Support Development

in
Belize

Newsletter (1st issue 2017)

“As man develops, he places a greater value upon his own

rights. Liberty becomes a grander and diviner thing. As he val-
Inside this issue: ues his own rights, he begins to value the rights of others. And
when all men give to all others all the rights they claim for
Recycling– Empowering themselves, this world will be civilized.”
women ― Robert G. Ingersoll, The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child

Visit from Belize Watch

Supporting Our lady of

Bella Vista Pre-School

Women Group from

Jalacte Village

Open day in San Benito

Poite

News from the Second

Hand Clothes shops

Contact
information
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Recycling; Empowering women

Recycling is very important as waste has a huge nega- Knowing majority of the effects that pollution in creating to the
tive impact on the natural environment. Harmful environment, it is important to recycle. Humana People to Peo-
chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from
ple Belize have the pleasure to support people like Marisol
rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the
Mejia a resident of Bella Vista Village who cares for the environ-
pollution caused by waste materials. Recy-
cling reduces the need for raw materials, which ment in a creative and colorful way. She recycles plastic bottle
means less land clearing and the rainforests are and then turns it into arts. Her artistic manner had carried her
thereby preserved. in now being an entrepreneur by selling hand made flowers out
of plastic bottles. This generates income for her family and have
The amount of rubbish we create is constantly in- being able to send her children to school. Marisol Mejia had
creasing because: been supported by Humana Belize since 2014 in her flowers
making and now she is sharing her knowledge with other moth-
· Increasing wealth means that people are buying ers from her community and at the same time generating a job
more products and ultimately creating more to another woman who collects and sells them.
waste.
· Increasing population means that there are more
people on the planet to create waste.
· New packaging and technological products are
being developed, - much of these products con-
tain materials that are not biodegradable.
· New lifestyle changes, such as processed food
and fast food, means that we create additional
waste that isn’t biodegradable.

Environmental Importance
· Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are
released from rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling
helps to reduce the pollution caused by waste.
· Habitat destruction and global warming are
some of the affects caused by deforestation. Re-
cycling reduces the need for raw materials so
that the rainforests can be preserved.
· Huge amounts of energy are used when making
products from raw materials. Recycling requires
much less energy and therefore helps to pre-

Importance To People
Recycling is essential to countries around the world
and to the people living in them.

· Reduce financial expenditure in the economy.

Making products from raw materials costs much
more than if they were made from recycled
products.
· Preserve natural resources for future genera-
tions. Recycling reduces the need for raw mate-
rials; it also uses less energy, therefore preserv-
ing natural resources for the future.
 Page 3

News from Child Aid Project Council– Visit from Belize Watch (TV Show)
Humana People to People Belize had the privilege to welcome ‘BELIZE
WATCH’, (a national television station) to Child Aid Toledo on February 1st
2017. The Television show wanted to know more about Humana Belize; its
work and impact in the 29 communities of Toledo and South Stann Creek.
In Child Aid Office, the TV crew were introduced to what is Humana
Belize and explained about the ten (10) lines of action/ the focus areas for the
project. Then moved on to Marisol’s house where she demonstrated her skills in
flower making using recycled plastic bottles. Marisol also explained how this pro-
ject has improved her livelihood. Next stop was by Bella Vista primary school
where they were able to see and hear about the support that Humana Belize had
been provided to the school. Then they visited the Humana Shop where they
were the project leader, Jaime Barrientos, briefly explained about the sale system
of secondhand clothing. Moving on to Felina’s Farm where a pineapple jam train-
ing was taking place with women from Trio, Golden Stream and Indian Creek.
And lastly to Medina Bank and Indian Creek where they meet Safaria Salam, a
mother who had benefited from Humana Belize’s pass on loan program with one
(1) sheep and now have six (6) sheep. T conclude the day the TV crew went to
Indian Creek where they met Concepciona Coc, leader of the Yum Kax women
group who is involved in making coconut oil, kushtal, soap and chocolate.

Supporting Bella Vista Pre-school

Early childhood is a crucial stage of life in terms of a child's physical, intellectual, emotion-
al and social development. Growth of mental and physical abilities progress at an astounding rate
and a very high proportion of learning takes place from birth to age six. It is a time when children
particularly need high quality personal care and learning experiences. The learning capabilities of
humans continue for the rest of their lives but not at the intensity that is demonstrated in the
preschool years. Our Lady of Bella Vista R. C School have a total of nine hundred (900) students;
this is the most populated primary school in Stann Creek and Toledo District. Out of these 900
students, 90 (ninety) are pre– scholars from ages 3 to 5 with three (3) pre school teachers. Hu-
mana People to People Belize have been supporting the school since 2007 in repairs, painting,
construction of the playground and donations of materials for the pre– school classrooms. The
visit from the students of Norway to Humana Belize had been of great help because they were
able to construct beds for the 3 pre school classrooms so that children can take naps during re-
cesses. Naps and sleep is an important part of the learning process as it is during sleep that the
brain process what was learned and kind of put it on the right shelve in the brain. Children need
positive early learning experiences to help their intellectual, social and emotional development
and this lays the foundation for later school success.
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Women Group in Jalacte, Toledo - Planting Moringa Trees
Society consists of groups of innumerable kinds and variety. No man exists
without a society and no society exists without groups. Groups have become a part
and parcel of our life. Groups are complementary to the development of human fac-
ulties, traits and human nature. In a group, one is able to learn numerous things, share
experiences and intermingle with one another. If a group is well established and all
members have a common goal, then the members will obtain all the benefits of been
part of a productive group. Humana People to People Belize have established youth
groups, farmer groups and women groups in 26 communities of Toledo and one of
the many examples of well established women groups is found in Jalacte Village.
The women group in Jalacte consist of 10 (ten) members and the purpose of
this women group is to educate themselves about health and nutrition and empower
themselves financially. All these women are
mothers, eager to learn and provide financial
support to their families. The group have
been provided with 2 (two) trainings from
Humana People to People Belize in connec-
tion with Ministry of Agriculture on health
and nutrition and team work. These women
meet twice a week to enroll themselves in
various activities like Moringa tree planting
and establishment of chicken coops in the
home of each group member in order to sell
their chicken and use the income to send their children to school and maintain their
family.

