Kolbe Foundation

On September 30, 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries inaugurated the Visiting Justices Program at the Kolbe Foundation, Belize Central Prison. This long-awaited inauguration is timely since the last time the program was utilized was in 2008.

On April 8, U.S. Embassy Belmopan, partnering with the Love Foundation and the Kolbe Foundation, inaugurated its third and final community resource hub in the George Street area under “Empowering Communities to Empower Themselves” (ECTET) initiative. The initiative has created three community resource hubs that provide training and serve as startup locations for new businesses, creating alternatives to gang activity in underserved neighborhoods long suffering from violence.

The Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), as part of the continuous support in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic donated 317,770 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) to the Belize Red Cross, Kolbe Foundation Belize Central Prison, Children’s Homes, Residential Homes for the Elderly, Belize Defense Force, Coast Guard, and Ministry of Sustainable Development.

On December 15, U.S. Embassy Belmopan, alongside project partners the Love Foundation and the Kolbe Foundation, formally launched its second community resource hub in St. Martins under the “Empowering Communities to Empower Themselves” (ECTET) initiative. These community resource hubs will be the centers for entrepreneurial and vocational training to create alternatives to gang activity in underserved neighborhoods long associated with gang violence. The ECTET Initiative received funding from U.S. Embassy Public Affairs aimed at improving citizen security and increasing economic prosperity.

There was an initial desktop review of surveillance, containment measures, and random testing across the prison on October 27, 2020. This has resulted in 190 samples being processed with the SD Biosensor rapid antigen tests and 90 samples being reactive for COVID-19.

On October 16, U.S. Embassy Belmopan, alongside project partners The Love Foundation and the Kolbe Foundation, formally launched the “Empowering Communities to Empower Themselves” (ECTET) Initiative by inaugurating the project’s first “community resource hub” in Yarborough. This is the first of three such hubs scheduled to open in Southside Belize City over the course of the project’s five-month implementation plan, with the remaining two hubs to be opened in the Lake Independence and George Street areas. These community resource hubs will be the centers for entrepreneurial and vocational training to create alternatives to gang activity in underserved neighborhoods long associated with gang violence.

The Special Olympics Belize Torch was hosted in San Pedro Town by the island’s police formation after arriving on Tuesday, December 3rd. The following day it was paraded through the main streets of town by members of the police department, the San Pedro Town Council and students from different schools.

Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. Keith Gilges, Chief Justice of Belize Kenneth Benjamin, and Chief Executive Officer of Kolbe Foundation Virgilio Murillo signed the official handover documents at the Belize Central Prison in Hattieville. The project is valued over U.S. $387,000.