Belize initiative.
Important Update: This Initiative is now closed
As many of you may know, Queen’s Health Outreach has worked with the Belize community for the past 30 years. We have enjoyed working closely with schools, youth programs, and local organizations to facilitate discussions about needs-based health topics and returning to our friends in the community each year. However, in light of the difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, longstanding logistical complications with the initiative, and many critical thinking discussions regarding the long-term sustainability of QHO work, the decision has been made to discontinue our Belize Initiative.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
Please read our full closure statement here:
Locations:
Belize City, Belmopan, Dangriga
Partners:
Belize Ministry of Education, Belmopan Youth Group
Focus:
The Belize initiative worked to facilitate discussions about mental, physical and sexual health in both primary and secondary schools. We focused on aspects of healthy relationships such as bullying, peer pressure, sexual health, and abuse, in addition to facilitating conversations around mental health knowledge and stigma.
Initiative Goals:
Work towards creating longer-lasting programs in schools, and being able to stay with classes for longer than three-week time periods.
QHO hopes to become more involved with individual teachers at the schools we work with, and integrate conversations between the Ministry of Education and the schools we teach in.
We hope to get in contact with the BFLA (Belize Family Life Association) to integrate our lessons with organizations in the Belize community.
When on initiative in Belize, we hope to get in contact with colleges in Belize City, Belmopan, and Dangriga.
QHO’s Belize Initiative aims to educate and inform Belizean youth about relevant health issues, foster positive behavior change, and equip youth to become leaders in their own community. The initiative has been partnering with the Ministry of Education in Belize since 1999 and runs health programming in both primary and secondary Belizean schools.
“There was a strong sense of mutual learning while on initiative as we got to learn about a new culture, as well as new perspectives on health and life from our discussions with the students. I feel as though this experience taught me lots, as I learned new things from spending time with my fellow PEs, as well as from the students and teachers at the schools that we worked with. While I went in with the goal of having a positive impact on others, I left feeling that the experience also had a positive impact on me.”
- Ryan, 2018-19 Belize PE, Dangriga and Belize City
“Over my time on QHO I continually felt growth in the program, in the students and in myself. As the year progressed after hiring, it was inspiring to see how quickly everyone in QHO became a family. We learned, experienced and grew together which only allowed for greater bonding between myself and my fellow PEs. In the classroom, it was moving to see the progress of the student’s leadership and knowledge in health based curriculum. It felt empowering to watch the students demonstrate strength, motivation and enthusiasm towards their learning and their overall self development.”
- Katelyn, 2018-19 Belize PE, Belize City and Belmopan
“I am so grateful for the opportunity I had this past summer as a Belize PE. I joined QHO with the hopes of making an impact on the students and helping them gain knowledge on health based topics. My time with QHO has been very enlightening as I have learned so much about myself and have been able to grow as an individual and a team member through different experiences both on initiative and through the year at Queen’s. During my time in Belize, the communities and schools welcomed us with open arms and taught us about their culture and so much more!”