Strong assistance helps Caye Caulker recover
Caye Caulker is an island known for its self-reliance, and that quality has been severely tested in the aftermath of Hurricane Keith. But sometime even the strongest communities need a helping hand, and as Jose Sanchez discovered this morning, those hands–as well as the arms, legs and hearts–are working overtime.
Jose Sanchez, Reporting
The Belize Defence Force has sometimes been the subject of criticism, but the fifty-seven soldiers on duty at Caye Caulker are proving that the BDF is a strong asset in peace as well as war.
Captain Oscar Selgado, BDF
“One of the things we have been doing, was to first remove all the trees from buildings and getting all roads passable. We have succeeded in that now and we are continuing in this effort. We have completely clearing the eastern beach along with the front street and today we’re here on the middle street or the main street of Caye Caulker. We are also tied up in food distribution at the District Emergency Centre, and that is going on today along with the building of the temporary shelters for the displaced people or victims of Keith. This effort will continue for another week or so until we receive further taskings from the District Emergency Committee itself.”
Jose Sanchez
“Aside from the BDF personnel out there working with their hands, I see you have some equipment. Where is that coming from?”
Captain Oscar Selgado
“Lupp. Lupp International is out here with us. They have been one of the few companies who have been out here with us since the onset of Keith. We have under command, two trucks from Lupp, two tippers; we have a front end pay loader and a back load with a two thousand gallon water container. They will be out here with us as long as necessary, as well.”
Mr. Lupp, whose company is building the satellite city on the Western Highway, not only sent his equipment to Caye Caulker, he went there personally and has also assisted a few families with some supplies to repair their homes.
Saul Magana, Hurricane Victim
“He just see me one day and see me working and step over and he said “What you doing?” I said “Well I just the clean up and try get some water for laundry and stuff.” He asked me about my place and I show him around to see my mom’s place. He said he had some guys who worked with him. So he brought out the guys and got my mother’s place up. Within two to three days when I notice, they brought out gravel; sand, cement and we did that. He came back another two to three days after. He said “What, the house is up!” I said “Yeah.” So he said “I fulfilled my promise.” I said “Yes you did.” I gave him a big five on that. I showed him around and he saw my brother-in-law’s place. Just out of the blue he said “I’ll send out some lumber and try to help you so you can help your brother-in-law.”
And just as I was talking to Magana, the German company sent him some additional foodstuff for his family.
Jose Sanchez
“This service is for free. Why are you doing it?’
Geld Lueg, Supervisor, Adolph Lupp & Co.
“Because I think my boss, Mr. Lupp, he came to this place and see these poor people here and I think he is doing right to send some equipment to this place and send some people here to help the poor people here in Caye Caulker.”
While Lupp may be lending a very big hand with the cleaning of the Island, the Mennonite community is also helping Caye Caulker, even though they have sustained heavy crop loss from the floods after Keith.
Klaas Reimer, Volunteer
“We have a committee there in Spanish Lookout that’s called the outreach of Spanish Lookout and they came to investigate the island of Caye Caulker and they saw a great need for help and decided that they will send some volunteers here, a team of ten every week. They had around ten the first week, and they started out with cleaning the yards and so on and the second week they started with the buildings. They had nine volunteers the second week. The third week they asked me to kind of manage the group and since we didn’t have ten volunteers the third week, I decided to bring my daughter and my niece out to help and do some social work and they visited the families in the schools and also helped nail windows and doors.”
“Now we’re on the third building, ten by sixty for the last five quarters and we’ll finish that up probably today or tomorrow. The kitchen is ready and we are already doing the showers. We hope by the weekend, we’ll have everything set up. All together there are nineteen rooms for nineteen families.”
Though barracks are being built for the homeless, many villagers still need daily food rations.
Mark Neal, Co-ordinator, Caye Caulker Relief Programme
“How we have decided to give out the food is completing the survey and each person we give food to, we’ve record it and we keep that data so we can verify that these people who are in need of the food has received the food. The food has been coming from NEMO on a regular basis from Belize City. We have a storeroom that we put in into and how we have given out the food, is by one: acknowledged each person who should receive the food.”
One woman who has depended on the efforts of the relief workers is Marla Burgess. When we first met her, she had just lost her home to the hurricane. Now living in the shelter, Burgess is grateful for the help she’s being receiving.
Marla Burgess, Hurricane Victim
“The village council chairman would say you can come over for rations or he would send someone over with some. The routine is just everyday normal cooking, washing, cleaning except that you are not in your home and it’s bad because you’re homeless, it not like home. No place like home.”
Reporting For News Five, I am Jose Sanchez.
Despite rumours to the contrary, officials told News Five that the health of Caye’s population is good and there have been no cases of serious disease.
