Volunteers help TIDE Summer Camp 2007

TIDE Annual Summer Camp for 2007 began on Monday July 16, and will end in on Friday July 20, in Punta Gorda Town.  A similar camp will also be held, one week later, with children from

Volunteers and campers enjoy ice- breaking on first day of camp

Monkey River Village where children from Punta Negra Village will join them. Monkey River and Punta Negra are two coastal villages buffering the Port Honduras Marine Reserve (PHMR), which TIDE has been working with from its inception.  

This year the summer camp focuses on enlightening the campers - children between the ages of nine to twelve years old - on a number of important environmental aspects particularly those related to the different protected areas managed by TIDE. 

The main objective of the camp is to promote the “protection” and “conservation” of the environment through fun and interesting activities. Some of the topics they will be covering include types of pollution and ways to mitigate water pollution, which is a concern for watersheds in the Toledo District.  The current activities outlined in projects under the Freshwater Initiative, are of a participatory

Children learn to Kayak; an important skill necessary for river cleanup

nature involving communities in and around the five major rivers - Rio Grande, Middle River, Golden Stream, Deep River and Monkey River - flowing into the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.   

Another aspect of TIDE’s work that the campers will learn and will be able to share with their peers and neighbors is Fire Management. This is a major activity that not only TIDE rangers are engaged in, but also residents of communities close to Payne’s Creek who play a major role as well, in mitigating wild fires that destroy nesting sites for endangered species like the Yellow-headed Parrot.  It is important for the campers especially those in Monkey River and Punta Negra Villages to learn and share their experiences as leaders in ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation.

So far they had an opportunity to do some fieldwork and tour areas near the Ranger Station on the Private Lands and a got a first hand experience of monitoring a conservation area – West Snake Caye in PHMR after doing some coral and fish identification, specific to research

Campers explore the Private Lands along the Rio Grande

and monitoring conducted in the Port Honduras Marine Reserve.

The 2007 camp is camp is smaller than the one initially planed for this year.  Many activities had to be scaled because of available funding but it did not stop the many volunteers in insisting that the take one the responsibility of working with younger brothers, sisters, cousins and friends.

Volunteers, some of them students in TIDE Scholarship Program worked along with coordinators of the summer camp to plan the activities which will also include some fun sporting games and field trips to the different protected areas so they can get a first hand experience on the activities conducted on a daily basis.

TIDE summer camp is a major event that young children look forward to every year.  Even

Campers enjoy a game of Volleyball at lunchtime

parents take time off in the summer to enjoy quality time with their children as they grow up understanding sustainable management and use of their natural resources.  Without your kind donations summer camp was almost not a possibility this year and it would be sad if the children, looking forward to a great summer vacation, were not able to live it up in their own Marine Reserve.

To help make summer camp possible for next year and many more to come, visit us at our home page and learn how to become a member and make a donation.  It would only help us continue with our efforts in fostering community development by empowering young children.