Plenty Belize

PLENTY BELIZE

These farmers received tools purchased with funding from the Atkinson Foundation. (photo by Melanie Reimer)

In the aftermath of hurricane Iris that blasted the Toledo District in Southern Belize last October, Plenty has reordered our priorities to focus more explicitly on maternal and child health, environmental education and reforestation. The Toledo District is the poorest District in Belize and the poverty of the people, primarily indigenous Maya and Garifuna, is reflected in the malnutrition and poor health exhibited by mothers and babies and young children.

The hurricane was a devastating blow, first directly to the homes and food supply of the people of Toledo and secondly to the forest which is essential to the family food supply and sources of cash income like cacao, ecotourism and crafts, as well as the basic materials for house building.

Thanks to the generous support of local businesses and volunteers in Belize, mobilized by the Plenty Belize staff, as well as the outpouring of donations we received from so many of you, we were able to contribute to emergency efforts aimed at getting water and food directly to the hardest hit villages. Thanks also to a grant from the Atkinson Foundation, and the assistance of Sustainable Harvest International and the Toledo Cacao Growers Association, we were able to distribute tools and seed to 275 farmers to help them recover from their losses.

With the additional support of the Unity Avenue Foundation, Plenty was able to assist the TCGA in setting up four tree nurseries, three of which are irrigated by solar powered pumps. 42,000 trees are growing in the TCGA nurseries including cacao and a variety of rainforest species that cacao needs for shade.

Hurricane Iris’s devastating impact on the Toledo rainforest heightened community interest in reforestation. Plenty and the Toledo Ecotourism Association, with funding from GEF and Onaway Trust, have helped establish nurseries in 5 villages. Reyes Chun leads a discussion about environmental protection in his village of San Antonio.

Now that the immediate emergency is passed, Plenty is continuing its response through community-based projects such as the Traditional Birth Attendant training, environmental workshops, village tree nurseries and the School Feeding Program (SFP) coupled with nutrition and food preparation education and school gardens.

Belize School Feeding Program