The Smiling Sandy Bay’s Entertainment Duo

Both Walter and Dwin were born in Sandy Bay, a place where many island musicians have their roots. “My father was a music man. I watched them play and I just kept right on,” says Walter about Norman James, his saxophone-playing father. James speaks with a soft, cracked voice. Walter started playing music in his teens. He played the drums, then moved to playing the guitar and eventually lead guitar.

On 1970s Roatan there was no TV or internet, but sounds of musical instruments were all around. One of Walter’s brothers was a trumpet player, and the other played the guitar and banjo. After his brother passed away, their sons: Jimmy, Joseph and Jonny continued the family tradition on music.

As a young man, Walter ran away from the Honduran army and settled back on the island and begun performing. Saturdays were dance nights on the island back then. In the 1970s, he already played for tourists at AKR. “We had Allan Flowers; Polin Galindo wrote songs,” remembers the old times Walter.

In the 1970 and 80s, many island one-man bands or two-man groups entertained the entire Roatan population. There were many solo artists and bands playing all over the island, especially on Saturdays.

Dwin Osly Bodden was born in 1991 in what he believes is Roatan’s music center – Sandy Bay. “If you dig down deep you will find that 80% of musicians are from Sandy Bay.”

At 13-14 years of age he started at 13-14 years old with gospel music at the church of God, “My maternal grandfather, Robert Gorfry, played bass guitar,” recalls Dwin who now sings both gospel and secular music.

If you dig down deep you will find that 80% of musicians are from Sandy Bay.

The Happy Boys due have been together four years. They play at the regular tourist spots: La Placita, Sol y Mar, AKR for the tourists and charity events. Roatan music scene is heading for tourist entertainment route.

The Happy Boys also travel. They have been to Cayman Islands several times, they performed on Utila, Guanaja, and the Mosquito coast. “We play reggae, soca, country and western, Merengue, Cumbia, we are quite versatile,” says Dwin. They don’t write their own songs however. “We mostly follow music, not writing,” adds James.

World’s Biggest Turtle Sculpture is Moved on top of a Four-Story West End Building

The metal-fiberglass turtle was first build on the ground then dismantled into 16 pieces and, on the back of a lorry, moved to a parking lot in the back of a house in Sandy Bay.The last five pieces: the flippers and the tail were placed on last. The turtle was bigger than the building itself and the extremities are to hang out far onto.

Victor Carbajal and his wife Julie Woods undertook the turtle dram project five years ago. With an assistance of a San Pedro based sculptor Fredin Gomez from the turtle went from an idea to a land-based metal and fiberglass sculpture, to a sculpture sitting on top of four-story building.

The man for the job was found by Mr. Victor on the side of the road in San Pedro Sula where he would made life size sculptures of horses and other animals.Sculptor Fredin Gomez has transformed the Carey Turtle into metal and fiberglass structure 30 times bugger then the live ones.

“For me he
is scientist.
A small man
with a big head”

The moving of the turtle pieces was a challenge. On July 4, 2019 a gusty, rare wind from south east has been blowing during the crane operation. Concerned neighbors were watching the gigantic pieces of turtle anatomy being lifted over their home onto the roof of a fourth story commercial building. “They couldn’t secure a permit from the government to get a helicopter here,” said.

The turtle moving crew would run at the unfinished stairs of the building, onto the rump to land the turtle part onto the roof. Victor personally tied knots around the turtle parts. As the wind would turn the traveling turtle limbs, he skillfully and safely managed to elevate it to the roof.

“For me he is scientist. A small man with a big head,” said about the moving of the turtle Alvaro Flores, a taxi driver from Sandy Bay. “The president will come here for the opening,” expressed his hope Flores.

Since late 2019 The symbol of environmental apocalypse the giant Carey turtle looks north with a somber gaze. “We wanted to bring in focus environmental use on the island,” said Julie Woods. With only support of its giant head and some painting the turtle is almost finished. The construction started in 2014 and the turtle should be completed in early 2020.

Solution Appears on the Island’s Smoky Horizon

“When the wind blows form the West, North West it ends up on our house,” says Ana Svoboda, a local resident, who decided to purchase toxic gas masks for her family in case the toxic fumes raise again. “It chokes, it tears up my eyes, it makes me cough,” says Svoboda. “Even the dogs don’t want to go out of the house.”

