BELIZE — A team of Rotarians recently completed a mission to Belize as part of the ongoing Liberty, NY Rotary Club (LNYRC) disaster preparedness and relief efforts.

The goal of the five-day mission was “to deepen our operational knowledge and partnerships in the Belize River Valley,” said Charles Lee Miller, Rotarian and head of mission control operations, “in order to inform and advance ongoing efforts to improve survivability and quality of life in the face of future disaster.”

Belize, a small Central American country, was hit by two major hurricanes within a week in 2020. Afterward, Belize Rotarians reached out for relief and asked for help in building response capacity for future disasters. Local fundraising efforts by the LNYRC and the hard work of Belize Rotarians resulted in the delivery of material support to villagers in remote and underserved areas.

On this visit, the team conducted reconnaissance of the Belize River Valley and Belize City, identifying potential storage locations for disaster relief supplies, logistics, demographics and cultural basics of the remote villages most likely to need service in the future. The team was able to view road and river access, public buildings and common areas, local government structures and services, as well as religious centers. The team took aerial and boat tours and met with leaders in four villages in the more remote areas of the Belize River Valley. In addition, the team toured the south areas of Belize City that have a more dense population and are vulnerable to flooding on a consistent basis.  

The team also met with the Rotary Clubs of Belize and Belize Sunrise, BERT (Belize Emergency Response Team), NEMO (National Emergency Management Organization) and CEMO (Belize City Emergency Management Organization). The team will analyze and assess the gathered data to help create and establish a sustainable plan to prepare their Belizean friends for future disasters, according to a news release.

The team included Gary Siegel, Shannon Barry, Gary Silver, Irving Kaplan and Don Simkin; they were assisted by mission control team members Charles Lee Miller, Terry Grafmuller and Joe Abraham.

“‘Service Above Self’ is the Rotary motto, and through that service, we always try to help others that are in need locally, regionally, nationally and internationally,” said Gary Silver, co-chair of the club’s disaster relief committee.  “This is just another example of us developing strong relationships and providing that help in a sustainable manner.”

To learn more about LNYRC’s Disaster Relief efforts, visit https://www.libertynyrotary.org.