Shipyard, Belize

                 Old Colony Mennonites


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  Indeed, if you were looking for surprises among the Mennonites in Belize, here's the place to start. The biggest but not the only community of Old Colony (Altkolonie) Mennonites in Belize, Shipyard in the northern district of Orange Walk is a mixture of 19th century traditions, 20th century machinery and 21st century digital technology. Hardworking individuals, deeply rooted in their personal traditions and beliefs, and rapidly expanding their population. Yet, they are not as closed off to the modern world as many think they are.




  Like the modern Mennonites of Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek, they certainly have businesses too. Hardware stores, metalworks, general merchandises, leather shops, carpentry, lumberyards, meat processing plants, etc.; in fact they are the second most industrial group of Mennonites in the country. However, their companies are mostly serving the region around them and are not as well known as those of Spanish Lookout. What they are widely known for are their wood and cast metal products.
  Here is an intriguing and astounding fact: their conservativeness is applied to their personal lives, e.g. their dressing, eating, and house furnishings, such as using old-fashioned battery or butane-operated appliances. But their farms and businesses use diesel, wind, and solar power. As a business owner, a man may own a phone (but not carry it personally), use electricity in his store or factory, and own transport trucks (as long as he doesn't personally drive them). Many of them keep non-Mennonite hired drivers on hand all the time. All farm vehicles such as combines, tractors and sprayers, (usually out-dated machinery from the 1960's or 70's) need to have steel tires in order to avoid luxury. However, buggies and carts, which are only used for personal transportation within the community, are allowed to have rubber tires since they are not motor-driven. Companies can also own electrical and modern power tools to fabricate their products. Quite interesting! Yet there are no written set of rules but rather each church district has its preachers or elders who hammer out the do's and don'ts and oversee each family.


  Marrying between third and even second cousins is not uncommon. Also, these Mennonites of northern Belize are widely known for having large families. Male teachers hold classes year-round, with several weeks break here and there. It does not follow the school pattern of the rest of the country and curriculum is very limited with the teaching being in Plautdietsch and High German and children using old-fashioned wooden slates.



  Church services are on Sunday mornings, at an earlier hour than most of us are used to. Imagine going to church at sunrise every Sunday! Children do not attend church until around 12 or 13 years old. Singing is slow, toneless and unaccompanied by musical instruments. (On a sidenote, if you search Youtube for "Mennonite dancing", you'll find a number of videos filmed of these type of Mennonites dancing away to recorded music.) A high percentage of the unmarried youth actually own smartphones on the sly. Unfortunately and sadly, there are also cases of drunk and abusive husbands; many young men (and even some girls) spend Sunday afternoons drinking and smoking.


  Plain, unadorned homes with the front yard cluttered with odds and ends of farm implements is typical. Shower and restrooms are often outside and buildings are generally concrete or metal siding. Roads and driveways are all made of white limestone (caliche) with huge potholes zigzagging the length of it during the rainy season.

  By the way, the community is divided into "camp" sections, each with a name but always called only by its number. Camp 10, Camp 30, Camp 18, etc.
  For a look at their style of dressing, click here.
  
  

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