Mennonites in Belize

    Before the crowd arrived After an exhausting day greeting several thousand people, what better way to relax than to lay on the white sandy beach, with coconut leaves whispering overhead, sipping a cool drink and listening to the soft hissing of waves on the sand and forget about Mennonites in general and customers in particular? At least, that was my goal. Reality hit hard although I should have known better.   The beach was not crowded at first, but it was certainly flowing with more than just salt water. Bottles of beer decorated the various wooden tables; blue tobacco smoke wafted here and there.    As the afternoon wore on the crowd became thicker and I restless. Our children enjoyed the water and sand thoroughly but we parents soon realized we had arrived at the wrong beach or simply the wrong time of day. More bucketfuls of beer materialized under the coconut trees; cursing and swearing was the norm. Some of the swimmers arriving reminded me of ...

     Early Saturday morning, under the new roof on the north The 2024 Spanish Lookout Business Expo (March 15 & 16) is finally history, all the more so due to the fact that more than 45,000 people were present, nearly double the amount from 2022 or in other words about 10% of the country’s population. The community of Spanish Lookout carried out several preparatory works; upgrading roads, building a new roof at Countryside Park, and in employing traffic control and clean-up personnel from the surrounding communities.   Although alcoholic drinks and tobacco were prohibited, I noticed more than one male visitor with Yeti and Contigo coffee cups in their hands. Who drinks coffee at 12pm in 95°+ weather? And they weren’t sipping it either. One customer with a suspicious odor emanating from him greeted me affectionately, cheerfully spoke about 7 different subjects in less than 2 minutes, and ambled along happily discussing politics with himself. Under the trees...

                The Lopes family.                The Petkau family                          The above families are currently undergoing a time of deep grief due to the loss of loved ones, victims of an unimaginable shooting that occurred in Belmopan on Tuesday, March 12. A GoFundMe page has been opened to assist the families with ongoing medical and therapy costs. Click on the link below to donate: Fundraiser for Petkau and Lopes Families To read the story, click here: Shooting in Belmopan                                         A. Mendoza

A smooth, hardpacked caliche road after it has been sprayed with oil.   Most of the dirt roads in Spanish Lookout are wider and in better condition than some of the main "highways" in Belize.    You have heard of soybean oil being used for various purposes, but did you know that in Spanish Lookout it can also be used to facilitate the flow of traffic? By simply spraying it on the surface of a properly prepared dirt road. The cost-effective and health-safe oil soaks into the dirt for an inch or two, forming a binder that keeps the dust down, creates a much smoother drive, protects the roadside plants from pollution and most importantly protects riders from the fine, choking, blinding, penetrating limestone dust so common to the rural roads of Belize. While the method is certainly not new nor is it by any means a long-term solution, it simply points out the fact that Mennonites are more than a step ahead of the government in their united approach to ensuring that thei...