Since 1987, the Western African country of Nigeria has been sending aid to 18 countries like Belize in the form of human resources. This comes in the way of medical officers from doctors to lab technicians known as the Technical Aid Corps. Today the Nigerian high commission in Jamaica announced that once again they will be sending their specialists to Belize as part of their ongoing TAC program. Alfonso Noble found out more:
Rudy Avila – Ministry of Health Representative
"We have about approximately 15, between 15 to 25 at any given time and they have a two year tour of duty in Belize. We have volunteers such as medical doctors, pharmacists, to a lesser extent; nurses but generally med. techs., medical technologists; people who work in labs."
Alfonso Noble
"Do we not have people in Belize who are able to competently fill these areas that these persons will do when they come in?"
Rudy Avila
"We do, we do. But we have a lot of our people studying. We have students from Belize studying abroad right now okay and it is critical that we have these people here on the spot. They fill a gap."
Frank Isho – TAC Director
"It's in the interest of the Nigerian government to offer this kind of assistance to friendly developing countries."
Alfonso Noble
"Do you expect anything in return for extending this hand of assistance and fellowship?"
Frank Isho
"Essentially no. It is an altruistic measure. Nigeria gives it without hope for anything in return. But I can tell you that in the process of doing this it strengthens bilateral relations between the countries."
Rudy Avila
"These people are properly screened in Nigeria and their credentials come to Belize way before they arrive in Belize. So their credentials are critically examined and the Nigerian government is told of any questions that we might have on these volunteers. When they arrive in Belize they are monitored and they work closely along with our professionals in Belize so we could nip anything in the bud if anything shows up, anything pops up that is not right we know it in a short while."
Frank Isho
"The nature of this program is such that we don't have the final say on the kind of people that are sent to your country. If your country requires for medical doctors and pharmacists we send the C.V.s, curriculum vitae, to your government. Your government knows the kind of qualifications and level of experience it requires. It goes through these documents and they decide who it wants from that list. Usually we sent 30 and they end up picking 20. So eventually when they settle for 20 the understanding is that these are people who have met the level of requirement. So it is not true that the people who are sent over here are not qualified and cannot perform very effectively."
The team of Nigerian volunteers are expected in the coming weeks. They will serve a tour of duty in Belize of 2 years.