7 News Belize

CARICOM Makes Gang Intervention
posted (October 23, 2013)
Last night on the news you heard the CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque speak candidly about the unflattering perception many Caribbean Citizens have of CARICOM.  He says the CARICOM Secretariat has to be felt to be making a difference in the lives of its citizens.  And, quite as a coincidence, one of the secretariat's most ambitious, socially impactful programmes happened to be in Belize at the same time.  It's called "Youth, Gangs and Violence Partnering for Social Development and Crime Prevention."  The programme started in 2011 and is being staged in five countries including Belize.  It attempts to steer youths away from gang involvement. The CARICOM strategists are on their fourth mission to Belize and today they launched a three day workshop focused on strategies for preventing crime and violence in schools and community, targeting teachers, community workers, students and police.  Beverly Reynolds from CARICOM told us they want to build capacity:

Beverly Reynolds - Programme Manager, Sustainable Dev., CARICOM
"The idea is to build the capacity of these persons, to deal with the challenges that they are facing, both in schools and in communities, as it relates to crime and violence. It focuses on preventing crime. It focuses on social development. So, we address social issues in the attempt to prevent crime."

Brian Skinner - Presenter - "Character First"
"It's an issue of character; it's an issue of identity, knowing who you are. Those young men never heard their fathers say, 'Boy, you're my son. I love you.' And then hugs them. Most men die, go to the grave, and never heard their fathers say, 'You're my son; I love you, and you're a man.' So, they are looking for their manhood. A woman goes through puberty, and 'nuberty', but a boy goes through puberty, 'nuberty' and 'stuperty', and he still has to prove that he is a man then. Women don't. So, the gangs step in where the man move. We have a disconnect. The biggest threat to our home now is not physical or economic; it's an emotional one. Does my father love me? A boy who is loved and known by his father, he doesn't need any gang member to teach him who he is. A gang member - the way a boy's brain is structure, the front part does not allow him to see far down the road. He can only see 3 months down the road. So, how come another guy his age can tell about down the road? That's the job for his daddy, but his daddy never got it from his daddy. And his daddy never gave it to his daddy. So, we have inter-generational dysfunctionalism. We have to bring safety nets like what they're doing here, to correct that." 

It is a three day workshop at the Princess Hotel and Casino.

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