Moving Day in Upper Barton Creek

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A church building in Upper Barton Creek
  
Smoke covered the hills and white dust floated around and over us as I assisted some church friends in Upper Barton Creek in  moving from a rented house to their very own home. I chatted with Mr. Harms, who hails from Canada and is one of several conservative families moving into the area, about the warm weather. His comments shook me.
  He and his family wanted to live in a warm country. I repeated the statement, thinking to myself, And here I am, wishing I lived in the Yukon or in the Alps. It was a new thought, sort of, to realize that there are individuals to whom 42°C is a blessing. (For the record, I have experienced -30°C while working in Canada, and nearly lost my toes in the process but even then I would take snow over sweltering hot weather anytime.)

An antiquated farm implement

  I greeted Mr Harder, the elderly gentleman who runs the fruit nursery and who is one of the few remaining members of the traditional "horse-and-buggy" Old Order Mennonites in Upper Barton Creek, the rest having relocated to various other settlements in south central Belize such as St Margareth, Red Bank and Springfield, while some became slightly more modern and settled in Centerville, several miles from Upper Barton Creek. They resemble the more conservative end of the Beachy Amish. For example the Old Order (Hoover) Mennonite men wear solid colors on their shirts such as dark green, dark blue or dark gray, are rarely seen without a hat in public and sport untrimmed beards while those from Centerville wear light colors such as yellow, teal, tan or even white and have their beards neatly trimmed.

The fruit nursery

  I discovered that running water was an “issue” for some of the newer and more modern Mennonite families arriving from Canada to settle in Upper Barton Creek. Certain individuals from the nearby non-Mennonite village of Mile 7 who were in control of the tap water were practicing an old Belizean custom: resorting to bribes in order to turn on the valves, which meant that some Mennonites practically had to beg for water.

The village of Mile 7 / El Progresso is down in the valley

  Later on the way home we passed large tracts of land belonging to residents of Spanish Lookout.
  The Mennonites, from all walks of life, appear to be taking over the country.

The family is finally settled in their new home




















A. Mendoza

  

  

  

  

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