Mennonites in Belize

    A section of the pedriatic ward.      The last few days before the 24th I was casually chatting with individuals from the Hoover Mennonites (often mistaken for Amish) from Springfield and Birdwalk in the central highlands, piecing together a narrative of what Christmas would be like in such a rigid and disciplined conservative community. You see even though they are much more conservative than their Old Colony cousins in the north, they are also much more open-minded in religion and tolerance of the cultures around them. I had been debating whether I should pay some friends a surprise visit to observe how they celebrate Christmas. They do not. Can you imagine? No special gatherings, no ham or turkey, no chicken BBQ, no tamales, no staying up until midnight on the 24th, no firecrackers, no special church service, no Christmas carolling, no handing out baskets of goodies, no rows of cookies decorated with red and green icing, no children's Christmas program, n...

      In a first ever, the government of Belize has issued a sales tax waiver (12.5%) for nearly all standard rated retail goods purchased on the 14,15 and 21, 22 of December, the last two weekends before Christmas with the exception of imported hams and turkeys which have no tax until the end of this month. Fuel, liquor, tobacco and certain other items will not be exempt. The aim of the waiver is to encourage Belizeans to do their purchasing at home instead of crossing over into Mexico or Guatemala during the Christmas season. However the waiver applies to retail sales only, not to wholesaler customers.   To explain all the do's and don'ts would require a whole article by itself so I will simply post a link where my local readers can inform themselves:  GST Waiver 2024   Merry Christmas... from the...  government. Mennonite News View Blog                                 A...

A sunset in Spanish Lookout The Iguana Creek Bridge in Blackman Eddy which gets flooded every year The farm roads of Spanish Lookout A creative and rustic hobby on display in Spanish Lookout A Christmas market Emergency responders at the scene of an accident, Center Ave. Spanish Lookout Reimer's Feed Mill on a rainy evening Flash flood on a rural road in Spanish Lookout Semitrucks crossing a flooded bridge Conservative Mennonites hold a singing service Mennonite News View Blog                                       A. Mendoza  

   There are readers wondering about my blog. To be honest I myself have been wondering about it too. As much as I enjoy freelance writing, family takes priority. And when you have a growing family the size of ours, you find very little spare time for hobbies but spend lots of time on habits. Such as coaxing a fussy 6 month old to go night night or trying to persuade a cranky 2 year old that beans are not yucky and comforting your 4 year old daughter because she cannot have a wedding just yet. Not to mention racking your brain with your school age children’s questions about sedimentary, legendary, and metamorphosis.   It requires patience, strength, and courage to wake up early in the morning to help my better half prepare lunches even though we two slept only 4 hours due to a certain little person who refused to eat according to the normal schedule. Then dropping into bed at 11pm after a day of sales, driving, carpentry and online work. All in a day’s work, of course. Bu...

      The storm is yet to touch land but it has already drenched central and north Belize with 15 to 20 inches of rain with certain areas most likely receiving more than that. Once again I remind my local readers to visit the following link for updates on the Iguana Creek crossing.    iguanacreekbridge.blogspot.com Currently the water is approximately 12 feet above the bridge and rising fast. This leaves Farmer's Express road as the only way in and out since the Baking Pot ferry is out of service and the Bullet Tree Road is also flooded at certain points. Mennonite News View Blog                                                                      A. Mendoza  

     As Tropical Storm Nadine approaches Belize, here's a link for my local readers to keep yourself updated on the main road into Spanish Lookout. iguanacreekbridge.blogspot.com   The other 3 unpaved roads: Farmer's Express via Roaring Creek, Bullet Tree Road via San Ignacio, Baking Pot Ferry via Central Farm are not always accessible either during extremely heavy rainfall, with Farmer's Express usually the most reliable one. View Blog Mennonite News                                   A. Mendoza

The view from our new location The sacrifices we parents undertake for our children often astound me. In my previous article I wrote about our children attending school at New Hope, a Kleine Gemeinde Mennonite mission school on the western edge of Spanish Lookout. Now that our children had been accepted the next big question was transportation. We debated between driving a total of 35 miles daily or sending them to school via bus. Not being a wealthy family, in the end we realized the most economical choice was to move closer to the school. Which we did and are now grateful for the proximity which enables us to be more readily available in case of an emergency and allows our children to be home at a much earlier hour, not to mention that my workplace is now also much closer.   Honestly we did not want to move. We have property in our home community, family and friends; yet after a long and hard look we both arrived at the same conclusion. Although 35 miles might not seem l...