Women Lead the Charge in Toledo’s Emergency Response Team

Forty-eight residents from five villages in the Toledo District are now officially part of NEMO’s Community Emergency Response Team. It’s important toward disaster preparedness, especially after last year’s wildfires shook the region. These newly trained volunteers, many of them women, spent time learning how to handle emergencies, from search and rescue to fire safety and disaster risk reduction. And they’re not just walking away with knowledge, they’re being equipped with gear to help them respond quickly and effectively when wildfires strike again. National Emergency Coordinator Daniel Mendez shared more about how this grassroots effort is building resilience in some of Belize’s most vulnerable communities.

 

Daniel Mendez, National Emergency Coordinator, NEMO

“Making communities resilient is really important and the ability for communities to plan and be able to withstand and recover is really important. How we can support communities to begin that. WE know that during any event it is very difficult to call for support and to reach communities in the immediate aftermath of an event. So, how do we ensure that communities are prepared and are able to have systems within their boundaries. So the project is looking at empowering those villages. So it is about making communities resilient. That project will continue. It is a continuous cycle and will never stop and we will continue to work with all communities across the country.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Where are the trainings being focused?”

 

Daniel Mendez

“It is all dependent on the different hazards. We completed that project in Toledo as a result of the wildfires. So we have build the program and communities have been given the tools and better able understand the risk the face to wildfires.”