While Svoboda’s home is usually upwind form the dump, east and downwind is Roatan’s tourist hub of Sandy Bay. “When the wind is really strong you can smell it all the way in West End,” says Svoboda. “It is shameful, with this many tourist that we have this.”

“The smoke is just terrible,” says Karen Ludlow. The toxic smell of burning garbage can be smelled not only in Western part of Sandy Bay but as far as Lawson Rock development… Over two kilometers downwind.

In November 2018, Karen Ludlow, the executive director of the Bay Islands Tourism Bureau, brought in Dr. Tony Sperline, owner of Sperling and Associates to see how the garbage fire could be stopped. Dr. Sperline produced a report of how to extinguish the fire using a specialized team for $3.4m or with a local team for $747,800 and submitted it to Roatan Municipality.

The Fire that had started in 2013 has only grown in scale since then. With little rain, and strong eastern winds the flames have gotten bigger and the smoke denser. Municipal garbage trucks continue to bring refuse from across the Roatan Municipality and dump it on top of the smoking trash stack. There are several families making a living from recycling the garbage and their homes are directly downwind from the burning refuse.

While Roatan residents seem to have lots of patience and restraint, that is not the case in other places in the Caribbean. In 2018, residents of St. Maarten Island sued the government entities for mismanagement of the local dump and allowing of constant fires.

On Roatan, social media is teeming with preoccupied island residents and tourists warning of impending disaster, “You poor people living on what was a beautiful tropical island. I am saddened by the lack of concern of the officials on Roatán. This horrible dump fire will drive your tourist away!” wrote on social media Judith Ann LaRoche.

The current mayor administration, albeit slower than many wish, is working at solving the problem of the fires and looking beyond the ongoing crisis. To manage the municipal garbage issue for decades to come, Roatan Municipality for $1.3 million purchased 76 acres of hillside land, between Coxen Hole and Mud Hole to construct a new municipal dump, build a handcraft market, a refuse center and possibly a municipal cemetery.

“The dump heap was designed to go as high as 14 meters, that is with periodical leveling off with dirt to keep the garbage flat, firm and absorbing its odors,” wrote Bay Islands Voice about Roatan Garbage Dump in 2006. The dump opened in 2002 and was supposed to serve the Municipality for 10 years. The dump lasted 17 years, and barely 10 meters high, in part because a layer of dirt was never placed on every one meter of trash as planned. The refuse was never properly compacted, layer or stacked. Now it’s just a giant mess. “It’s just too steep,” says Ludlow.

As part of a plan to extinguish the fire a six-acre property was purchased for around $250,000 by RECO and donated to Roatan Municipality. “The [central] government never offered to help, so a private business stepped in,” said Nidia Hernandez, a municipal council member. The plan is to move part of the garbage from the existing dump onto the new adjacent site and cap it with earth. One thing that Roatan has is the perfect soil to cap the refuse. “Its clay based, it’s a perfect type of dirt for capping the dump,” says Ludlow.

In exchange for the donation, RECO will be able to put a garbage incinerator on the six-acre site and use the capped dump site for a solar farm. While the power expected from the incinerator is not expected to be much, the incinerated ashes will reduce the volume of garbage placed in the dump and extend its years of usefulness.

RECO already offered to buy and manage the dump from the Municipality four years before when Dorn Ebanks was mayor. The mayor declined the offer and the ordeal just continued. The mismanagement of the dump was done by subsequent Roatan Municipal governments, yet some wanted central government to help with Roatan’s trash.

Where Mainland Meets the Island

There are now five colonias in Sandy Bay and each one has its own special flavor. Balfate, the oldest Colonia, is relaxed with a smooth-functioning patronato,  a well, and no establishments selling alcohol as alcohol sales are seen by the community as attracting violence and riffraff. Bellavista has the best views of the northern coast on the island, it is also neglected, but safe. Colonia Policarpo Galindo is the most densely populated and also more dangerous than others. Colonia Montifresco is the smallest, more quiet and safe. Colonia Aldin is the new kid on the block. It is the largest by area, but also the poorest with no running water, no electricity, and no infrastructure. Aldin could also decide the fate of the entire island.

The colonias grew quickly and people from all over Honduras came here. Other than desperation and a desire to try to make a living on Roatan, they have very few things in common. The residents are young and old, mostly unqualified, poorly educated people and they just keep on coming. “We dug a well by hand [in 1994]” recalls Suarado. “The biggest problem is when the rain comes. The garbage just washes down to the beach and onto the reef,” says Suarado .After the death of Doc Polo Galindo things got even more complicated. “Let me be clear. The colonia is here because of land invasions and political manipulations,” said Suarado, who lost both of his legs to diabetes.

