LA SUERTE DE LOS CHO

For the second year in a row, a Belizean has won a Commonwealth Scholarship. This year’s recipient is Percival Cho. Twenty-eight year old Cho is currently a Forest Officer at the Forestry Department, and will leave that post to pursue a graduate degree in Tropical Forestry at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. The studies are to lead to a concentration in Rural Development and the effect of Climate Change on the livelihoods of forest dependent people. In addition to the Commonwealth Scholarship, the academically gifted Cho was also one of nineteen students who were short listed for a European Union ERASMUS MUNDUS Scholarship. Because both would become effective in September, Cho had to make a choice. He decided to go with the Commonwealth because it is for only a year, while the E.U. programme extended for two years. To top off the accomplishments of the Cho family, last year, Percival’s older sister, Nichola Cho was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue Masters of Science studies in oil and gas law in Scotland.