Cayo Scoop! The Ecology of Cayo Culture

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"

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."

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."