By Glenn Drexhage
Cross-cultural learning will be high on the agenda for Melanie Messier when she lands in the Central American country of Belize later this spring.
Messier, a fourth-year student in Tourism Management at Vancouver Island University, is one of seven VIU recipients to recently receive a prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Scholarship. Messier and the other Queen Elizabeth Scholars are taking part in VIU’s BRiCC program – or Building Resilience in Coastal Communities.
This initiative is awarding more than $800,000 in scholarships over three years to 31 undergraduate, graduate and international students. VIU is partnering with Belize because of shared challenges and opportunities around coastal resilience and climate change.
Messier will be in Belize as of early May for a few months. She’ll work as a cultural promotion intern in the area of Stann Creek in southeast Belize, and will help find opportunities for cultural tourism in coastal communities.
“I want to pursue graduate school, so being able to formulate my own questions and get hands-on experience with different cultures will be invaluable,” Messier said.
Adam Barron, another Queen Elizabeth scholar who is a fifth-year post-baccalaureate student in VIU’s bachelor of education program, will work as a community development and education intern for the National Garifuna Council, a non-governmental organization that represents the indigenous Garifuna people of Belize. Duties will include meeting community and council representatives from Hopkins, Dangriga and Seine Bight to determine sustainable economic projects that will help these communities manage the impacts of climate change.
“I’m hoping that I’ll be able to tap into the cultural elements of the Garifuna people as a means to promote resilience to climate change,” he said.
Also receiving scholarship are Megan Prosser, Jessica Pyett, Skye Skagfeld, Zachary Haigh and Elise Boulanger.
Glenn Drexhage is a writer with VIU’s communications department.