By Ted Horner
November 4, 2004

Wildtracks volunteer Kat Davis feeds the newest orphan manatee, Buttons, a bottle of high protein, high fat soy milk. The 7-month-old female manatee was rescued from Buttonwood Bay after being struck by a motorboat propeller. She will be rehabilitated at the facility near Sarteneja until her release to the wilds sometime next year. Photos by Ted Horner.

The 7-month-old infant was discovered earlier this month floating face down in the water near Belize City. Near death, the baby was found with severe cuts across her back and was abandoned by her mother. After being treated for injuries, the orphan was transported to her adopted home near Sarteneja Village where she is being nursed back to health and lovingly bottle-fed every 2 –3 hours by her new family.
They named her Buttons because it was Buttonwood Bay where she was rescued.
This tragic story of abuse is similar to many others in Belize and around the world except for the fact that Buttons is a manatee.
Thanks to the caring attention of English naturalists Paul and Zoe Walker and a team of volunteers, Buttons and other rescued manatees have a chance to be rehabilitated and later released back to the seas off Belize.
The Walkers who founded Wildtracks, a local conservation group, began caring for stranded manatees in 2000 when a young stranded male named Woody was adopted. Woody was nursed back to health and after 16 months was released to the wild in August 2001.

Wildtracks Directors Paul and Zoe Walker track the size and weight progress of Buttons. The temporary pool at left served as the infant manatee's first home before she was moved to a lagoon pen.

“It was natural for me to start caring for the manatees,” said zoologist Paul Walker. “When growing up in England I began taking care of rescued seal pups when I was 8-years-old.”
Manatees are gentle mammals with no natural predators. However, with increasing boating traffic in Belizean waters, they are occasionally struck and injured by passing motorboats.

Paul Walker applies iodine to the three open wounds of the baby manatee.

After successfully raising Woody, the Walkers took in a 3-week-old manatee appropriately named Tiny who was found floating near the Fort George dock in Belize City.
“She was severely malnourished and dehydrated and weighed about 16 pounds,” said Zoe Walker, an ecologist whose activity with the Belize Mammal Stranding Network, originally brought the manatees to their home and headquarters on the Shipstern Lagoon near Sarteneja.
Tiny, no longer so tiny, has since grown to a healthy weight of over 300 pounds and it is anticipated that she will be released early next year.
“Tiny will have a radio transmitter installed so she can be tracked and her movements monitored,” Zoe said.
Buttons, the latest addition to the manatee family, arrived in mid October.
“She’s tough,” Paul said. “She was found with sea grass in her mouth even though manatees don’t usually wean until they are 12–15 months old.”
Buttons is recovering well from the three propeller strikes on her back inflicted by a motorboat. Her weight in beginning to increase from the high fat and protein soy milk baby formula that she is fed every 2 – 3 hours.
The infant manatee has her own pen in the Shipstern Lagoon next to the older Tiny and while the manatees are separated they “talk” through the fence wire that separates them.

"Tiny" another resident manatee waits patiently for another regular feeding. She was rescued one year ago at 3-weeks-old and has since blosoomed to a healthy weight of over 300 lbs. She is scheduled to be released next spring at Gales Point.

Paul Walker hopes to release Buttons along with Tiny next spring.
“Normally, two female manatees won’t stay together unless one is the mother,” he explained. “But Buttons might stay close to Tiny.”
A part of the rehabilitation program involves educating Belizeans about preserving wildlife. Since the arrival of Tiny, hundreds of school children from all over the country have visited the facility and have taken part in manatee awareness activities.
It is the Walker’s hope that through educating the public about the dangers facing the manatee, that the many other environmental issues facing Belize can be addressed.

by Carle Grill
October 7, 2004

To visitors and residents the entrance to Sarteneja is an unwelcome site of garbage dumped along side the road. Community efforts are currently underway to resolve the growing trash problem.

Strolling through Sarteneja, a first time visitor will be instantly drawn to the simplicity of village life in the little northern Belize town. They will see barefoot children peddling bikes on sandy streets, shop owners lying in hammocks on their front porch taking an afternoon siesta, fishermen preparing their sailboats for another voyage out to sea. And there’s the abundance of exotic plants and flowers that bloom all year round. These sights make this quaint community very appealing, drawing more and more local visitors each year.
But taking a closer look, the visitor may also spot the unsightly litter that lines the streets and shoreline. Without a proper municipal garbage disposal service or even an easily accessible landfill facility, household trash, much of which is plastic, winds up either being burned or accumulating on the ground.
In the past, there have been a few clean-up efforts by community members.
“We placed litter bins around town several years ago,” said longtime resident, Paul Walker. “Both political parties have also made efforts towards dealing with the garbage situation, but their efforts have been blocked.”

