Belize Central Prison Reflection

On Wednesday March 29, 2017 two sets of classes with some overlap in students attended the Belize Central Prison trip. At least 2 times during any given academic year Miss Kendra Hoyt and Miss Sherry Gibbs take their students in the Criminal Justice Program and in the Social Problems class to the prison as a way of exposing the students to life in prison and to explore the social problems that exist in Belize and how the incarcerated population of Belize is impacted. The trip provides an opportunity for students to tour the prison facility, meet with inmates and learn that we on the outside of the walls are not so different from those who reside inside the walls.

On this trip, we were afforded the opportunity to learn about the radio station housed inside the prison. We met with the women housed in the women’s unit and lastly, we met with the young boys housed at the Youth Wagner Center. We are always treated like 1st class guests by the Head of Security Mr. Vernon Bennett. He is our guide and teacher when we are on the premises and each and every time he provides us with his story having been in prison work for near 20 years now. It was clear on the way back to Galen University that our students were transformed in their thinking and that this experience provided them with a renewed sense of what humanity means in our lives.