Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

The Department of Youth Services is teaming up with the Commonwealth of Learning and will be having a 6 week Tourism Training Program for young men from the age of 17 to 29. It's a 6 month tourism program, having hands on and in class education.

For additional details or to register, please visit the following link: https://www.nexusbz.org/registration or use the QR code.

The Department of Youth Services is having their 2nd Annual Belize Youth Rising Star Competition, and the Cayo round will be at the CAYO Welcome Center next Saturday, July 29th, from 10am to 2pm. The 1st prize is $5000. Contact the DYS for more information.

'Calling out all the gifted youth to get in contact with the Department of Youth Services to sign up to participate in district eliminations for their 2nd Annual Belize Youth Rising Star Competition at Cayo Welcome Center. Details on the flyer...'

The DYS has a lot of events planned for Youth Week. The Belize Youth Awards will be on Friday the 4th, and the National Youth Tradeshow and Festival will be on the 5th in Belmopan.

'Calling all young entrepreneurs in the City of Belmopan! Here is your chance to participate in the National Youth Trade Show and Festival 2022.

The Youth Trade Show and Featival will be held on November 5, 2022 at the National Agricultural Showgrounds in the City of Belmopan.

For more information kindly register @ https://forms.gle/kaNBatpqFWB4A66z8

The Department of Youth Services is accepting applications for their Belize Youth Training Institute, which will run from September through next June. They have some great courses available across many trades. The deadline is July 22nd.

"Young people who were unable to complete a diploma or a degree and are interested in pursuing a profession/trade, can sign up for any of the BYTI programs being offered by the Department of Youth Services. Please see flyer for more details."

The Department of Youth Services has a free Customer Service Training 101 seminar starting on Tuesday. You'll get a certification upon completion, and that looks good on a resume.  Contact them for more information.

The Entrepreneurship & On-the-Job Skills Training Service has started.  Great idea from the Department of Youth Services and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKPAs33lICe/

"For more information about the On-the-Job Skills Training Program, kindly contact Ms. Tanya Bowen at tanyabowen296@yahoo.com."

Volunteers are needed for the Mopan River Reforestation Project, a joint effort between the DYS and the FCD.  The project happens on Tuesday, August 4th, and starts at 6:30am.  Let them know if you're interested via the form.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDXKAwPlt9R/

"The Department of Youth Services (DYS) has partnered with Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD) to carry out a reforestation project of approximately 10,000 seedlings that consist and are not limited to trees such as , Mahogany, Ceder , Tambran and many more.

Volunteers are needed to help carry out this project which is to plant 200 seedlings along the Mopan River.

A reforestation project will take place on August 4, 2020. Starting at 6:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.

Interested volunteers are hereby called to register with the Department of Youth Services to be part of this project.

For more information call the Department of Youth Services @ 803-3027 or visit our office situated above Election and Boundaries on the Cor. of Liberty & Kennedy Street between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m."

The Department of Youth Services is having a National Mural Competition.  They have 3 prizes.  If you have a team that wants to create a mural, let them know this week.  Cayo has some of the best murals, and we could always use more.

"Do you like painting murals? Have you ever wanted to be a part of creating one in your area? Our Department is hosting a National Peace Mural Competition! Create a group of 5 young persons who would like to create a mural depicting peace, and call us at 207-0773 to register your group for this event. The deadline to apply is Friday, October 26th!"

Feelgood news of the day.  36 youths from all around Cayo were trained in skills that bettered them for working.  The Department of Youth Services and the Cornerstone Foundation teamed up for the Job Preparedness Training, which took place mostly during October, and was part of the Youth Resilience and Inclusive Social Empowerment Project.  Thanks, DYS and Cornerstone!

"Thirty-six youths from San Ignacio and Santa Elena have graduated from a Job Preparedness Training course as part of the Employability Enhancement component of the Ministry of Human Development’s Youth Rise Project. During the 8-week course, the eighteen young men and eighteen young women, aged 14-24, were exposed to a variety of topics including skills identification; personal SWOT analysis; effective communication; conflict management; Belize’s Labor Laws; work etiquette; career exploration, resume and cover Letter writing; and interview skills.

The course, which ran from August 28-October 30, is based on the Job Preparedness Training Program developed by the Department of Youth Services (DYS) in the Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture. The training was delivered in a collaborative effort between DYS Santa Elena and the Cornerstone Foundation in San Ignacio. A second cycle of the Job Preparedness training is schedule for February 2018. Persons interested in participating in the next cycle should contact DYS in Santa Elena at 804-0540.

