Plenty Winter Bulletin

Introduction

March 21, 2001

Dear Friends of Plenty,

Back in 1978, when Plenty was just four years old, we had just decided to try to start an ambulance service for the South Bronx after viewing a story on television about a group that called themselves "Sweat Equity." The Bronx was burning and resembled Dresden after World War II. Sweat Equity was an organization that had made a deal with the City of New York whereby folks could help rehabilitate abandoned apartments and then get to live in them at very reduced rents. We were so moved by Sweat Equity that we went up to the Bronx to talk to them and see if there was any way we could help. They were the ones who suggested an ambulance, because the City had cut back emergency transport services in the South Bronx, especially after dark. Being the shoestring operation we were in those days (not all that different from now) we asked for a couple of volunteers to go out and find work at Plenty’s Baton Rouge, LA Center to make money to start the project. James and Bill volunteered. James had grown up in the Bronx. To save money they decided to hitchhike. The first day out they got into Mississippi, but that night found themselves stranded on a road with very little traffic passing by. A couple of hippies, James had an Afro and both wore beards. They were well aware of being in the heart of Dixie. Suddenly headlights appeared coming in their direction. As the vehicle came closer it started to slow, then pulled onto the shoulder and stopped next to them. It was a big van with New York plates. When they climbed in, James was greeted with the friendly smiling mug of one of his highschool buddies from the Bronx. They hadn’t seen each other or talked in years. He proceeded to drive them to the front door of the Baton Rouge Center. Something like that tends to give you faith in what you’re doing. The other day we were talking about the old saying, "God helps those who help themselves." That may be true, but somehow it’s not quite as golden as "God helps those who help others." That’s the version we can testify to.

We’re exited to report that the Toledo Ecotourism Association’s "Birding for Biodiversity" Project will be funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Onaway Trust. GEF disperses funds contributed by the nations who met for an environmental conference in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and is mandated to protect biodiversity and mitigate global warming. The main purpose of the TEA’s birding project is to protect the natural habitat of the numerous species of birds in the Toledo District of Belize. The project will involve a lot of education to raise the level of awareness among villagers about the importance of preserving their rich and varied ecosystem for reasons of economics (birders will come to the District as ecotourists) as well as health and biology. Mayan and Garifuna TEA guides will be trained to lead bird watching tours in the rainforest. They will also be trained to do bird counts and start tracking the multiple bird species of Toledo. A recent article in the N.Y. Times reported that one-fifth of the population of the United States are birders—50 million people. They outnumber hunters and anglers combined, not to mention the NRA. They spend about $25 billion a year on bird watching trips, bird watching gear and bird feed. Birders are becoming a political force. Their care for birds translates into care for the environment. This kind of political (and economic) force can help save the Toledo rainforest. As logging companies, energy corporations and big development interests start putting the moves on this ecological paradise, they might have to contend with armies of binocular-toting bird lovers.

The Year 2000 was unique and notable in many ways for Plenty. We will never get over the loss of our Plenty Belize Program Coordinator, Michelle Spencer-Yates, but we will honor her memory by expanding Plenty’s work in her beloved Toledo District. We are grateful to have Melanie Reimer and her husband Greg Grosenick working in Belize. Melanie is the new Plenty Belize Program Coordinator and Greg has been helping part-time as a volunteer.

The year 2000 was notable for the new strong partnerships that have developed especially with UNICEF and Solar Energy International in Belize. Plenty has never existed in a vacuum. It was a community before it was an organization and our projects have always happened in direct cooperation with other community groups and organizations. Today our work is linked to Guatemala through Alimentos San Bartolo and UPAVIM, to Dominica through the Carib Council and WAIKADA, to Liberia through Imani House International, to Pine Ridge through the Slim Butte Land Use Association, to Nicaragua through MUPROVI, to Tennessee through Kids To The Country, and to Belize through more community-based organizations than I have room to list. The other essential partnership that moves the work from dream to planning to reality is the partnership with you and the organizations that supply the funding. You are the ones who bring our programs to life.

The Spring Bulletin features the latest chapter in the Belize Solar Energy Program with Solar Energy International and a review of Plenty’s work in the year 2000. As I read over the Review it is the rich fabric of these myriad partnerships that inspires me the most. It’s the perfect answer to the question we always hear: "Plenty? Plenty of what?" Plenty of friends. That’s what.

Sincerely,

Peter Schweitzer
Executive Director