He remembers that in 1997 some patronato members got hold of legal documents of the patronato and just burned the “libro de actas” to eliminate the trail of responsibility,. While the colonias keeps growing, memories of conflict don’t die. “There is a great deal of thieves here,” says Suarado.

Aldin could also decide the fate of the entire island.

Services in the colonias are scarce and garbage removal is a huge problem. The creek is filled with tons of plastics and refuse. The municipality is supposed to send their trucks to remove the garbage three times each week, but often that is not the case. The pigs and dogs feed on the scraps of food they find in heaps of garbage on the side of the road. Piles of garbage litter the streets of the colonia. “We clean once a month,” says Ramos describing a local volunteer effort to keep the community clean, but the garbage just keeps rolling down the creek.

Water is also a big issue, and transport, especially emergency transport for people in the more remote areas, is not easy. Yet security is by far the biggest concern for most. “One thing we need is a police station,” says Ramos. There is no police presence in the colonia whatsoever and when there is a disturbance a police unit form Coxen Hole is dispatched, but it takes it half an hour to arrive and sometimes longer to locate the location of the problem in the maze of paths and clusters of homes on the slopes of the colonia.“Some bad people, drug dealers, don’t want the police here,” says Ramos.

The people work and live in the colonia. There is manufacturing, recreation, worship. A public kindergarten, Ramon Villeda Rosales, is located in the colonia. A nearby “modelo” grade school offers 1-9 grade classes and is second biggest on the island. There are two soccer fields, and plenty of places to.

Right as you enter the Colonia there is a footbolito sports field. Hector Ramos, 26, is in charge of the facility. 200,000 plastic bottles were used in building the walls that surround the field. Chris and Theresa Imbach, started a nonprofit “Care for Community” NGO that also has an after hour program.

Let me be clear. The Colonia is here because of land invasions and political manipulations.

The image of the colonias is that of danger and chaos and few foreigners ever come to the colonia, but, some foreigners have chosen to live on the edges of the colonia. Mel James opened a hostel just a stone’s throws away from the hills of the colonia. After a few years Mel doesn’t go there but recommends that her foreign backpackers venture out to explore. “If it’s dark then you don’t need to be there,” says Mel. The colonia is a resource for employment, and an occasional errand, but not much more. “I send my sons to get haircuts there. It’s 50 Lps. A haircut,” says Mel. “If I want to go for a walk I go to the beach.”

Tom Henry, 80, walks his island dog through the lower part of the colonia every day. “There is a lot of extremes here. If it’s a nice day it’s great. If it’s a bad day you wouldn’t find a worse day in your life,” says Henry, a retired Canadian who came to Roatan five years ago. Henry purchased a home in Sandy Bay and is trying to sell it.

Bill Brady, an American, and his wife Irma owned a piece of land adjacent to the colonia and found that the land was being squatted upon. “We fought back, but it was unnecessary. We had a bulldozer and had to take down some houses,” says Brady. “They had the divided the lot into 1,000 pieces from one night to the other,” recalls Brady, describing how the colonias came to be.

“I was here when there was not a single shack in Los Fuertes,” remembers Bill Brady who came to Roatan as a Peace Core volunteer in 1971. “Then someone build a shack by the sea and then they would become organized,” said Brady, an architect who designed dozens of island homes.“It’s like cancer. It has no sanitation, no master plan. If it’s allowed to continue to happen that will accelerate the demise of Roatan. The island will become a sad little footnote in the history of the Caribbean,” said Brady.

The colonias are like a living organism. There is always construction and constant expansion.It is somewhat contained on the east and west, but it keeps expanding south. In 2014 the colonia really took off and houses beyond the ridge, facing Watering Place, began to appear. Now there are 600 homes, or structures here. The area is roughly two kilometers wide and 2.5 kilometer long, so there could be thousands of homes here in just a couple of years. This makes some people very nervous. “Mark my words. This colonia will be the end of this island,” says Bill Brady.

The colonias are like a living organism. There is always construction, expansion.

