Project Launch:

The Village of San Benito Poite is one of the most rural and secluded villages in the Toledo District of Belize. The children of the village have not been given many opportunities to travel to visit other villages or to the nearby town of Punta Gorda. To address the absence of any organized youth groups in the community, World Connect’s Kids to Kids Program awarded $500 to the community in 2010 to establish a soccer league, giving children the opportunity to be a part of a group/team and have the opportunity to travel outside of their village for soccer. This program provided the children with the opportunity to learn about important group/teamwork skills, the importance of living a healthy and active lifestyle, and to develop positive leadership skills. The new equipment enabled the children not only to play soccer in their spare time but to travel outside of their small community to play in other villages. In addition, participants have passed down the skills they learned from this project to their younger siblings and created a groundswell of enthusiasm and interest in soccer. This small community does not normally receive outside support, so every child’s face lit up when they first saw the new gear from World Connect. According to our Peace Corps Volunteer on the ground, the children use and talk about the equipment all of the time.