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THE BELIZE TIMES
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Our 60th Anniversary…Preparing for the Next Generation!
Carolyn Trench-Sandiford Party Chairman This week I spent a significant amount of time reflecting on the upcoming 60th Anniversary of the People’s United Party, and what it means to me, and what we as leaders can do to inspire our members, and subsequently a nation, to once again find hope and purpose. This steered my thoughts to my great grandmother Euphrezene Bowen Garnett better known as Frezene Garnett, and my father, Elkin Trench. My great grandmother was so proud of being a member of the People’s United Party, and the movement towards Independence. She was active in the United Women’s Group, and as she would laughingly put it, even if it meant behind the back of her husband. She used to regale us with stories of the meetings she went to at Battlefield Park that fired her up, of how outwitting the colonial governor became not only an obsession, but a purpose in life, which morphed into a passion, and her joyous elation of living history, with the achievement of adult suffrage in 1954[one person, one vote], self government in 1962 and independence in 1981. This cannot be mirrored or described. It was a feeling. My great grandmother was originally from the Sibun area, born in 1898, and moved to Richard Sidewalk, now Richard Street, when it was a canal. They required a dorey to dock at their house. She never had a formal education, lived in a two room house with outdoor kitchen, toilet and bathhouse, did washing, cooking and ironing from time to time, but she understood that if as a people we did not chart our own destiny and did not have control over the affairs of our country, to manage our resources so that all of us can benefit accordingly, and if we did not break the chains of colonialism and mental slavery, and forge our own nation, we were forever destined to be relegated to being beggars in our own country, where a few would prosper, and the masses would be subjected to inhumane and deplorable living conditions. My father’s world on the other hand, initially revolved around the General Workers Union, and later the PUP. He worked tirelessly unionizing workers, and advocating for better working and living conditions for them. As a member of the PUP, his loyalty to the Rt. Hon. George Price and the late Hon. V. H. Courtenay was unconditional and unequivocal. In fact, as a university student returning to Belize for summers, and at the time questioning certain decisions of the government, the look I got was one of how dare you, and the traditional response was either “Mr. Courtenay told me so personally,” or “ Mr. Price told me so personally”. He campaigned vigorously in the Collet Division on behalf of Hon. V.H. Courtenay. In fact, that period represented my baptism into politics. I
was a primary school student who was given flyers and instructed to give them out to people on election day and tell them to “vote for Mr. Courtenay.” I didn’t really know who Mr. Courtenay was, but I did it. For my great grandmother, it was about ensuring that if not her children, her grandchildren and great grandchildren would one day reap the rewards of her struggle, of their struggle, of their fight for equality, a just share of the wealth of this country and a better life. For my father, it was about the future of Belize, particularly the working class. Their issues were the issues of the Party. Anti-colonialism, pro-nationalism, workers rights, the concerns of the poor and the oppressed, of social justice. The vision was clear. It was rooted and anchored. The course was plotted. For both of them, it was never about them, but rather about the next generation Undoubtedly the electorate of 2010 is different. They are more
educated, informed and free thinking. This is an era of globalization and self centered materialism. But many of the challenges remain. Yes, political independence was achieved, but the vision remains unfulfilled. The poverty statistics, poor living conditions and crime and violence are glaring examples, and the Guatemala claim still hovers. Thus national unity, economic independence and social progress must now be the next goal posts for realizing the vision, and around which the party and the country must coalesce. Yes, the strategies may have to change, and new ones adopted, but the vision and the philosophy must remain. The People’s United Party and a Belize of 2010 must partner once again to forward that vision which was cast in 1950. This means that we as leaders must point the way to the vision, and inspire our party and country to travel in that direction. The vision must
become our common platform, and each of us must understand our role in achieving it, and why we must pursue it. For only so can the revolution continue….and only so will we be able to create a NEW BELIZE, which will bring to all Belizeans a better life and a just share of the national wealth……
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