Rex is now a sophomore at Belize High School (BHS). This school year, he decided to participate in the HACIA Democracy program, which I fully encouraged. HACIA was created by Harvard University and is entirely student run by Harvard undergraduates. They hold an annual conference in a different South American country each year. This year was the 30th conference and was held in Brazil.
In the beginning of the school year, Rex was asked to choose a country and a committee ( each committee focuses on a different global issues ). He then researched the country to learn about its environment, history and government. He then applied the concerns of the committee theme to the selected country and came up with a position statement, as well as a solid understanding of contradictory positions. The students prepared for a debate style presentation with formal rules of engagement, etc. Rex’s focus was the Bahamas with an interest in Nature’s Rights (think of giving human rights to nature, e.g. no-over fishing, no killing the reefs )
It was a lot of work after school, especially in the 3 months leading up to the trip. Finally, Rex and his team traveled to Brazil in March 2025 and enjoyed 4 days of committee meetings and presentations. They also participated in HACIA social events such as a cultural night, a dance night, and a talent night. The teachers in charge of this effort did an amazing job training the students and chaperoning the team. They also arranged to arrive in Brazil 2 days ahead of the conference so the kids could see the city of Rio and popular tourist sites. What a fantastic experience. Rex says he will likely want to do it again next year. Even though is was a lot of time and work, the trip was so much fun and definitely worth the extra effort.
