All I can say is wow. This was such an empowering trip for me. I have never really had the opportunity to travel to a country outside with the exception of the Bahamas and Jamaica but I mean when you are just in resort or very touristy areas you don’t get to really “see” the country.
I got to see Belize and here I am a few days later still in aww about what I experienced and saw. I have never seen people living literally in shacks, some housed bound together by literal palm fronds as roofs and just mere plywood as walls.
I like to consider myself well educated, I read a lot and pay close attention to happenings in other countries as well as their histories, cultures and etc… I like to try and be as worldly knowledgeable as possible so that I stay balanced. But to read about places like this, or to watch the Discovery Channel and see it, is nothing compared to experiencing it. Walking and talking with the people. Truly is a different experience and for me was a very grounding and want to say life changing experience.
Belize as a country and Belize City, the capital, also the area I visited at highly stricken by poverty.
Here are some things that I learned and liked about the country:
• There is NO welfare system in Belize
o You want to eat you work
o You want to eat you barter with others
o You want to eat you find a trade and do jobs for others
***As a result of this you do not have “homeless” people; no one begs on the streets, there is a great and proud sense of community and people hood. It’s unfounded and amazing!!
• There is only ONE retirement home in the ENTIRE country!!
o as people age they are taken care of by their families
o the 1 home is barley occupied
o the people who are in the home are only their because they have outlived their families
• Most of the schools are run by churches
o Most schools are segregated by sex, all boy and all girl schools
o All schools have uniforms and they are color coded you can tell the school which a child belongs to by the uniform color
o the schools do NOT have cafeterias, students of ALL ages are given 1 hours lunch breaks and they go home for lunch
o The University is only in 2, small 2 story buildings
o The Community College is 1, 1 story building
at the university level students STILL wear uniforms that are all white and they must wear black shoes
o Children are only required to stay in school until the age of 16
• The Belizean dollar is only worth ½ of the American dollar i.e. $1 US = $2 Belizean
• They have political parties
o they have a prime minister
o they have a governor
o they have a queen
• The country is actually sinking, they are about 2 feet below sea level
o a lot of the houses are leaning because they are in areas where the earth is depleting because it is sinking
• You can buy a home for about $20,000 US which is what we pay for almost a car
• They eat rats, they call it no meat
• There are 3 different primary cultures in Belize; I don’t remember what they are though, dang.
• Belize is a country in Central America, next to Mexico and behind/in front of (depending on how you look at it Guatemala )
• They have A LOT of natural resources
o they have All Spice trees which you can chew the leaves of if you have a tooth ache and it cures the aching
o they have trees which you can eat the berries to stop diarrhea
o and a lot of other things that help cure and fix simple problems and colds
People here are friendly, cultured and accepting to new things, different ideas, and other people.
I have always wanted to assist others and this just motivates me more than ever and I really think I have the opportunity to do so.
This visit and time spent in Belize has really just made me reflect on myself and have I have done and what I can do.
You know it also has two sides the more I think because I can sit here and discuss how these people live and say how its “horrible” and how they are “poverty” strickened but a lot of them seem so happy or content with the way they live. It’s like who are we are people to judge others, it’s very conflicting in my mind. Like I feel as though because I live is the right way to live that everyone else is “wrong” but is that right? Maybe I have it wrong? I’m the one that has a nursing home on every corner. The one that has to run to a pharmacy if something’s wrong rather than to the tree in my backyard. I don’t know.
I just know that when I rode through on that bus I felt horrible, I felt like here comes all the rich Americans, I felt like I was just the stupid white girl that rides through and says ooooooooh look at all these poor people this is horrible the way they live this is soo sad. Like I was exploiting poverty and then I get back on my boat, have a margarita and forget all about what I just saw.
Well NO, I am not that girl. I did not get back on the boat. I did not drink that margarita and I did not forget what I saw. I can’t forget it and I won’t let it be forgotten. Because my way of living right or wrong help is still needed and I am going to deliver it.
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