FLO JOHNSON

Elizabeth Pridgeon

Philanthropy, coined in Ancient Greece, is a term derived from two Greek words: ‘philos’ meaning to love, benefit or nourish, and ‘anthropos’ meaning human kind, thus a philanthropist is a person who is devoted in their love for fellow humans. Ms Flo Johnson is doubtless the epitome of a philanthropist, and it is the social love of her fellow Punta Gorda citizens that qualifies Ms Flo as a quintessential nation builder of Belize.
Miss Flo was born into the Pennell family in Punta Gorda, although after the premature death of her mother she was raised by her maternal grandmother. She attended St Peter Claver Primary School in the town, and later Claver College. In 1967, her educational ambition saw her strive to attend St John’s Sixth Form College, sponsored by her maternal aunts, and her grandmother and younger brother moved with her to Belize City.

Upon graduation in 1969, Ms Flo was invited to return to her home town of PG to accept a teaching post at Claver College, which she remained in for eight years. Despite her passion for teaching, once she began to create a family of her own and she acquired the added responsibilities of wife and mother, Ms Flo resigned from her teaching post and established a shop in order to be able to care for her daughters whilst working. The idea of her children being raised by a domestic help was unthinkable for Ms Flo, and this shop-keeping solution enabled her to continue financially supporting her family whilst also providing the domestic stability and nourishment needed by her husband and daughters.

Johnson’s Store established itself selling clothes, shoes and cosmetics, and later branched out to stock various stationery requirements (principally serving the town’s students and teachers). However, Ms Flo’s teaching career was far from over. In the late 1990s, a Claver College reunion inspired a group of alumni to realise that their successes in life were down to a solid educational foundation, received at the College during their teenage years. With the guidance of Father Webber, the group strove to establish an extension college, as exemplified by the St John’s Extension in Belize City. The dream of providing the same opportunities in Punta Gorda seemed too ambitious in the early stages of planning, but through the hard work and determined perseverance of this small group of volunteers, in August 1999 the Claver Extension opened its doors to students wishing to partake in evening classes in order to acquire their High School Diplomas.

Ms Flo, instrumental in the establishment of the College, continued her contributions through filling the post of English teacher (and occasionally assistant Spanish teacher too). The first year of the Claver Extension, nineteen students (from teenagers to forty-somethings) enrolled to develop their educational foundations, and hopefully realise greater employment opportunities for themselves in the long-term. So, despite running her own business and supporting her three daughters in their early lives and education, Ms Flo still found the time and inspiration to teach evening classes – entirely voluntarily. The Extension progressed by charging its students $600/year, but this fee covered only essential utilities and equipment, and only after several semesters were the teachers awarded a stipend (which, Ms Flo admits, was channelled directly back into the Extension through purchasing stationery and necessities for the classes).

The Claver Extension College has graduated over 100 students, many of whom have gone on to be very successful members of the Belizean business community. Yet Ms Flo is disappointed that even a decade later, the College is still not recognised in the national education budget, despite promises from the UDP administration during the pre-election campaign that if they were voted into government, they would provide an annual stipend to ensure the sustainability of the initiative.

Two years ago, Ms Flo resigned from her teaching post because she felt she had neglected her personal business for the sake of the College, which by then was sufficiently established to continue without her professional contribution; she does, however, maintain an avid interest in the College’s affairs, and willingly offers advice and guidance to the current acting personnel. This academic year, almost 100 students are attending classes towards their High School Diploma, and the catchment area of enrolment now extends throughout the villages of Toledo, as far north as Mango Creek.
Two years ago, Ms Flo downscaled her stationery store in order to create more time to reorganise her father-in-law’s hardware enterprise, and she has since employed a University of Belize student to assist with Johnson’s Store (simultaneously assisting him with meeting the financial costs of his degree). Thus she remains as busy as always, despite her daughters now being scattered across the Americas, and her maternal duties having been relieved of some of their former responsibilities. For the immediate future, she will continue participating in every aspect of the Punta Gorda business and social scene (and, from the number of people wishing to pass the time of day with her, it seems she is one of the town’s most revered social butterflies!).

In fact, only a couple of months ago, Ms Flo established a youth program in association with the Methodist Church (where she also acts as a Lay Minister) to encourage parental support and community mentoring for troubled youths, recognising the increasing breakdown of society and the lacking essential values within many families. Ms Flo is a firm believer that social disintegration is a direct result of inadequate discipline being enforced whilst children are growing up, and her successful daughters are proof that loving (yet not overly lenient) parental leadership is essential in instilling a sense of personal responsibility amid younger generations.

Ms Flo continues to contribute to various aspects of society, and undoubtedly she will continue to do so (except when she eventually fulfils her lifelong ambition and tours Europe!). Ms Flo has served the business community of Punta Gorda, she has served the educational sector of the entire Toledo district, yet above all, her worthiness is in her essential philanthropic nature: building a brighter and better Belize has always been the top of priorities for Ms Flo, and for this reason she is recognised as a Belize Times’ Nation Builder.

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