In the last 12 years, Belize has seen more intense and more frequent storm systems on our shores, and that's why the Red Cross has been funding DIPECKO 7, more commonly known as the community disaster preparedness programme. It's been deployed in 12 communities in the Cayo district and the Belize River Valley under the mantra of "Building Safer and More Resilient Belizean Communities". This 15 month project is winding down and yesterday at ten in the morning in maypen village at the newly refitted hurricane grade community center a ceremony was held to award certificates to several villagers who participated.
The Nowegian Red Cross sponsored the project and a representative told us what it was about:…
Havard Hovdhaugen, Nowegian Red Cross
"We have been working with the communities and with the schools in Belize river Valley and in Cayo to have communities members, the students, the parents, the teachers better prepared for any natural disaster that may hit your Country. We have been through a lot of training with the community members trainings in first aid, in shelter management, in various trainings to be better prepared in a event of a disaster. The same thing with the schools, the fourteen projects school have been through training in psycho social support again in first aid and in various topics, related to how best be prepared to natural disaster."
Olivia Moody, Chairlady Maypen Village
"A disaster preparedness such as flooding even to a hurricane shelter, and I must say thanks to the European Union and the Belize Red Cross and all so the Nigerian Red Cross, to support this great gift to us."
This is the second project of its kind that the Belize Red Cross has implemented; the first was carried out in 16 communities in the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts and completed in February of 2009.
