Belize – A developing country in a fast-paced world

After traveling to Belize, many people would say that the way the country is run is relatively backwards, compared to Canada.  What jost people forget is that even though there are many similarities between the two countries, Belize has only been an independent nation since 1981 and is a developing country, whereas Canada is already developed.

During our stay in Belize we were overwhelmed with impressions which have truly only started to set in after arriving back in Canada. 

One of the jost memorable moments of the trip was when we went to Arenal on Tuesday afternoon.  This village is located in a hilly, relatively dry area that borders Guatemala about half way down the west side of Belize.  This village is one that none of us will ever forget.  As we traveled through the village on the below average dirt road, we came to a soccer field that was half Belizean and half Guatemalan.  A little farther was the public school of Arenal.  The school was in two buildings that resembled abandoned Canadian drive sheds. In these buildings children from this area were learning the skills of life – or at least trying to learn.  When we talked to the teacher, she mentioned that the learning curve for the majority of the children is slowed by their malnutrition, which causes them to become unfocused and have difficulty retaining information.  The families in this area have essentially no money and are very poorly educated.  The parents of the children don’t see the purpose of going to school, as it has not brought them any further in their lives.  As a Canadian, I do not think that we are naive to poverty, but seeing villages like Arenal put many things into perspective. 

On Wednesday we traveled to the southern part of Belize on the east coast to the small village of Independence.  On our travels, we stopped at Belize’s largest slaughterhouse.  This was a very surprising stop as we soon found out that the Belizean Health and Safety standards are very similar to Canada’s.  The HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) program that in some Canadian factories is only being implemented now has been in use in for several years at the Running W Brand slaughterhouse -- and will be fully approved by the end of this year.  In the afternoon we traveled to a 1,000-acre shrimp farm.  The technology that was used was relatively modern and the packaging facility once again was HACCP approved.  This was a very long day as it took three hours to travel each way from San Ignacio to Independence.  Both tours of this day were several hours long and could have been several hours longer yet as our tour guides were extremely passionate about their jobs.

This passion for the jobs that people have in Belize was found throughout our stay.  It seems that employees are very dedicated to the job.  Comparing the life of the shrimp farm employees to the villagers of Arenal, they have a lot to be thankful for.  On our way home we drove through a fairly small village.  What I had thought was a church service at first I soon realized was the entertainment for the night – beneath an overhang that looked similar to a pavilion found in a park in Canada, several families were watching television together.  Many of the smaller villages are not as well off as the main hubs, and not everyone can individually enjoy all the luxuries of life, so they share them.  This was one of the many ways that villagers communicate with one another.

Another thing that surprised the group was the diversity in the people of Belize.  On Thursday we traveled to Spanish Lookout.  This area speaks Spanish for the jost part as the name will lead you to believe.  Since none of us on the tour spoke Spanish we asked for help for Josue, a 17-year old from a local school, as a translator. Josue is a student that is being sponsored by Rotary International.  We asked Josue what he likes to do in his spare time and he mentioned that he has very little spare time as he makes dinner for his sister and father, helps his father on the farm after school, and does his school work when he gets a chance.  Josue is a very smart young man with an illiterate father who does not support going to school.  His father sees it as a waste of time and that Josue should be helping on the farm just like he did when he was Josue’s age.

On the outskirts of Spanish Lookout we visited a farm run by a couple that fled from El Salvador and came to Belize as refugees.  The SHARE program offered the couple (with young children at that time) a few cows to start a dairy herd.  Over time, they built up the herd and now have 25 cows.  The husband was not around so we asked his wife about the herd through our translator, Josue.  After answering many questions about her past, how they came to Belize and were helped by SHARE, we asked Josue to ask her what she does in her spare time…she said she likes to raise chickens. This really explains the kind of life these people live. To me, they carry the true characteristics of a farmer. 

The Spanish Lookout area is one of the heavily settled Mennonite areas of Belize and is aljost a spitting image of Elmira, Ontario.  We had the opportunity to discuss some issues of the area with a local Mennonite, originally from Winnipeg, over an ice cream in the restaurant of local dairy factory.  He mentioned how hard they worked and how there was nothing in the area 50 years ago.  At the moment, Spanish Lookout is a prospering farming community with everything from a John Deere dealership to a very upscale grain elevator system. 

On Friday we traveled to Orange Walk and toured Belize’s only sugar cane factory.  Once again our tour guide showed us every corner of the factory.  The pride of the work that goes on at Belize Sugar Industries Limited was very evident.  Following our tour of the sugar cane factory we drove through the back roads to a very strong Amish community.  It was said that Mennonites and the Amish in Belize run a large portion of the agriculture sector.  The livestock of the Amish were some of the best looking animals that we saw in Belize which really surprised us.  Year after year the Amish clear more and more land to profit from the lumber and in the future grazing land for their beef and dairy herds.

On Thursday evening we ate dinner at a nice little Belizean pizza place in the heart of San Ignacio.  After an excellent meal, as we traveled back to our hotel, we came across a political rally for the Peoples United Party (PUP).  During our stay in Belize it was election time – an interesting time in any country.  I find that you get a better understanding of the issues of the country and how the political system works.  It was at this time that I realized the strong similarities between the Belizean and Canadian government platforms.  Big issues for Belizeans are a better healthcare and education systems, poverty assistance, creating more jobs and dealing with women’s issues.  It was interesting to see that the Belizean women’s issues are so similar to Canada’s -- they may be less advanced in dealing with them, but the issues are still the same.
This just goes to show that the real difference between a developed and a developing country is time.  Canada was created in 1867 while Belize has only been an independent nation for a few decades.  I strongly believe that in the next few years we will see Belize make huge leaps in progress.

The country of Belize is not a backwards country by any means in my point of view.  Belize like all countries has its problems.  It seems the solutions to Belize’s problems are rather simple, but the implementation of the solutions can be complex.  We must also remember that Belize is a country that is developing and making advances as the years go by.  On September 21st this year Belize will celebrate its 25th birthday.   It will be interesting to see where this very diverse and fascinating country is in another 25 years.

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