary_16[und]":"_none","field_media_page[und]":"1","field_folder[und]":"3046","field_tags[und]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]
Peter (far right) using his a tablet as a tool to help him communicate with Spanishs-speaking group members during group work at the First International Indigenous Youth Conference in El Salvador.
His outstanding skills have now led him to a new and exciting opportunity. Peter recently received a scholarship to attend a university in Costa Rica where he will be starting an undergraduate program in agricultural sciences and natural resources management. Peter recognizes the important role of community radio in his new journey: “The experiences I have gathered…have contributed a lot, especially to food security and the respect to Mother Nature (The Cosmo vision). My objective now is food security and organic farming, working in harmony with nature. The [radio] workshops…have had a great impact to me in terms of better communication and approaches to get new and important information.”
[[{"fid":"62125","view_mode":"media_original","fields":{"format":"media_original","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_copyright[und][0][value]":"","taxonomy_vocabulary_16[und]":"_none","field_media_page[und]":"1","field_folder[und]":"3046","field_tags[und]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]
Peter presenting the English-version of the Declaration for the Second International Indigenous Youth Conference.
Peter will be greatly missed at his local community radio station, but they are happy to see him moving on to exciting new adventures. It is always a joy for community radio members to see their fellow volunteers take their experiences and use them to create a better life for themselves and their communities. We will miss Peter at our next International Youth Event, but we are proud and excited for this next chapter in his life. Congratulations Peter!
