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Belize

reto juvenil internacional, costa rica volunteering, costa rica volunteer

Belize is a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. It is the only nation in the region with a British colonial heritage, but as a part of the Western Caribbean Zone, it also shares a common heritage with the Caribbean portions of other Central American countries. In this way, even if it is the only country in the area where English is the official language, Creole and Spanish are widely spoken.

Belize only occupies 23 thousand square kilometers of land, but there has been a considerable amount of conflict and claims over its land and sovereignty. It also has a long documented history of slavery, with men, women, and children having been brought by ship from Africa to work for British landowners. Africans and other communities were exploited for their labor, while rich landowners took all the benefits.

Contemporary development challenges include accentuated poverty in rural communities, unemployment, high HIV rates, gender inequality, illicit substances abuse and poor public health.

 
Our work:
Reto Juvenil has been present in Belize implementing programs focused on youth development, education and community infrastructure to achieve basic community needs. Together with the RJI staff and partners, volunteers have contributed with their time and skills to improve the social and economic welfare of the area.

Our current projects in Belize include:

  • Educational infrastructure in rural communities.
  • Prevention of HIV/AIDS programs.
  • Environmental education programs.

 

Our communities:
During the more than last 20 years of experience, RJI has assisted a large number of communities in Central America. Nevertheless, to avoid dependency we normally work for periods of 3 to 5 years in a community, and after it is empowered enough to continue developing by itself, we continue our assistance to another community.

Currently, RJI is working  in the following communities:

  • Rural Belize
  • Punta Gorda