LIU at Work, An Intervention is Staged at Gwen Liz
Gwen Lizarraga High School is one of several secondary schools in Belize City that has an enrolment of students who are extremely susceptible to the influence of gangs. Its location on the south side sees young men and women from various crime-ridden communities in daily attendance now that in-person classes have resumed. With that in mind, the Leadership Intervention Unit has chosen this institution to stage an intervention. Present this morning was a former inmate, well-known in the early nineties for his role in the formation of a notorious gang. He drew from real life experiences in the mean streets of Belize City in an attempt to deter a class of young men from following in his footsteps. News Five’s Isani Cayetano also participated in that intervention as a former at-risk youth who successfully transitioned away from gang involvement. Here’s that story.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Convicted of murder at age seventeen, Anthony “Zambo” Bowen was sentenced to death by hanging. He was one of two minors condemned to life in prison when the death penalty they were each handed down was commuted. Having escaped the gallows and the hangman’s noose, Bowen spent twenty-three years of his life inside the Belize Central Prison before being released a few years ago. He is a founding member of one of Belize’s deadliest gangs.
Anthony ‘Zambo’ Bowen, Former Gang Member
Anthony ‘Zambo’ Bowen
“I get stabbed eena my chest, get my throat cut, get stabbed eena my back. The fittest was the fittest. Because ah weh I mek myself out ya, wahn be eena di streets, being wahn member ah wahn gang, look pan somebody like wahn OG. Dehn da noh OG, dehn da waste ah time. Dehn just mek my time harder. You know who da my OG? My ma, my pa, my bredda and my sista weh mi haftu deh up deh twenty-three years. Some ah unu people noh even wahn bring nothing fi unu.”
This sobering message is being delivered to a class of male students at Gwen Lizarraga High School. As teenagers, they are vulnerable to the influence of gangs in their respective neighborhoods.
Isani Cayetano
Isani Cayetano
“Being influenced by gangs da noh nothing new. This has been around from the early nineties when it was first introduced to Belize and I am fortunate, I am here as a living testimony. Whereas Mr. Gillett said that I chose a different direction, I can honestly tell you guys that I was also very much involved with gang activity from a young age and I am before you at forty years old as a survivor, as someone who I could tell you that the majority of young men I used to gang bang with are either dead or still in prison.”
What Zambo, myself and William Dawson have in common is the environment that we grew up in. St. Martin’s is one of the toughest communities this side of Belize City and navigating the perils of gang life was our reality. Today, we took our individual and collective experiences and shared them with these impressionable young men in the hope of changing their minds about gang involvement.
William Dawson, Director, Leadership Intervention Unit
William Dawson
“We are trying to create a wraparound service to support students who are in schools. We know that many times gangs target young boys and girls who are going to school and we think that it is very important to engage these young people who are in schools to make sure that they understand that there is a support system that is available to help them get through school and through life on a whole in Belize City.”
Bowen’s experience as a young inmate who spent his adolescence in prison is chilling.
Anthony Bowen
“As wahn lee bwai, I gaan een when I sixteen. How much ah unu sixteen? I come out when I forty-one and ih neva easy. You know how much nights and days I cry as wahn lee bwai. I feel like I da di baddest thing, anything cohn da me go for it. One ah di PIV founder, I da one ah dehn and how much ah my bredda weh I could tell yoh weh I mi deh with right now noh deh da burying ground done rotten long time, bone white, white, gaan… and seh dehn wahn neva dead, “ah wahn neva dead, ah wahn neva dead. You done dead.”
It’s a real existence for many of us growing up in the inner city. My vantage point as a survivor and as a journalist gives me a unique perspective on the issue of gang violence.
Isani Cayetano
“And so, while I’m no longer involved in any kind of gang activity, I have the job of covering a lot of the gang-related incidents that happen in this country. And it’s sad and it’s heartbreaking when you look at young men who have potential lying dead on the street.”
Henrietta Gill, a former prison officer, has also been working closely with reformed gang members. She attests that their criminal past and them having spent time in jail comes at a detriment where gainful employment is concerned.
Henrietta Gill, Youth Mentor
Henrietta Gill
“So start realizing that you have got to start to think for yourself. I worked in the prison for ten years. My good man over there, he was there and I always tell my boys, this is not your home, you can go out there and do better. These boys that come out and girls will be in trouble because they have to full out applications, “I was in prison” “Oh no, no. We noh got no job, come back tomorrow, leave your phone number”, and they never get a call and this brings them down.”
Isani Cayetano reporting for News Five.