Open Day in San Benito Poite, Toledo District

An Open day was held in San Benito Poite. San Benito Poite is a beautiful
community located in the south of Belize bordering with Guatemala. The purpose of
an Open Day is to bring families and communities together for a day filled with fun
activities for children, youths and adults, it also provides educative topic to all.
One hundred (100) pamphlets about HIV/ AIDS were distributed and talked about
on that day with the purpose to continue to spread awareness and educate people
about this important but sensitive topic, and one hundred (100) pamphlets about the
benefits from Moringa was distributed. The Open Day was supported by the Peace
Corps working in these communities. Some of the topics being shared by the Peace
Corps were benefits of exercising and nutrition.
Four (4) communities, Corazon, Jordan, San Lucas, and Crique Sarco were
invited along with their village leaders and key personnel for assistance like Parents
Teachers Association from San Benito as fundraisers for the new Girls’ Club that
was formed in the school. The aim of the Girls’ Club is to learn about making Mayan
cultural arts and craft as part of their cultural heritage in the community. In the open
day, the children were involved in games like sack race and spelling; youths took part
in the football marathon where six (6) teams participated. Approximately two hun-
dred (200) people attended the open day and supported the cause for the school.
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Pass On Loan– Safaria Salam, Medina Bank Village

Humana People to People Belize provides pass on loans to women members in poor rural regions of Toledo for a range of
income-generating activities with the objective of reduce poverty. The Pass on loan system is a loan given to the families in
the form of animals like; sheep, goat or pigs. A pregnant female animal is given to the family, when the female have young
ones, then the family have the duty to give back one of the young ones to another family selected by Humana, either in the
same community or in another community. The loan is automatically paid off when the family gives back a young one to an-
other family. Then the family can stay with whatever amount of young ones that the female gave birth to. A successful pass
on loan example is from Safaria Salam, mother of four (4) children ages 9, 11, 13, and 15; who got a sheep loan two (2)
years ago and now in 2017 she has six (6) sheep with some of them being pregnant.

Strengthening the Economy of the Family– Concepciona Coc (Indian Creek village)

Entrepreneurship matters; its benefits are many, from rewarding

problem solving, organizational, and leadership abilities, to foster-
ing creativity and engendering empowerment. Not the least of its
merits is the significant boost it gives to the economy. Entrepre-
neurship provide a way out of poverty for women faced with few
other opportunities; Concepciona Coc is an example of a hard-
working and resourceful woman who has dedicate her time in
making several products for her small business. Her innovations
and skills has lead her in making coconut oil, Mayan handicrafts
and souvenirs, chocolate, and cacao soap as a way through with
her economic situation. She was the leader of Yum Kax Women
group which consisted of 14 members but one by one the mem-
bers started to work independently, now she is an entrepreneur
and is supporting the economy of the family including being able
to send 4 children to school. For the past 9 years, Humana Belize
has supported Concepciona Coc by providing her with Kushtal
trainings, materials for handy crafts and publicity for her coconut
oil - because it is strongly believed that supporting women is un-
doubtedly a positive and practical choice for community develop-
ment. Humana Belize is very proud of women like Concepciona
Coc who do not see obstacles for women who aspire to be en-
trepreneurs.
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Humana People to People Belize is a member of a network of 32

organizations engaged in international solidarity, cooperation and
HUMANA PEOPLE
development in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.
TO PEOPLE The development work of the Humana People to People Movement is
BELIZE rooted in a commitment to fight alongside The Poor in a collective
process that supports people to make changes, solve problems and
improve their lives.

Monkey River Road,

Toledo District,
Belize Central America.
PO BOX 1728, Belize City

Phone: (+501) 678 99 43

Email: Info@humana-belize.org
www.humana-belize.org
www.humana.org

Country Director: Susanne Jensen

Email: susanne.j@humana-belize.org

Project Manager: Jaime Barrientos

Email: Jaime.b@humana-belize.org

Project leader Child Aid Toledo: Pantaleon Escobar

Email: Pantaleon@humana-belize.org

Partnership & Promotion:

Cindy Rodezno Email: cindy@humana-belize.org
Ishelly Williams Email: Ishelly.w@humana-belize.org

SHOPS ADDRESSES:

Dangriga Town, Commerce Street, Stann Creek District

Santa Cruz, (beside the football field), Stann Creek District
Independence (Mango Creek), Toucan Street, Stann Creek District.
Bella Vista, (in front of A&A Supermarket) Toledo District