Past BVEC Outreach
UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE SCIENCE FAIR
NOVEMBER 2023
BVEC was a gold sponsor for the University of Belize Science Fair held on November 17th, 2023. Research Assistant Uziel Romero, showcased pinned bugs and mosquitos to interested onlookers. BVEC uses these opportunities to highlight the importance of a clean environment to ensure the reduction of mosquito breeding sites to decrease the risk of mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, zika, and chikungunya
COROZAL JUNIOR COLLEGE VISITS BVEC
NOVEMBER 2023
Corozal Junior College visited the BVEC station on November 10, 2023, as an introduction to the station's research capabilities. Dr. Jorge Trejo and his students were given a tour of the facility and then participated in an identification exercise where the group identified mosquito and tick species using dissecting microscopes and dichotomous keys. The one-day visit piqued the interest of the students and served as evidence of their passion for science.
MUFFLES HIGH SCHOOL CLASS PRESENTATION
OCTOBER 2023
Research Assistant Mariely Campos, presented to 4th Form, Muffles College High School students on the Life Cycle of Mosquitoes and Houseflies as part of the school's Health and Sanitation Curriculum. The 30-minute presentation covered the lifecycle of insects, breeding habitats, protection, and environmental hygiene.
PAHO HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CARAVAN
SEPTEMBER 2023
The Health Education and Community Participation Bureau (HECOPAB), invited BVEC to participate in the PAHO, Healthy Lifestyle Caravan in Carmelita Village, which is aimed to promote healthy living and provide health care services and educational information to the community. BVEC was asked to present on vectors and vector-borne diseases.
HEALTH FAIR IN SARTENEJA
JUNE 2023
The Ministry of Health and Wellness invited BVEC to participate in a Health Fair in Sarteneja Village in the Corozal District. This rural community benefitted from multiple health groups joining together to promote healthy living and create awareness of possible health concerns in the community. Research Associate Jailene Castillo and Marie Pott represented BVEC.
LEISHMANIASIS OUTREACH - CANE FARMERS ASSOCIATION
APRIL 2023
Research Associate, Marie Pott, presented to the Directors and Cane Farmers of the two major cane farmer associations, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association and the Progressive Cane Progressive Association, on the vectors that transmit Leishmaniasis, exposure risks, symptoms, and personal protection.
CJC SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM
MARCH 2023
BVEC was a "Gold Sponsor" for the Corozal Junior College Science Symposium and was attended by the Directors of BVEC, Dr. John Grieco and Dr. Nicole Achee, Acting Manager, Alvaro Cruz, and Research Assistant, Uziel Romero. The theme of this year's symposium was "Diversity Status of the Corozal Bay Area".
TRAINING OF NORTHERN VECTOR CONTROL OFFICERS
FEBRUARY 2023
BVEC was approached by the Belize Vector Control Unit for a refresher course on mosquito biology, habitat, and bed-net evaluation in preparation for Belize Malaria Elimination Campaign. A total of 18 participants from the Orange Walk Unit and Corozal Unit took part in the two day training. Day 1 included Human Landing Collection Training and Day 2 included Mosquito Biology, Habitat and bed-net evaluation methods.
UNIVERSITY OF BELIZE SCIENCE OPEN DAY
NOVEMBER 2022
The University of Belize invited BVEC to be part of their University of Belize Annual Science Open Day and Expo under the theme "Science and Technology, the Answer to Sustainability and Climate Change Adaption" The BVEC team showcased the technology used for Mosquito Surveillance (IMPACTS) and the introduction of Next Generation Sequencing research (REDI-NET) to DETECT, PREDICT and CONTAIN potentially emergent pathogens in Belize.
MUFFLES HIGH SCHOOL VISIT
NOVEMBER 2022
Local high school students from the Muffles College High School visited BVEC to learn more about Mosquito biology and to present to the BVEC team their ideas for the upcoming Science Fair. Their goal is to develop Natural Topical Mosquito Repellents. This visit was to understand how repellents work against mosquitos and how we can test their repellency.
TRAINING OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:
MARCH 2, 2020
On March 2, 2020, BVEC held a refresher training session at the Northern Regional Hospital conference room with the Community Health Workers for the Orange Walk District. The last training session was in August 2019 and it featured training of 10 CHWs on the use of a digital form to record their home patient visit. On this day, a survey was conducted in order for us to gather their thoughts and opinions on using these forms. After the survey, a power point presentation was done to go through the filling out the form, saving and uploading processes. Each tablet was updated and changes were made on some of the devices. More changes/suggestions came up during the meeting and the modifications will be added at the next meeting.
MUFFLES HIGH SCHOOL CLASS LESSON:
FEBRUARY 26, 2020
On February 26, 2020, BVEC was invited by the local Muffles High School Science teacher, Mrs. Saira Vargas, to host a class session for her 4th form Biology class. The class session included a presentation on the history of mosquito species in Central America, an overview of the mosquito life cycle aided by using live samples of mosquito eggs, larvae, pupae, and adult males and females. Tthe session was concluded by highlighting the diseases transmitted by mosquitoes in Belize.
MUFFLES COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE AND BUSINESS FAIR:
JANUARY 31, 2020
Muffles College High School conducts a grand science and business fair every two years. This year, Donovan and Alvaro represented BVEC as judges for this renowned event. Other members of the judge’s panel included representatives from stakeholders such as BAHA, Belize Audubon Society, and other High School Science teachers from Northern Belize. The day was filled with student groups who presented their science topic along with their relevance to Belize. Each group was judged based on the criteria given by the school and judges were encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback on the respective projects.
XXV CONGRESO DE LA FEDERACIÓN LATINOAMERICANA DE PARASITOLOGÍA, PANAMA:
NOVEMBER 24-27, 2019
Donvan Leiva and Alvaro Cruz attended the XXV Congreso de la Federación Latinoamericana de Parasitología (Congress of the Latin American Federation of Parasitology) in Panama. Donovan was an invited speaker and Alvaro was a participant.
6TH ANNUAL UB SCIENCE FAIR AND OPEN DAY:
NOVEMBER 22, 2019
Students from primary to tertiary level as well as members of the Belmopan community came out to the University of Belize Science Fair and Open Day. The BVEC team used this opportunity to educate the public on the different vectors and their associated threats such as the Zika virus, Dengue, Chagas, and life-saving preventative methods.
SAN ESTEVAN ROMAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL OUTREACH ON THE LIFE CYCLE OF MOSQUITOES:
SEPTEMBER 4, 2019
This session was organized by teacher Dianeli Medina for her Standard 2 class as part of their school curriculum. The presentation focused on the life cycle of mosquitoes, breeding sites, and what students can do to prevent mosquito breeding sites in their homes.
Emphasis was placed on the life cycle of mosquitoes, where students had the opportunity to see mosquito eggs, and larvae. They were also taught the difference between male and female mosquitoes. The presentation ended by evaluating the students by asking questions and rewarding them with tokens for correct answers.
TRAINING OF THE COMMUNITY HEALTH WORKERS:
AUGUST 28, 2019
BVEC held a training session for the Community Health Workers (CHW) in Northern Belize. The theme of the training session was to promote the use of digital forms using tablets for more efficient and timely data collection in the villages. The session was attended by the CHWs, the HECOPAB supervisor Mr. Rafael Castillo, the donor of the IMPACTS project Mr. Brett Nordic as well as Dr. John Wilson from the Mayo Clinic. This session was a follow-up to the session in April and the IMPACTS foundation donated 12 tablets to the MOH for use in the field. This will allow for accurate and timely data entry for the Ministry of Health and as a result, cases could be detected and responded to in a more efficient manner.