The Need

Belize is located in Central America, bordering the Caribbean Sea, between Guatemala and Mexico. Its land mass is slightly smaller than Massachusetts, and its population was estimated at 307,899 in 2009. The most recent poverty estimate (National Poverty Assessment Report-Belize, 2002) indicated that 33.5% of the population lives below the poverty line. Among children and in rural areas the poverty rate is closer to 45%. Although more than 60% of the population is between the ages of 15 and 64, only 39% participate in the workforce. Belize has a diverse culture, made up of Mayan, Garifuna, Guatemalen refugees, Mennonites and some Indo-Chinese.

The Belize Need for Clean Water

Access to safe water is limited. While most villages have a Water Board in place and some already have a water tower. The water is collected rain or river water with a little bleach added to it. Most of the villagers buy bottled water if they have the resources, while others will boil it. This will not remove the dirt, bacteria, parasites and deadly E-coli from the water supply.

The risk of major infectious diseases, such as bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, dengue fever, malaria and leptospirosis is high. The region is also prone to frequent, devastating hurricanes from June to November, and coastal flooding especially in the south. Even a typical thunderstorm will produce enough flooding to cause outside latrines to over flow causing even more disease to flow into their water source.

Issues Facing Children in Belize: (UNICEF)

The majority of rural households lack adequate sanitation.

Stunting due to malnutrition affects 1 in 5 children. The figure among boys in some Maya communities is twice as high.
Belize has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Central America.  Many avoid testing due to being shunned by their communities. Girls and young women are especially vulnerable to the disease.

Primary school rate is above 95%, but rates of drop out,grade repition and failure remain high. Only a quarter of poor children continue on to secondary school.

Water Contamination: WHO(World Health Organization-PISCA)

Belize posses adequate quantities of surface and groundwater BUT water contamination-coupled with lack of chlorination has become a more and more critical issue.  This water contamination-a result of issues such as agricultural and industrial expansion and insufficient monitoring and quality control-threatens Belize’s population with increased incidences of Cholera and diarrheal diseases.

Inadequate Water and Sanitation -   (Courtesy of The Cornerstone Foundation, San Ignacio, Belize)

In 2006 an assessment of the water, sanitation and hygiene situation in 72 rural primary schools countrywide found that only 6 schools (less than 9%) were in compliance with international standards for student/facility ratio and the majority of the existing facilities were in a serious state of disrepair. The state of facilities is of even further concern considering the fact that many of these schools are used as hurricane shelters and that Belize is highly hurricane prone.

A further study conducted in Toledo and Stann Creek District in 2007 identified three categories of problems: the non-existence of facilities, woefully substandard facilities and facilities in need of considerable maintenance and repair. The majority of schools in these districts fell under the first two categories – they either lacked functioning toilets or did not have sufficient toilets to adequately serve the student population. Children drank out of a bucket placed at the front of classrooms and hand-washing facilities were virtually nonexistent in 98% of the schools. The lack of hygiene facilities results in higher than average diarrheal disease and contributes to the 60% of children that are infested with parasites robbing children. It robs them of nutrition and dramatically impacts their learning capacity in school.