Youth for the Future attacks roots of crime

But while an improved economy will help ease our social problems, money alone will not cure them. Nearly every night there are reports of violent crime, particularly in Belize City, and more often than not, a young victim is left bleeding on the street. Responses to the situation have included more patrols in “special police areas” and various interventions by community groups. But the people manning the front lines know that it’s impossible for them to be there to break up every fight. With that in mind, organisations like Youth for the Future are working on prevention measures to stop the violence before it starts.

Nuri Muhammad, Coordinator, Youth for the Future

“In terms of prevention, we are in the schools, we are in the schools on a daily basis at assemblies, in classrooms, we’ve been doing it throughout the high schools in Belize City, meeting with youths and bringing youths who have experienced violence, experienced that hard time and saying to them, look, you see all dehn scars pan my face and this gunshot and so, it’s not worth it. The jail weh you gwine, it’s not worth it. So we’re trying to do some reality checks by bringing these youths to talk to the other youths along the line of prevention and discouragement of violence. We are just now developing taking that programme to the primary school, because we realise starting at the high school level in the context of Belize may very well be too late. So we have to take it down to another level, and that’s working with the youths at the primary school level.”