Winning poster.

A NEMO volunteer collects names of the participants.

    The past week, May 23rd to May 29th 2010, District Emergency Coordinator for NEMO, San Pedro and Caye Caulker, Ms. Jeromey Timrose was busy with the various activities that had been planned for this year’s “National Emergency Awareness Week”, celebrated under the theme “Preserving Life and Property”.

    The highlights of the week were the Poster and Quiz competition that was held on Thursday May 27th at the Angel Nunez Auditorium. In the Poster Competition, five entries were entered. All entries submitted were by students attending Holy Cross Schooled.

    The competitions started at 2:00pm. The results for the Poster Competition were as follows:

1st Place - Alex Gene - New Horizons Elementary School
2nd Place - Darleny Aban - New Horizons Elementary School
3rd Place - Stephanea Lopez - New Horizons Elementary School

    The Prizes for the poster competition were; 1st Place winner received $300.00 worth of school books for any school and 1 DVD Player – Courtesy of Hol Chan Marine Reserve, 2nd Pace winner received $150.00 worth of school books, one school bag with school supplies courtesy of Castillo’s Hardware, 3rd Place winner received $100.00 worth of School Books for any school

    The Quiz competition saw the participation of eight students; Representing New Horizon were Bryan Hernandez and Daniel Gonzalez, San Pedro RC School was represented by Kelsey Luna and Jamie Valentine, representing Caye Caulker RC School were, Adriana Cal and Leivy Florian and finally, representing New Horizon’s Anglican School were Jocelyn Vasquez and Jana Brown. The competition went up to three rounds, each round containing three questions. At the end of the third round, four students remained. It was time for the reserve questions. The children were very prepared for the questions and at the end of the competition the following students were victorious:

1st Place - Kelsey Luna - SPRC School
2nd Place - Jamie Valentine - SPRC School
3rd Place - Jana Brown - Holy Cross Anglican School.

    The prizes for the Quiz competition were 1st place winner received $300.00 worth of school books for any school and dinner for two courtesy of Victoria House; 2nd place winner received $150.00 worth of school books for any school and a fruit basket, courtesy of Grace Kennedy Belize Ltd., and 3rd place received $100.00 worth of school books and one pair of school uniform. All the winners from both Poster and Quiz competition received a T-Shirt – courtesy of Grand Belizean Estate, one dozen exercise books courtesy of San Pedro Town Council, NEMO Hurricane Preparedness Bulletin, Flashlight, pen and pencil. Congratulations to all the winners – Work Well Done.

    The week culminated with the simulation evacuation exercise which saw the participation of 41 individuals; including 24 males, 14 females and 3 elderly. Among the participants were a pregnant woman and a person suffering from a broken leg among others. The exercise began with a briefing to all EOC members present on expectations, responsibilities and roles. The participants were then documented as the proper evacuation procedure was followed. Evacuation was scheduled to commence at 11:00 am on Friday May 28th, however the Coast Guard was late. As a result the evacuees departed San Pedro at 12:45pm, arriving in Caye Caulker at 1:20pm, further arriving in Belize City at 2:00pm. Participants were back on San Pedro by 5:30 pm.

    “I would say that the exercise was successful. The participants were documented in the shelter. Our major objectives were met and that’s the most important aspect. There are some aspects of the evacuation exercise that need to be ironed out; but all in all, I am happy with the outcome of the exercise,” concluded Ms. Timrose.

San Pedro Sun