Said Musa Celebrates 81st Birthday with Book Launch

Former Belizean Prime Minister Said Musa marked his eighty-first birthday with a double celebration, unveiling a new book and launching an archival project.  The event, held at the Imagination Factri, saw family, friends, and supporters gather to honor the two-time head of government. Musa’s latest publication offers a glimpse into his political journey, which began in 1967, adding a rich chapter to Belize’s history.  Here’s more from News Five’s Isani Cayetano.

 

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

Former Prime Minister Said Musa is celebrating his eighty-first birthday in style by releasing a book and launching an archival project. Earlier today at the Imagination Factri, family, friends, and supporters of the two-time head of government gathered to cut a birthday cake and unveil the new publication Noh Wach Mi Wach Yuself”.

 

Yasser Musa, Son of Said Musa

“Today is a special day, obviously, because he has reached eighty-one, an age which many of us who are younger than that would love to reach.  But more importantly, today we also launch the Said Musa archive and this book that was launched, titled Noh Wach Mi, Wach Yuself is just one part of the archive project.

 

Reporter

“Talk about what’s to come in the archive, you mentioned the amount of speeches and other documents.”

 

Yasser Musa

“Correct. So I look at all archives as a form of imagination because what do you decide to choose in a world that has so much to choose from?  So you have to curate it, you have to decide what are the things that you would want to put, like a buffet so others can come after and choose what they want to take.  There are many people that like to focus on things like photography, photos, images.  There are many people that like to look at text, speeches, documents of law and other printed matter.  But then there are also the current generation that would rather a video or a reel that would help them to understand what a person’s, in this case, Said Musa, or what a society’s life, in the case of the Belize Archives and Records Service.  The importance of having a multimedia approach.  We have tried to channel our imagination to see how we can create this buffet I was talking about.”

 

To give some context, Yasser Musa, the former director of the National Institute of Culture and History, highlighted how long it took to truly establish and emphasize the significance of history in the Belizean experience.

 

Yasser Musa

“It took twenty-two for Belize to open its first museum, twenty-one years to bring to life the National Institute of Culture and History, twenty-three years to introduce the teaching of African and Maya history and twenty-three years to introduce a history program at our national university.  So the fact is, we don’t look at that negatively at all.  We look at that as a struggle and one man who was pushing that pecado is sitting right in front of me, so let’s give him a hand for that.”

 

Musa explains that the new book aims to capture a snapshot of his father’s political journey, which began back in 1967. Isani Cayetano for News Five.