BDF Hosts First-Ever Youth Summer Camp in Corozal Town

For the first time ever the Belize Defence Force is hosting a special summer camp in Corozal Town under the theme “Developing basic disciplines for the kids.” The camp is aimed at giving youth a platform to engage with each other and build long lasting relationships. A bus has also been procured to encourage the participation of persons in surrounding villages. The camp, which kicked off this week has brought about children of different ages designed to instill leadership, teamwork, and discipline within the campers. The instructors chosen were vetted and selected by a criteria presented by the BDF. Major Justo Veliz Jr., Service and Support Battalion Executive Officer spoke with Love News about the camp.

Major Justo Velez Jr, SSB Execution Officer, BDF: “So one of the things that we enacted here is that what we see is that some of the kids they are very gadget oriented so here when they arrive here we assure safety of course, safety is paramount, so we remove all of that engagement and we get them really to mingle with other kids. The idea is to develop friends, to meet new friends, meet new people, new students and go through the five stages of groupings. At the beginning we kind of foresee a bit of segregation. Kids who come in who have a sibling here they’re more tied in to talk to the sibling than the others that they haven’t met but on day two we started to break that because some of them chasing together or by family orientation to one sport so we kind of separate that because we have to engage them to other people and influence that part. So at day three I started to see that they are starting to form friends, they’re starting to meet other guys and other girls. So we’re happy about that. Day four was really they started to get along very well. That is where you see they guide each other, they help each other, they assist each other getting to know each other. So that is a happy ending for us.”

In a time where positive community engagement is more important than ever, initiatives like this camp remind us of the impact of dedicated leadership.  Brigadier General Asariel Loria expressed to Love News about the importance of starting this initiative in the north.

The camp will end on Friday.