Today was observed as World Mental Health Day. In Belize it was highlighted with a quiz contest at the Bliss Center. The theme is: “mental health in a changing world: the impact of culture and diversity.” 7NEWS was at the Bliss.
Keith Swift Reporting,
This afternoon 17 students from 9 high schools went head to head in the mental health quiz show. It was a true test of their knowledge about mental health issues – and it was a test which some passed…and…which some just didn’t pass.
And though he got that answer wrong, Wesley College’s Emmanuel Westby told me that the knowledge he learnt in preparing for the quiz show was a prize enough for him.
Emmanuel Westby, Wesley College
“I’ve learnt a lot because at Rockview I always thought it was like this crazy home but I’ve learnt it’s a home for people with real psychological illnesses that have gone through many things and they need to recover.”
Wesley College’s Cassandra Madrill and Vanessa Hertular from St. Catherine’s Academy also say that preparing for the quiz show taught them things they never knew.
Cassandra Madrill, Wesley College
“I thought that people at the Rockview were just simply crazy but then they told me it’s a mental health illness. It isn’t something that they cause upon themselves.”
Vanessa Hertular, St. Catherine’s Academy
“I’ve learnt a lot because at Rockview I always thought it was like this crazy home but I’ve learnt it’s a home for people with real psychological illnesses that have gone through many things and they need to recover.”
And its knowledge like that which Mental Health Association’s Kathy Esquivel says the quiz show is all about – more learning than winning.
Kathy Esquivel, Secretary – Mental Health Association
“We feel there is a lot of mental health issues that young people need to know about and so we’ve produced a booklet for them and one way to get the information across is to have a quiz so that they want to what the answers are.”
After 3 rounds, the three who came out on top were SJC’s Amard Canul in first place; E.P. Yorke’s Tameka Theus in second place, and Wesley’s Cassandra Madrill in third place.
