For this entire week, the students, the faculty and staff of the Wesley College in Belize City have been celebrating their Violence Prevention Week. It's an initiative by the school and the students where they take a stand against all the violence and murders that have been happening countrywide, but especially in Belize City.
Some of the students live in these neighborhoods where, at any given time, rival gangs are warring over turf, or feuding over "old beef."
Law-abiding residents are often held hostage by that violence. Today, we got perspective on this from a few personalities at the high school during their violence prevention march in the City's downtown area:
Jamie Woods, 4th Former Wesley College
"This march is about violence prevention week. Basically it's about the prevention of violence happening in our country and in our community."
Maricelli Soberanis, Counsellor, Wesley College
"It's a week of ongoing activates started from Monday with assembly. Each day we have different types of themes. Manage your anger day, acts of kindness day, noble aiding day. Today is the end of our week so we ended it with a peace march. I feel like as a school and community we do need to participate in what is going on and bring awareness. It's a small change with one student at a time. We're trying to reach out to the larger community."
Jamie Woods, 4th Former Wesley College
"It was an important message because everybody at a point in their life has been affected by violence. I think it was a very positive message because other schools and communities can take it as an idea and use it in their school and community as well."
Reporter
"Do you live in one of those neighborhoods that is considered dangerous in Belize City? are you from Belize City?"
Jamie Woods, 4th Former Wesley College
"I am from Belize City, I am from the south side area."
Reporter
"Tell us about your personal experiences. Is it a situation where you worry from time to time just being in your neighborhood having to traverse to go to school? to go about your normal day, is it something where you worry that violence can happen right around you when you're moving?"
Jamie Woods, 4th Former Wesley College
"Yes I do worry about it because my parents are very strict and when it comes to going out, my parents don't send me because they fear that something bad might happen to me and I myself am afraid to even go to the store across the street. They do it so they can get attention and fame. At the same time they probably have emotions building up inside so they feel like it's a way of getting that emotion out. Sometimes people do it for revenge or because they go out there to find love. They can't find love home so they go outside and find it somewhere else."
Email
Print