Mennonites in Belize

   Most Plautdietsch Mennonites (except the non-conservative ones) don't give a cent for holidays, especially government ones. The only holidays observed by them are New Year's Day, Good Friday/Easter Monday, and the 25th/26th of December.   Government holidays are ignored by many of them and as long as the workers get their holidays paid nobody cares much either. In fact I know some KG men and other Mennonites who wouldn't hesitate to work for profit on Sundays too. There has been talk of having restaurants or snack shops open on Sundays in their communities of Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek.   The 6th of January is a religious holiday observed by the Old Colony Mennonites of northern Belize but not recognized by the government.    Beachy Amish and the Holdemans do not have any preference or specific holidays. They observe the religious holidays recognized by the government and out of respect some of their congregations keep other political holida...

  Except for a Mennonite-run clinic in Spanish Lookout and 1 in Blue Creek, most Mennonites (the wealthier ones) depend on non-Mennonite private doctors for serious injuries and childbirth. Both clinics are community owned, have their own ambulances, and are operated by female volunteers and full-time nurses, mostly middle-aged women. Some of the older ladies are certified to assist in pregnancy and childbirth. As yet there is no official male doctor in all 5 branches of Mennonites in Belize. The clinics attend to anyone from anywhere in the country.   Among the Old Colony and Old Order groups, there are many wise, experienced old men and women herbalists who also carry out chiropracting, dentistry and offer herbal cures and massages.   So what happens after a near fatal vehicle accident or a terminal illness is diagnosed? For those who can afford it, the patient is flown to a private hospital in Guatemala City or to Chetumal City on the Mexican side to the north. B...

    Spanish Lookout   Not as big an event as the one at Farmer's Trading Center a few weeks ago, but it still draws a sizable crowd, especially after 5 when people visit to take advantage of the food available with purchase. More than just a tire store, they also run a complete line of hardware tools and a fuel station nearby.   Took these pictures during a not-so-busy hour. Directly across to the west is the "new" market center.

  Next Saturday, November 17, is Caribbean Tire's annual sale day in Spanish Lookout. Each of their branches throughout the country has a different date, beginning in November and into December. Discounts, raffles, food and drinks are available from 7AM to 8PM at the Spanish Lookout branch.   For this coming Saturday, November 10, a neighborhood sale will be held by 4 other businesses in Spanish Lookout. Reimer's Service Center, Belize Tire Depot, Crossroad Farm Supplies, and Midwest Steel. These 4 companies sit right at a junction, and therefore will be quite interesting, sort of like a mini expo.

  Employees of Farmer's Trading Center, the country's biggest Mennonite-owned supermarket and hardware combined, are feverishly setting up the final touches to their new display area and getting things in tip-top shape for their Customer Appreciation Day, which is held one Saturday of the year, always in October. This year it has fallen on the last Saturday of the month, the 27th.   Things happening that day are promotional give-aways, raffles, prizes, huge discounts and crowds of people flowing in and out by the hundreds all day long until 8pm. Many nationalities will be present, since this store is in a way the "Wal-Mart" of Belize. Also present will be Old Colony Mennonites from north Belize, Old Order Mennonites from south and central Belize, Kleine Gemeinde and non-conservative Mennonites from around the country, as well as a sprinkling of the Beachy and Holdeman Mennonites.   Out on the yard and on a section of the parking lot will be the food vendors selling ...

  This article is about the Plautdietsch Mennonites only.   Within the colonized Mennonites of Belize there is quite an amount of internal migration. The 2 most popular colonies are Spanish Lookout and Blue Creek, with the former seeing the biggest increase in arrivals of Old Colony Mennonites from northern Belize and a few Old Order young men from central or south Belize. The Spanish Lookout businesses and farms have benefited from these people because they are willing to work very hard for a minimum to average salary. Their born talent for mechanics and engineering is a tremendous advantage to their employers.   Occasionally entire families completely leave the Old Colony traditions and settle in Spanish Lookout, other families move back and forth due to seasonal work and other families split apart, the husband and some sons permanently banned from the colony while the wife and younger ones move back. But MOST of the migrant workers in Spanish Lookout right now are si...

  Certain Mennonites are forever migrating. This pack-up-and-go lifestyle is mostly carried out by lower income German Mennonites of the Old Colony and KG groups.   In the KG group, their 2 popular destinations are Mexico and Canada. Occasionally some end up in the US. Among the Old Colonists and ex-Old Colony members, their main destinations are Mexico, Paraguay and Bolivia where very large colonies of their kind are in existence. The ones who move to Mexico move around in that country and later end up in Belize. Years go by and they pull up stakes again and head to Mexico. Mexican Mennonites also head to Belize to find work and earn a better salary.   I asked a Mexican girl recently:  " Do you mind telling me why you and your husband moved to Belize? I mean the Mexican Mennonites have a better economy in general, bigger industries and scores of manufacturing companies."  " That's all true," she replied. " But the wages and work ethics are so much dif...