Mennonites in Belize

   There are readers wondering about my blog. To be honest I myself have been wondering about it too. As much as I enjoy freelance writing, family takes priority. And when you have a growing family the size of ours, you find very little spare time for hobbies but spend lots of time on habits. Such as coaxing a fussy 6 month old to go night night or trying to persuade a cranky 2 year old that beans are not yucky and comforting your 4 year old daughter because she cannot have a wedding just yet. Not to mention racking your brain with your school age children’s questions about sedimentary, legendary, and metamorphosis.   It requires patience, strength, and courage to wake up early in the morning to help my better half prepare lunches even though we two slept only 4 hours due to a certain little person who refused to eat according to the normal schedule. Then dropping into bed at 11pm after a day of sales, driving, carpentry and online work. All in a day’s work, of course. Bu...

      The storm is yet to touch land but it has already drenched central and north Belize with 15 to 20 inches of rain with certain areas most likely receiving more than that. Once again I remind my local readers to visit the following link for updates on the Iguana Creek crossing.    iguanacreekbridge.blogspot.com Currently the water is approximately 12 feet above the bridge and rising fast. This leaves Farmer's Express road as the only way in and out since the Baking Pot ferry is out of service and the Bullet Tree Road is also flooded at certain points. Mennonite News View Blog                                                                      A. Mendoza  

     As Tropical Storm Nadine approaches Belize, here's a link for my local readers to keep yourself updated on the main road into Spanish Lookout. iguanacreekbridge.blogspot.com   The other 3 unpaved roads: Farmer's Express via Roaring Creek, Bullet Tree Road via San Ignacio, Baking Pot Ferry via Central Farm are not always accessible either during extremely heavy rainfall, with Farmer's Express usually the most reliable one. View Blog Mennonite News                                   A. Mendoza

The view from our new location The sacrifices we parents undertake for our children often astound me. In my previous article I wrote about our children attending school at New Hope, a Kleine Gemeinde Mennonite mission school on the western edge of Spanish Lookout. Now that our children had been accepted the next big question was transportation. We debated between driving a total of 35 miles daily or sending them to school via bus. Not being a wealthy family, in the end we realized the most economical choice was to move closer to the school. Which we did and are now grateful for the proximity which enables us to be more readily available in case of an emergency and allows our children to be home at a much earlier hour, not to mention that my workplace is now also much closer.   Honestly we did not want to move. We have property in our home community, family and friends; yet after a long and hard look we both arrived at the same conclusion. Although 35 miles might not seem l...

New Hope Mission School, a conservative Mennonite-owned facility in Spanish Lookout They held hands as they walked towards the school building, their faces glowing with anticipation while the cool morning breeze ruffled their crisp new shirts. That big day, much talked about, discussed and imagined, was finally here. I felt a bit emotional as I waved goodby half an hour later.   We parents had endeavored to homeschool them for one term due to the Holdeman Mennonite school abruptly closing down in mid 2023 after being in operation since 1995. To say we felt stranded wasn’t accurate. Instead we began to be increasingly desperate as door after door appeared to be closing on us. One school was too modern; another was too rigid; yet another had no specific religious affiliation; government schools were not an option. Thus we settled on homeschooling until another little one arrived in the family, creating a challenge in our schedule. Early this year we commenced our search again ...

Smoke and dust over Lagoon Valley, western Spanish Lookout. A friend of ours recently encountered a brief snowfall as she travelled across western Canada, and posted it on her story. Typical of us humans, we watched, wished and jokingly wondered among ourselves that perhaps snow could be packaged and shipped in containers overseas since it appears that somewhere along the line, the weather forgot that the Mennonite crop farmers in Spanish Lookout confidently expect rain by the 21st of May. We are now on the eve of the 26th and still no sign of the usual thunderstorms. Instead, a yellowish haze caused by the smoke from uncontrolled burnings coupled with a layer of Saharan dust (yes, dust all the way from Africa) hangs above our heads night and day. Daytime temperatures remain over 95° for most of the day, rising as high as 108° sometimes. Rolling Hills, Spanish Lookout Behind Duck Run 2   My nieces developed a respiratory infection due to the smoke and dust. I’m sure they’...

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...