Walkathon Held in Dangriga for Ocean Academy RTA Victims

Schools in southern Belize are rallying behind the students of Ocean Academy who were injured in a tragic road accident in late November. The students were on their way to Orange Walk for a regional tournament when a blowout caused their vehicle to overturn. Sadly, five of the twelve students were seriously injured, and one has since passed away. To support the victims’ recovery, Ecumenical High School, Delille Academy, and the Agriculture and Natural Resource Institute organized a walkathon and dollar drive. Ecumenical High School teacher, Olivette Ramos, shared the success of the event with us.

 

Olivett Ramos, Teacher, Ecumenical College

“ The Friday when that accident occurred, we had regionals in Independence this Saturday. So hearing that news that broke us as teachers, as parents. And so right there, we knew that we had to do something in support of them. It was only a matter of time, and we’re glad that our administrators, they supported us in full force. Also on board, we had  Delille Academy and ANRI supporting as well. The event occurred today. It starts at one o’clock in front of Ecumenical College. It was a walkathon However this morning we started with a dollar drive for Ecumenical students and teachers We had a dollar drive written right on the ramp in front of Ecumenical, so we had that dollar drive and after the dollar drive, we went straight into The walk a ton right in the walk a ton. We had we were led of course by the traffic department and all the students, of course, were there from all three schools in the walkathon. We also had students who were pulling up posters and stuff like that.”

 

Britney Gordon

”Would you say that turnout was good? Were you guys able to garner a lot of support for these boys?”

 

Olivett Ramos

“I believe that the support was good given the times and of course, it wasn’t something that we advertised a long time because of course, like I mentioned time, right? So I believe that the support from our town was good. And of course, all the students were out there and our students also contributed. So it was not only we’re not only asking for assistance from our community, but we help as well.”