The Youth Resilience and Inclusive Social Empowerment (RISE) Project is a comprehensive social intervention, which responds to the challenges facing vulnerable groups, particularly at-risk youth in the Towns of San Ignacio/Santa Elena and Dangriga. The project is implemented by the Government of Belize via the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation & Poverty Alleviation and public sector and social partners with funding from the Caribbean Development Bank and the Government of Belize."

Feelgood news of the day.  The Benque branch of the DYS teamed up with Alvin Young high school to clean up and refurbish a Succutz park.  Thanks, DYS!  

"The Department of Youth Services Benque Viejo in collaboration with Alvin Young Nazarene High School conducted its National Service Day clean up campaign at one of the parks in San Jose Succotz where we refurbish the swings, clean and cut the grass, and painted the benches. We would like to thank Benque Hardware for their kind donation of materials for the swing."

The Department of Youth Services had their 2017 Youth Empowerment Camp recently, and one of the major projects they undertook was the Santa Cruz Park Restoration in Santa Elena.

They have a little picture collage video about the Summer camp, and many great pictures.

"The Santa Cruz Park in Santa Elena, Cayo is a now brighter, more inviting space thanks to a collaboration between the Youth Rise Project in the Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation, the Cayo Department of Youth Services (DYS), and the San Ignacio/Santa Elena Town Council. On 24 July 2017, eighty-five (85) youths from the Youth Empowerment Summer Camp hosted by DYS and Youth Rise, spent the day beautifying the park for the camp’s community service day activity.

As part of the joint effort, the Town Council made a number of improvements to the park including repairing four cement park benches, adding new chains and wooden swings sets, installing a new slide and rehabilitating a wooden see-saw. The youths, aged 10-19, then spent the day painting all the new installations in bright colours and adding paint lines to the basketball court, which now has a new rim courtesy the Youth Rise Project. The community service day was geared at instilling civic pride within the youths who are attending the two-week summer camp. Throughout the course of the camp, which runs from 17th-28th July, the youths have been participating in sporting activities as well as educational sessions on topics such as cyber bullying, fire safety, environmental awareness, and sexual and reproductive health."

The Rotaract Club of Benque has teamed up with the DYS to bring the 2017 Rota-Copa to Benque.  The all day football tournament will be on Saturday, March 18th, at the Amin Hegar Filed in Benque.  

"World Rotaract Week will be celebrated from March 13th to 19th, 2017, and the Rotaract Club of Benque Viejo in partnership with the Department of Youth Services will host a one day football marathon on March 18th, 2017.  

Through this medium we take the opportunity to invite you and your team to join the ROTA-COPA 2017 football marathon to be hosted at the Amin Hegar Football field in Benque Viejo Town, starting at 8 a.m. until.  Your team may be a co-ed (both males and females)."

Congratulations to all the DYS Belize Youth Awards winners! Congratulations to Ben Garcia for winning the Influencer of the Year award, and Juan Menjivar for winning the Entrepreneur of the Year award.

The DYS is having their Summer School Tutoring program, which will go from August 1st through the 19th, and is for all youths from ages 12 to 15. They'll have morning and afternoon sessions, and they're all free.

'The Department of Youth Services hereby presents Summer School Tutoring program.
Commencing August 1st to the 19th
You can now register for the following sessions at our DYS offices country-wide.
Sessions being offered are Math and English.
Session 1- 9am-11:30am
Session 2- 1pm- 3:30pm
All sessions are available for ages 12-15 years old.
All sessions are FREE"

Congratulations, Interactors!  They traveled to Belize to receive the DYS Youth Club Award for 2021.  

"Today the Interact Club of Sacred Heart College was presented with the Youth Club Award 2021 by His Worship Mayor Bernard Wagner. Many thanks to the Belize City Council and Department of Youth Services for acknowledging the hard work of the Interact Club of Sacred Heart College. We are motivated and continue to serve above self. "

The 2020 Belize Youth Awards will be streamed virtually on Friday, November 6th.  Be sure and tune in to see all the amazing youths receive their awards.  

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGIor4UlU7N/

"The Department of Youth Services, Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, and Culture, hereby informs the public that we will be hosting the Belize Youth Awards on Friday, November 6th, 2020 under the International Youth Day theme, 'Youth Engagement for Global Action.'

With an effort to highlight works being done by young changemakers in their own right, while following all safety precautions, the annual Belize Youth Awards will be held virtually and viewers can be a part of the show on our Department of Youth Services Facebook page. Nominees have been selected and informed of their nomination, and the winners will be announced during the virtual show."

