Audubon helps Belize River residents
The impression given by some environmental groups is that they care more about plants and animals than people. The Belize Audubon Society has always sought to defy that stereotype and in the wake of Hurricane Keith has focused its efforts on the human habitation in and around the protected areas it administers. On Friday News Five’s Ann-Marie Williams accompanied one such mission, which embarked from a still flooded Crooked Tree.
Ann-Marie Williams, Reporting
The Belize Audubon Society has embarked on a food programme to bring temporary relief to villagers in communities which buffer Crooked Tree Wild Life Sanctuary namely, Maypen, Lemonal, Biscayne, Flowers and Isabella Banks. Donald Tillett is the project’s field co-ordinator.
Donald Tillett, Project field Co-ordinator, Audubon
“We spend about fifteen thousand dollars out of our own funds. We made a proposal to UNDP and we got forty-eight thousand dollars. They gave us an additional two thousand dollars for fuel and Belize Chamber gave us some food. The Red Cross is also supporting us very strong and also the Human Development Department. The area representative Max Samuels is also supplying us with fuel for this project.”
“We’re dealing mainly with the basic foods: flour, salt, yeast, beans, pigtail, soups and teas. We’re not really dealing with groceries; this is a ration. We don’t want people to just sit back and wait for groceries to come into their house weekly and say they don’t have to work. We want people with their normal life, to continue working, but at the same time we want to help them provide some of the necessary basic supplies.”
We took the journey from Crooked Tree’s Black Creek into the swollen Belize river on Friday last and after close to forty-five minutes on the river amidst heavy rains we came to our first stop: Maypen Village. According to village chairman Calvin McCullock getting through the flooded days takes teamwork.
Calvin McCullock, Chairman, Maypen Village Council
“I’ll take them house to house for each family. I’ll put them in my boat and drive up about a mile and a quarter. There are nine families because one moved out. Most of the families here have a lot of children right from eight up to thirteen and fourteen.”
McCullock is not only concerned about the human condition but the animals as well.
Calvin McCullock
“We work together, we work at each farm at a time. Right now we’re at Mr. Reyes’ and as soon as we get all the cattle tied up we’ll start running them down to the loading spot and the BLPA (Belize Livestock Producers Association) will be sending down the trailer to take the cows out.”
And while the cows go out, food started coming in three weeks ago and will continue as long as the water is high.
Donald Tillett
“We started out about three weeks ago, delivering rations to these communities and we hope that this period will be for another four the six months. As long as the water remains up, we will be raising donations and Red Cross has promised us that they will be supporting us whenever we cannot get money, they will be filling in for us.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“How often is it done?”
Donald Tillett
“First we started off twice per week but now it’s once per week. We have set days, for Crooked Tree Village it’s Saturday’s, for Flower’s Bank and Maypen Friday’s, Rancho and Lemonal Tuesday’s and Biscayne and Gardenia will be Wednesday’s.”
Flower’s Bank, our second stop has twenty families. Dorla Rhaburn, village council treasurer and community health worker today received twenty bags of ration on behalf of her community.
Dorla Rhaburn, Treasurer, Flowers Bank Village Council
“It’s quite difficult because we don’t have transportation that could take you across the river; you have to have a big truck or something that could take you across. Otherwise people hardly go. Most of the people in the village cannot swim so they stay put!”
Robert Thurton, vice-chairman of Isabella Bank, cannot afford to stay put as he monitors the water level for twenty-eight families.
Robert Thurton, Vice-Chairman, Isabella Bank Village Council
“We had to transfer in other buses or by boat, high pickup trucks, 4×4 or big dump trucks. Eventually though, the water is going down and we can cross. At Bermudian Landing we have a bridge there. The river is below the bridge so we can go through, but the bridge at Scotland Half Moon, that’s okay, but its just entrance and the exit on both sides that we have the deep water.”
Ann-Marie Williams for News Five.
Since that trip down the river on Friday, the water levels in the Crooked Tree Lagoon and Belize River have dropped substantially. The same is true for the Rio Hondo and New River in Orange Walk, although the fall has been slower. David Dyck, co-chairman of Blue Creek Village, told News Five that the road now has only sixteen inches of water and is passable by high vehicles. His three hundred and ninety acres of rice are still covered by twelve to eighteen inches of water and the crop is pretty much destroyed. Other farmers have been luckier, however, and Dyck estimates that around forty percent of Blue Creek’s projected rice production will be salvaged.
