Upon first impression Caye Caulker is a tourist centered island town off the coast of Belize.  During an aimless bicycle ride around town we rode past the restaurants and hotels, through the residential neighborhoods and found ourselves in front of Ocean Academy.  Ocean Academy is a non-profit community high school with leadership that is inspiring students to protect the environment.
The school was founded in the 2008-2009 school year and has already positioned themselves as community leaders and environmental activists.  As a requirement for graduation students must participate in a minimum of 45 hours of volunteer work over the course of four years and parents must commit to ten hours a year of service to the school.  Students participate in hands on environmental education programs such as marine biologist apprenticeship programs, helping at Caye Caulker Nature Preserve and invasive coconut removal projects.
Aided by the support of the community and international donors, students have scouted and mapped out a section of the island that will be the site of the island’s first city wide compost project.  Trash is a serious problem on Caye Caulker and up till now the solution has been to burn and bury waste in the marsh at the edge of the island.  This affects the community directly through odor, unsanitary conditions from trash overflow after rain and a noticeable environmental impact – The island alligator population in the marsh has decreased.
The compost project is an exciting experiment to see what environment will produce the best results along with what containers can keep out crabs, lizards and other island wildlife.  The whole community is in support.  A $2,000 grant from the Caye Caulker city council and restaurants ready to give food scraps for students to pick up will get the whole community involved.
Next steps are to get the compost project started as well as continue the planning for school gardens.  The same problem persists for both projects, island wildlife can cause general destruction, lack of expertise and funding.
Ocean Academy plans to initially try composting in recycled oil drums (washed out and the finished compost will get sent to be tested before sold to the community).
Container gardening suggestions have been made for the school building window sills and rooftops.
If you would like to help by donating your expertise, money or time please leave a comment and we will get in touch with the school administrators.
Costs:
$60,000 will fund the completion of the 3rd floor that is currently under construction.
$2,500 will fund the construction of a student cafeteria
$1,000 will sponsor a student for a year of education and school lunches.
To find out more information please visit:
Caye Caulker School website