Adolfo Garcia, Eli Gongora and Jair Canul, of Boy Scout Troop 16 joined other scouts in an annual clean up along the seaside. Troop leaders are planning to place trash bins and continue garbage pickup.

According to Walker, the town political leaders have long realized that this is a major tourism issue.
“The village badly needs a proper landfill site and means of disposal,” he said.
Currently, trash is tossed out of vehicles along the main road leading into the village.
Local businessman Roly Verde is proposing to launch a privately operated disposal service.
“My idea of establishing a private garbage disposal project came about because of the impact it has on the environment and our struggle to improve the tourism industry here in Sarteneja,” he said. “I first shared my idea with our area representative Mr. Marin who gave me his strong support. I then went about acquiring a piece of property that belonged to a member of the community and that is where my delay is.”
To develop existing land into a garbage site requires a special clearance before the property can be transferred.
“I am still working on it but now I have to deal with local politicians, thanks to the environmental authority,” he said.
Verde hopes to eventually offer a service of garbage disposal to the community for a fee of around $25.00 a month per household. In addition he would maintain garbage pickup along the roadside and the seafront areas.
The concern over the litter along the seafront recently spurred interest in a group clean-up effort by local Boy Scouts. Last month, Boy Scout Troop 16 held their annual clean-up event to earn a merit badge. After a day spent picking up trash along the beach, troop leader Andie Gongora decided to launch a broader clean-up endeavor.
“We plan to place trash bins around the beach side and continue a regular trash pick-up,” Gongora said. “BTL (Belize Telephone, Ltd) have containers that they will donate and the Boy Scouts can paint them. We’ll come around once a week to empty the cans.”
Gongora hopes that this will stimulate more community involvement in preserving Sarteneja’s pristine coastline.
”It’s a start,” he said, “but much more effort needs to be made to control a growing problem.”

New year brings
Sarteneja school new challenges

by Carle Grill
September 12, 2004

Standard-II Teacher, Fernando Alamilla, Jr. conducts a lively pop quiz on the history of Belize. With limited textbooks available it is creative teaching that will help his students remain alert and interested in school. Photo by Carle Grill.

Wrapping up the first week of school, Principal Rosali Cruz said she is full of enthusiasm as she anticipates another good year. This is her second as principal at the La Inmaculada Roman Catholic School in Sarteneja for Primary through Standard Grades.
Each year has its own challenges, and this one is no exception. Cruz said she already faced one of the biggest.
“This year we didn’t receive any funding for school supplies,” she said. “We only have a limited number of books and materials for our students.”
In over-crowded, over-heated classrooms, students must huddle together to share what little resources are available. Sometimes they must do without and too often a student will leave frustrated for home without ever planning to return.
“I’ve already approached two of my former students who didn’t intend to come back to school,” Cruz said. “Fortunately, one of them has decided to come back. The other went to work on a fishing boat even though he is only 13 and is supposed to be here.”
Written laws dictated by the Belize Ministry of Education require that children ages 5-14 years must attend school, even if their parents cannot afford to send them.
“The schools have to provide a means for kids to attend school,” added Cruz. “We have our education rules, and It states that education is compulsory until high school.”
The cost of education in Belize is high in relation to the average family income. The public schools are partially funded by the government, but every student must pay. Books and school uniforms are bought by parents, and books can go as high as $150BZ each.

Soleidy Gogora and Camilla Flores had quit school early because their families were unable to afford tuition, but thanks to a work-exchange program, they have returned to the campus as student teacher aides to receive their diplomas. Photo by Carle Grill.

To offset the burden for families with multiple children in school, Cruz said that she asks for parents’ help contributing time in the classroom in exchange for the cost of a child’s education. Some parents raise funds for the school by bringing in snack food items to sell.
“With the sales of snack items alone we’ve been able to purchase some books, an encyclopedia set, and work on our outside building project. We’ve had one person from the U.S. who sent us a donation through the Wagner Foundation and we’re using those funds to build an auditorium.”
The job of principal goes beyond the classroom where Cruz takes on the additional duty of truant officer going out on the streets to locate absent children and encourage them back into school.
“But most students want to be here,” she said. “Although we have had a few drop out.”
This year she hopes that a new student aide program will encourage former dropouts to come back to school and earn their education in exchange for work. Drop out students are given the opportunity to work as full time aides to earn their diplomas.
It is only through the determination of educators like Cruz and her school faculty, along with caring members of the community, will these students earn a quality education that wealthier nations take for granted.

With limited government assistance, donations are always appreciated. Here is a list of items needed at the La Inmaculada R.C. School:

Overhead Slide/Film Projector
VHS/DVD Player
TV Monitor
Spanish/English Dictionaries
English Thesaurus
Good News Bibles
Classroom Maps
World Atlas
Donations for Text Books