Bella Vista has around 70 families or 280 people. Colonia Montefresco is also home to 70 families and 280 people. Balfate, with 600 families or 2,400 people is bigger still. Aldin, the new arrival, already claims 600 families residing or 2,400 people. The biggest is Policarpo Galindo with 800 families or 3,200 people. All together 8,500 people reside here.

The creek that runs through the colonias is called La Uva, after the grape tree that grows there. The tree trunk grows out of a small restaurant that completely surrounds the tree. La Uva is also a meeting place. The community gathers here to discuss politics, there are church rallies and festivities. It’s also the place where taxis and busses pick up passengers. Up the hill from there it’s mostly 4×4 and on foot. The paved road becomes dirt and also becomes much steeper, so steep in fact that some streets are just stairs made out of used car tires, or washed out rain mud track.

A bit up the hill, all the way on the ridge you will find Jose Modesto, 73, a carpenter with a million dollar view. “They know me not as a big person, but as a good person, a good carpenter,” says Modesto, who has lived on the island for 26 years and works on building apartments in colonia Bella Vista.

Another colonia resident, Santos Lopez, an AKR worker, says he owns 27 acres in Colonia Bella Vista, as he caries a five gallon water jug up a dirt road leading to his house. “High class people don’t come here. They think it’s just dangerous. But we catch the bad guys and kick them out,” says Lopez.

“If you buy a lot there and you won’t live there, you’ll lose it,” says Zelaya. “The land doesn’t come with proper documents and the only guarantee of keeping your house is living there if you stay here.” Zelaya is the president of the Bella Vista patronato, the grass roots organization that runs the day to day operation of the colonias. Depending on the size of the lot and how desperate the seller is, a lot in Bella Vista, costs between Lps. 200,000 and Lps. 250,000 according to Zelaya.

The newest colonia is named after Aldin Webster, an islander who fell behind on his taxes and property payments, but there are at least four other property owners in the area whose land had been invaded, including Marcus Webster and Tim Overfield.

One of the people residing in Aldin is Suzie Beltras, 60, an energetic Lenca lady from Intibuca who moved to Colonia Aldin three months ago. She supports herself selling jewelry to tourists on West Bay beach. Jonathan Gonzales, 19, has been living on the ridge of the Colonia Aldin for the last seven months. “I was born in Colon, but I’m a ‘1101’,” says Gonzales, referring to his Honduran ID that places him on Roatan Municipality.

It looks like the fight is against really poor people, when in fact a lot of the land is owned by lawyers, judges.

Gonzales, skinny with short, black hair shiny with gel, works in Grand Roatan and spends more time at work then at his three meter by three meter home. He collects rainwater from the zinc roof panels into plastic bottles and containers. “It tastes better than bottled water,” says Gonzales. He has a small solar panel that lights up his tiny yard full of chickens. The 70 by 50 foot property was purchased by his father and slopes at a 45 degree angle south to Watering Palace. The view is spectacular. One can see two cruise ships maneuvering to harbor and planes approaching Roatan airport. We’re at 190 meters above sea level.

Many people who live as squatters are not the ones laying claim to the land. “There are people with money that put people on these properties to stay there. It looks like the fight is against really poor people, when in fact a lot of the land is owned by lawyers, judges and people in politics,” said a Roatan Municipal council member who did not want to be identified for fear of backlash.

According to the councilman there is a huge confrontation appearing on the horizon. “There is no free land on Roatan or like the Spanish call it ‘propiedades eriles,” said the councilman. “When the documents are cleared for the owners, the squatters will be removed, regardless if it’s 600 or 1000 homes.” One such removal took place in 2015 in Colonia Brice or “Canaveral” when the military removed around 20 homes. The scale of the problem has ballooned, but the players waiting for a ‘lottery’ payout are, according to the councilman, the same. “Almost all the taxi drivers own properties in the squatting areas,” said the councilman. “It’s almost like a business. Once they manage to get a document to the property then they will sell it.”

There is a family moving to Colonia Aldin every two, or three days. The valley is filled with improvised wooden structures that have no electricity, no running water, and no bathrooms. The people have hope that all that will come one day. “At 6 am all the people head to work. It looks like a stream of ants heading across the hill to Coxen Hole,” says Hector Ramos. The residents of Colonia Aldin come from Colon, Yoro and Atlántida. “These from Yoro are the poorest, they hardly have anything,” says Zelaya. But they are resilient. They carry pieces of corrugated metal on their heads and piece by piece assemble small structures on 45 degree slopes. They clear land to farm corn and plantains. Hundreds of homes cook using cut down trees. But many of the residents don’t have the energy or means to carry much to and from their houses. They cut the organic trash and use it as compost. Some trash becomes a building material for their homes. Cut down trees, sheets of metal, plastic tarps are building blocks of the dwellings here.

