Mennonites in Belize

       Her brown eyes shone with pleasure as I praised her work and her skill at handling the power tools. Throughout the day I caught her whispering to herself, Yes I can! I know I can! See? I told you you could! Meticulously she measured the boards, clamped them and carefully slid the electric saw. She quickly caught on to the trick of handling the nail gun and thoroughly enjoyed the jigsaw and sander.   I smiled to myself, and felt glad that in some small way we could help this young Mennonite mom regain her self-confidence and restore her dignity after all the sexual and domestic abuse she had been through, growing up in a strictly traditional church. We shared our lunch and supper with her several times and visited her home with small gifts here and there.   She entered our home several months ago. Now she has left. What her future plans are we don’t know. Last we heard she is happily reunited with her family.   Yet the stories she shared with us...

      I have spoken with several local carpenters and contractors in the area, and their response was unanimous. Lumber is increasingly difficult to obtain. I visited a hardware store and was shocked to see their warehouse devoid of wooden doors and frames and other wood items. I asked questions and was told the Mennonites of Shipyard, who are some of the country's biggest supplier of wooden furniture and wood building material, were complaining of lumber shortage. Were the Belizean forests mowed down by hurricanes or wiped out by fires?   Noone can explain it better than Scott Varro, manager of Linda Vista Lumber & Houses, one of the country's biggest prefab home builders. Below is a link to an article recently published by him: Lumber Crisis in Belize Mennonite News View Blog                   A. Mendoza