The Department of Youth Services has 1000's of free online courses.  With the quarantine in effect, now's the time to study online.  Register with the DYS here, and learn about a subject that interests you.  Finish 3 courses, and you'll receive a certificate of completion.  "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – W.B. Yeats

"Interested in learning to edit videos? How about photoshop? Something educational?

We have the perfect platform to share with you!
Since we now have more time on our hands, a great way to keep yourself busy is to learn something new!

This platform allows participants to sign-up via our webpage and follow the below steps to get full access to over 1000 courses available on one of the world’s largest free learning platforms for education and skills training.  Even better, if you complete 3 courses, you will also be given certification of completion by us at the Department of Youth Services!"

The Environmental Agents of Change Summer program in Calla Creek has finished.  Thanks, Department of Youth Services, for making this wonderful event happen!

Video from DYS about the idea of the camp.

"Calla Creek Village has a population of a little over 500. Educating our people in our villages in topics such as climate change, proper waste management and in the importance of environment conservation is essential. The one issue that we can handle without any external help is waste management and waste reduction. To begin with, keeping our immediate surroundings clean should be the primary target. Given that the Department has been approached by the village council with the issue they are having with garbage. The department has decided to conduct an Environmental Agents of Change summer program for four days for young people in the village. This summer program will tackle the issue of garbage in the village as well as it will make the participants more aware of: keeping their environment clean which goes with a great way of keeping them and their family healthy. If we ensure that all the roads are clean, we are in effect preventing the mosquitoes from breeding and making their community clean and welcoming. Given that Calla Creek is a village right at the river bank there is waste that makes its way into the river. This is worse as it is a well-known fact that only one percent of the total water is readily available for consumption. Hence by dumping waste into our rivers we are polluting one of the most significant natural resources which also affects our tourism industry. Through this summer program, we as the department are also making presence in the village as it’s the only village we had not worked with. With this summer program, we are also ensuring that Youths are aware and promoting sustainable environmental practices, continued youth involvement in developing environmental awareness, and making sure that Sustainable Environmental practices are evident."

Realize Belize is a Cayo based NGO that focuses on including those with disabilities.  They are having a meet and greet tomorrow at Hode's, and their Run Santa Run will be at Galvez Stadium on Saturday the 16th.  Check out their website for more information.

The DYS has pictures from their industry meet and greet.

"The Department of Youth Services Benque attending the official launch of 'REALIZE BELIZE' who has open its doors to Belizeans with disabilities in the Cayo District. Behind Realize is a team that is committed to individual's rights, empowerment and supporting positive change in society. With them they bring a range of experience that stretches from individual capacity building to large-scale strategic change.

As a Department we seek to establish a network of services providers for youth that have previously been offered in a scattered manner. This ought to have a significant impact in catering to the needs of youth with special needs, especially to youth who are at risk. An important component to this strategy is youth governance and participation. This component is oriented towards having youth issues become part of the national governmental agenda through youth participation, in such a way that through social mobilization there is a nationwide focus on youth and youth issues.

Feelgood news of the day!  The Department of Youth Services participated in the annual Oceana River Clean Up.  Thanks, DYS, and everyone else that helped out!

"On September 30th 2017 the Department of Youth Services Collaborated with Oceana for the annual Coastal & River Clean-up where youths from throughout the country clean the riverside or beach. Here are some pictures of Department of Youth Services Benque youths participating in the Annual Clean-up."

The Santa Elena DYS is going to have job preparedness training on Mondays and Wednesdays, starting on August 21st.  Interviewing skills and interpersonal communication skills can be honed, allowing for a better interview.

"The Department of Youth Services Santa Elena Job Preparedness Training will start on the 21 of August 2017, whereby this training will assist our young people to be prepared as they go along searching for employment opportunities in our area.  This Training will be offered twice a week Monday and Wednesday from 1pm to 4 pm. Registration forms are available now at DYS Santa Elena office located at 28 Peter August Street Corner of Eve Street just above the Santa Elena Post office."

The 2017 Youth Empowerment Camp will be on July 17th and 18th at Sacred Heart Junior College.  Contact the Cayo DYS office at 804-0540 for more information.  Thanks, DYS!

"Summer is here once again, the Department of Youth Services San Ignacio and Santa Elena are now Recruiting youth ages 12 - 24 for our 2017 Youth Empowerment Camp which will be held at Sacred Heart Junior College on July 17 - 18"