The sounds of up-tempo music and shouting come from an evangelical church that has Thursday afternoon services for colonia residents in need of spiritual uplift. Life in the valley is hard and prospects for a more stable, better life are distant. Their speaker is powered by an extension cord running from the last home in Colonia Bella Vista that has access to electricity. “I give them electricity,” says Zelaya who wants to build a small bar on a place called “La Roca,” the rock. The place is indeed spectacular. The views stretch on three sides of the island: Sandy Bay to Watering Place and West End. “You can see Utila, Cayos Cochinos and on a moonless night the light of La Ceiba 60 kilometers away.” The island poor enjoy million dollar views.

A Nonprofit Helps Kids in Crisis Neighborhood

It all started in 2006 on some old, unused, but well lit courts belonging to Anthony’s Key Resort (AKR).With support from the Galindo Family, Elmore and friend &co-founder, Brandon Raab, began encouraging the neighborhood kids to come gather on the courts in the late afternoon and play sports. “That’s the only thing I really knew how to do,” remembers Elmore. Today, the courts still serve as a gathering and play space in the early evening and as a place for skateboarding lessons after school.

Elmore come to Roatan from North Carolina where he had been working with children with emotional challenges. In 2004 he came to Roatan while backpacking in Central America. “I got really seasick on the ferry and postponed leaving. I started meeting people and fell in love with the island and decide that is where I wanted to be,” remembers Elmore. “I wanted to find something that would be fulfilling for my life and that is how SOL came about.”

“I had more than a couple friends die [from opioids],” says Elmore about the West Virginia town where he grew up and worked. “In the town I grew up in, Huntington, you have areas that fell into decay.” In US helping others is not an easy business. One needs insurance, certifications, approvals, training. “You can’t just have a playground and have kids start coming in there,’’ says Elmore. “There are programs in the States, but to get something going like we have here, you have to jump trough so many hoops and so many regulations that we could never do what we are doing here,” said Elmore. “It would almost have to be founded by the government. Here it’s much more organic.” In SOL, Elmore has recreated a place from his youth where one was free to roam through the neighborhood. “To me this place is a bit like where I grew up in 70s, carefree. In the US everything is really organized in structured programs.” Roatan is much more easy going, and kids life is much less structured. “Here you have your cousins and your brothers looking after you, it’s more of a sense of community,” continues Elmore.

The parents know that this is a safe spot for their kids to be at.

Over the years SOL has grown in leaps and bounds expanding its programs and broadening the community it serves. “It hasn’t been planned. It’s been an organic thing,” says Elmore. In keeping with its sports-based beginnings, SOL constructed a youth baseball field in West End aptly named the John J, Woods Field of Dreams. The facility now provides a home for several Little League baseball teams. In 2015, a beach volleyball court was added to support a growing volleyball program. “We are able to do a lot more with our sports teams there,” explains Elmore.

In October 2016 SOL opened its Havey Learning Center housed within the Center for Community growth in partnership with the Bay Islands Conservation Association (BICA) in a building just west of AKR. A year later a West End home was donated and the materials from the home were used to expand the building. “All the wood, sinks, toilets were donated form a West End home that was about to be torn down,” says Elmore. At the Havey Learning Center, SOL offers tutoring along with English, art, and science classes for the 40 to 70 kids that come in to take part in the programs each day. “They can come and they can go at any time, as long as they are getting along,” said Elmore. “We are not a bunch of expats, but a community,” says Kristy Doig, a New Zealander who came to the island in 2001 and is SOL’s Program Director. SOL estimates that in 2017 around 60 volunteers put in at least four hours of work each at the foundation. Over 1,000 children from all around Sandy Bay participated in some program throughout the year. “The community looks after us too,” says Elmore. “The parents know that this is a safe spot for their kids to be at.”

The “Happy Tummies Active Minds Program” began in May 2017. Two chefs: Brittany from Roatan Oasis and Ed from Blue Marlin kick started the program and stepped in to help. “It’s Pizza, Pasta, they learn how to cook and how to cook healthy. So the kids have a better understanding of the food that is going in their belly and how to prepare it themselves,” said Doig.

