Empowering Women in Culture

हेरिटेज एजुकेशन नेटवर्क बेलीज़ २०२० COVID-19 महामारी के बीच में आया था । हम चार महिलाओं का एक समूह है जिन्होंने वर्षों से पुरातत्व और बेलिज़ियन विरासत उद्योगों में काम किया है ।

Heritage Education Network Belize fue establecido en medió de la pandemia. Somos un grupo de cuatro mujeres que han trabajado en arqueología y las industrias del patrimonio de Belice durante años.

The role of mothers is pivotal in transmitting culture. Mothers contribute to cultural survival in many ways and play a crucial part in safeguarding our cultural memory. Here are just a few areas of culture which depend on mothers around the world for their continuation.

Women are a crucial part of social and economic development as well as cultural transmission. The most straightforward example would be looking at how mothers influence the transmission and continuation of languages ("mother tongue", we call it) or various traditional artisanal techniques. It is essential to develop sustainable livelihoods and business models that encourage traditional skills and support women. We created a short guide to start.

MayaBags®️ handmade bags carry a profound story about Belizean Maya culture, its inherent creativity and the female Maya artisans who make the textiles that frame the bags. MayaBags is a successful social enterprise that works with Maya women from the Toledo District. This is their story!

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) through its Endangered Language Program, has declared the Garifuna language an endangered language in 2001. Our primary focus at the GAMAE Arts and Culture are children, youth, and young adults. Ultimately, we work to revive and safeguard the Garifuna language by teaching it to young children through the arts.

GAMAE acts as the instrument that brings together and connects the Garifuna from Belize to create programs and projects on a national, international and global level. Our main goal is to help with the Garifuna crisis of poverty, diseases, unemployment, and language loss, just to name a few.

Lan Barangu Luban Garifunaduaü (Barranco House of Culture) is a Garifuna Resource Center. It is located in the small village of Barranco, in the Toledo District of Belize. The establishment of the facility was initially to aid the preservation of Garifuna Culture and to ensure that the village residents of Barranco (children, youth and adults) understand their history, culture and identity. Ultimately, our goal is to educate others.

Closed Eyes Art is an art business created and owned by Jacqueline Ewens. She is a Young Aspiring Female Artist from Belize, who promotes art in a very unique and captivating way. Expressing emotion, each painting reveals a hidden story and a message with cultural ties. Located in Ranchito Village, in the beautiful district of Corozal.

‌Kanan Miatsil‌ ‌is‌ ‌a‌ ‌Non-profit‌ ‌Organisation‌ ‌in Northern Belize led‌ ‌by‌ ‌Felicita‌ ‌Cantun,‌ ‌‌a‌ ‌retired‌ ‌teacher‌ ‌who‌ ‌spent‌ ‌forty‌ ‌years‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌classroom.‌‌ ‌She‌ ‌is‌ ‌known‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌area‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌“Culture‌ ‌Warrior”‌ ‌for‌ ‌receiving‌ ‌numerous‌ ‌awards‌ ‌for‌ ‌her‌ ‌efforts‌ throughout‌ ‌the‌ ‌years.

Heritage Education Network Belize visited UNESCO Headquarters on the 7th of March 2024 to watch the premiere of a new documentary titled “Her Education, Our Future”. The film follows the educational paths of four young women - Anee, Fabiana, Mkasi and Tainá - from different corners of the world.

Join Heritage Education Network Belize and the Europa Nostra #Women4Heritage Network for an international and intergenerational dialogue with women in the Cultural Heritage field on Monday 23 May from 10:00-11:00 (CST, Belize) / 18:00 - 19:00 (CEST, Brussels). Taking place in the frame of the European Year of Youth 2022, the event is aimed at students and young professionals to discuss education and career opportunities and challenges for the future of women in Cultural Heritage.

HENB Director, April Martinez presented at the 1st Research Conference on Belizean Women, organised by the University of West Indies Open Campus, Belize on the 31st of March in 2022.

HENB celebrates #Women4Heritage with Europa Nostra with an intergenerational dialogue to mark International Women’s Day. For the second year in a row, Europa Nostra celebrated International Women’s Day on 8 March 2022.

Thank you to the Saint John's College High School History Club for inviting HENB and our Director, April Martinez, to talk about all things KULCHA in honour of Women’s Month in 2022!

We are extremely happy to announce that our co-director, Ella Békési has been selected to be part of the European Heritage Youth Ambassadors team for 2022. Follow our director on her Instagram @craboo.creative to learn more about European Culture!

Heritage Education Network Belize has received a grant to be part of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Economic Empowerment Project to enhance the economic empowerment of women in Latin America and the Caribbean in the COVID-19 Post-Pandemic era! We will create a 2-week virtual training on culture, marketing, and digital literacy for women’s groups, cooperatives, and MSMEs in the cultural and creative industries.

Our co-director, Ella Békési has been invited to be a visiting researcher at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Switzerland and represent Heritage Education Network Belize. USI is the UNESCO Chair in Information Communication Technologies to develop and promote sustainable tourism in World Heritage Sites.

Heritage Education Network Belize presented at the Women in Art Symposium 2021, organised by the Institute of Creative Arts in Belize. We talked about the Creative and Cultural sectors and how we can encourage post-Covid Recovery.