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The Belize Central prison houses a total of 1258 inmates, the majority of them men.

Regardless of its spacious compound and high end security, it is no five star resort or hidden paradise,

This select group of primary school students was given a first hand look at what life is like behind these prison walls. More specifically why this is the last place they would want to end up in life.

ACP Howell Gillett, Commander of the National Community Policing Unit
"Well there are many reasons why we are here. Some of those reasons include having the children see first hand what the end state will be. There are issues they see in their communities and they are corresponding behaviors and actions between these communities. And they have seen it and so we had to bring them to let them see the end state which is prison. But we also want them to see the justice system to see how it works with the possibility of these young people choosing a career path within the justice system whether it be a social worker or a police officer a judge a magistrate a corrections officer. We want to open their minds to show them that those who they believe are the bad guys on the street they all come here. And there are two places bad people go, one is to prison you heard it in the CEOS address and the other is to the tomb."

After a pat down and search at the entrance of the prison, the students were then placed in this holding cell, where prisoners are kept upon arrival, before they undergo a full strip search. v It's a taste of harsh reality, and a sharp deterrent in an attempt to dissuade them from a life of crime and improve the behavior of some of these students. The choice is theirs, whether they strive to change or end up in the hands of Virgilio Murrillo, the CEO at the prison.

Virgilio Murillo, CEO, Belize Central Prison
"I just wanted to share the reality of prison with them because at the end of the day you can't mix with words crime is pretty much out of hand in this society and we don't want anyone to think that the prison, I hate to use the phrase bed of roses but it is certainly not a holiday and people will not come here and carry on with their behavior that landed them in prison any at all. Prisons are about order and discipline and we as the administration we make sure that we execute that obligation extremely well. Of course respecting their human rights but certainly not tip-toeing around getting them straightened out before they return to society."

The majority of the group were over 15, and came from 6 different primary schools. And if the walk through the holding cell, the smell of prison food and the glares of inmates peering through the prison windows wasn't enough to shake them up, they got to hear the blunt testimony of a young woman on remand for Manslaughter. The french national, is on remand in Belize for allegedly strangling her mother in their Tres Puntas home in the Cayo district back in late August of 2023. Life behind these walls has been a wake up call for her.

Mahault Jarossay
"I came here one year ago I came one year ago to Belize and I came to prison ten months ago I already completed ten months on remand for what I am here I am risking 15 years of jail and so I am praying hard that I will not have to do those years but I have to I have to accept it because I did a mistake. It started with one bad decision and then a next. Bad decision and the next thing I know I'm in prison alone in a cell with nobody to talk to me no family to call me because it is too expensive I cannot call them neither because it is too expensive. Sending money is hard I have no visitors I have no drop off I have to eat the food here. It's really hard so try to make good decision because I am proof that coming to jail is for everybody. I have a good education I went to high school I went to university. I got money I got family and friends and people who took the right decisions but I didn't listen I wanted to travel the world and discover new things and I thought I could do it on my own but no I needed to listen and I took a really bad decision I'm here for manslaughter."

Sobering testimony - and hopefully it can keep these teenagers from taking those kinds of bad decisions.

These prison visits have been happening since 2018.