Most recently SOL purchased a piece of land behind the Center for Community Growth with financial help of some Canadian donors. Now a green space is planned that will eventually include an edible garden and playground space. “After 12-13 years people understand that what you are doing is with their best interest at heart,” shares Elmore.

In addition to the localized impact that SOL has had in Sandy Bay and West End, the organization also distributes school supplies and backpacks at the beginning of each school year throughout the Roatan Municipality. Approximately 800 backpacks should be distributed in the winter of 2019.

One of the countless individual success stories is Keylin, a young woman who attended SOL programs regularly when she was younger. Today she looks after the kids that come to learn, read, or play. “She has really taken ownership of everything. She organizes all the classes, knows which kids are sick, which kids are not going to school. She is our eyes and ears and knows what’s going on with them,” says Elmore.

SOL provides academic scholarships for students to bilingual private schools and also transportation scholarships because, as Doing explains, “transportation is the only thing preventing them from going to high school.” In 2018 the foundation gave out 42 scholarships.

Monthly donations, one-time donations, and in-kind contributions from individuals coupled with three yearly fundraisers help to keep SOL, a 501 (c)(3)U.S. registered nonprofit, running. “We don’t really solicit. It’s mostly people who recognize what we are doing,” said Elmore. In the beginning SOL started with an annual budget of $7,000. Today the annual operating budget is roughly $180,000. “A large portion of the budget is scholarships here and overseas,” says Elmore.

Sandy Bay’s Melissa Raymond with healing plants in her hands: dandy lion good for cleansing and chicory weed useful in after birth and infections.

Hundreds of Island Plants Provide an Alternative to Conventional Medicine

Living in partnership with nature means knowing your plants, understanding their properties, and respecting their place around us. While common knowledge of plant healing properties has disappeared, a few older islanders and a couple young ones continue the tradition of scholarship and healing with island plants.

Older islanders still remember the times before Roatan had a hospital when individuals were self-reliant, helpful, supportive of their community, respectful of elders, and led rich spiritual lives. A time when what could save you was maybe growing behind your home. The tradition of island healing developed a real appreciation for nature on the island.

This naturopathic and herbalist knowledge is passed on by talking, showing, trying. Often healers observe animals eating certain plants when they get sick. What works for a horse, a cow or a dog can also help an ailing human. The tradition of ‘bush medicine’ is as old as humanity. Tree bark, roots, leaves and stems are used to control pain, bleeding, treat interior ailments and help with fertility.

The tricky part is to spot these plants, know their application and way of combining them

Roatan, with its humid climate, is a perfect home for hundreds of such healing plants. “Our ancestors left us riches – plants and knowledge that we don’t always use,” says Karla Leyva, owner of a Punta Gorda restaurant that uses local plants in her cooking. Otis Raymond, 74, is an island healer. He sits comfortably on a worn down chair across the street from his Sandy Bay home. He greets the passersby with a nod and a smile. If you need help with an ailment he is there to help. Otis finds plants by walking around in Sandy Bay and he knows where they grow.

Otis Raymond near his Sandy bay home.

It is as if he is visiting old friends: this plant can heal this, that once can help with that. This is Otis’ kingdom. Mr. Otis’s mother, Mrs. Doris Johnson Ramon, was a healer, and much of the knowledge Mr. Otis acquired he received from her. “I know a little and I share it with people,” says Mr. Raymond. The tricky part is to spot these plants, know their application and way of combining them with others. Raymond explains that now people use chemical compounds they buy off the shelves in pharmacies and are even afraid to combing herbal medicine with their treatment. “We used to use herbs for two-three days if someone was sick. If it didn’t get better, we would take them to Doc Polo Galindo,” remembers Melissa Raymond, who uses plants to help women in conceiving.

Each island community still has a person who knows about plant’s healing abilities

While there are still a few healers, there is a trickle of business people capitalizing on the abundance of island plants and remedies they provide. Gary Chamer, a 20 year resident of Roatan, is starting a business that is taking advantage of the underutilized resource abundant on the island – sour sop. Chamer is making a sour sop tea and selling it to businesses around the island. “Locals claimed the use of the tea helped stabilize and maintain their blood sugar levels,” says Chamer. Soursop leaves have been shown to be beneficial for lowering the bad cholesterol, lowering high potassium levels and lowering blood pressure. For people with hypertension, this is an excellent way to lower strain on the heart and reduce the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke.

There is even a homeopathic pharmacy on the island. Francisco Rodriguez has a store and clinic Reino Botanico in Coxen Hole.“Islanders believe in natural medicine,” says Rodriguez, who is also a naturalist and healer. In addition to the 145 medicinal remedies produced by Reino Botanico there are foreign plant based medicines. Twice-a-month doctors from San Pedro Sula give consultations at the clinic. “The biggest complaints are with digestive systems, bones, skin infections and nervous system,” says Rodriguez. Calaica (bitter melon) and quebrapiedra are two of the more popular and versatile plants at the clinic.

Quiebra Piedra plant leaves when boiled help with dissipating the kidney stones.

It’s good for diabetes, strength. I’ve been fermenting it for a week

Each island community still has a person who knows about plant’s healing abilities. In Brick Bay there is Maritza Bustillo, 51. “When we were growing up we wouldn’t even go to the doctor. We would take the calaica plant. We would use red bush to disinfect wounds and help them heal,” she says. Bustillo was born in Corozal and her father, Lucio Rodriguez, was known in the community for his knowledge of plants and ability to heal with them. He told Bustillo about common plant’s overlooked abilities to heal. “For example mango leaves, boiled, are good to treat diabetes. Some even say they can fight cancer.”Bustillo says that her brother in law was due for kidney stones surgery, and started drinking liquid of boiled leaves of ‘Quebra Piedra’or ‘stone breaker plant’ plant. “Before long, the stones were all gone.

No need for operation,” said Bustillo.‘QuebraPiedra’(phyllanthusamarus)is also called Gale of Wind Weed and Hurricane Weed. This common plant has no side effects or toxicity and is perfect for poor appetite, constipation, typhoid fever, flu, and colds. It can potentially help with treating hepatitis and HIV.

In Punta Gorda, the Garifuna community has a long tradition of healing with plants. One such person is Mrs. Lucia Avila-Garcia, 82, a local lady healing people with plants for almost half a century. One of her favorite, most used plants is Caña Santa, which she ferments in an aluminum pot behind her small, blue house surrounded by plants. Next to her main door a plant of Caña Santa or Cymbopogoncitratus grows in abundance. Commonly known as lemon grass, or oil grass, it has proven antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal properties. Next to her window a Valerian root is fermenting in an aluminum pot. “It’s good for diabetes, strength. I’ve been fermenting it for a week,” says Doña Lucia about the root that also helps with sleep, treats anxiety, blood pressure. Ms. Lucia received most of her knowledge about pants from her mentor: Dona Izidria Mejilla, of Balfate. But not all. The knowledge about healing is shared openly in the community and it sometimes surfaces in a less common ways. Sometimes knowledge about healing and plants is brought in a dream vision, brought by a message from a deceased ancestor or a friend. “This is what we believe,” says the Garifuna healer.

knowledge about healing and plants is brought in a dream vision, brought by a message from a deceased ancestor

Boiled breadfruit leaves treat high blood pressure. When breadfruit leaves are crushed and placed on the forehead, they are a perfect remedy for a headache.

The red peeling bark of the Gumbo-Limbo tree is used to treat skin sores, measles, sunburn, insect bites, and rashes. The boiled bark concoction can be drunk as tea to relives backache, urinary tract infections, cold, flu and fevers. Young Gumbo-Limbo leaves rubbed on skin exposed to poison wood sooth the itching and quicken the recovery.

Sea Grapes are good for upset stomach. Noni or Cheese fruit (Morindacitrifolia) has been an island remedy for generations.

Otis Raymond for
reference sometimes uses a book about healing plants published in Belize.

It helps the liver and cardiovascular tonic, a cancer preventative, and immune booster, among other things. While a fermented noni emits a ‘funky cheese’ smell it is a powerful pre- and pro-biotic that regulates blood sugar levels. Noni leaves are used for irritation of all types even hard, red spider bites.

Island’s tropical climate is a perfect home to a cornucopia of complex and powerful remedies

“Nature’s pharmacy” is present in hundreds of Roatan plants: some common, others quite rare. The island’s tropical climate is a perfect home to a cornucopia of complex and powerful remedies stored in leaves, bark and fruits of island’s plants. The entire island is an open pharmacy, a pharmacy fewer and fewer people recognize.