FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Belize
I took this from my friend Dave's blog. I thought you would all find it interesting!

Is Belize its own country? Where is Belize?
Yes, Belize is its own country as of September 21, 1981. It was formerly known as British Honduras when it was a British territory. It is located in Central America. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the east, Guatemala to the west and south, and Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula to the north.



Where do you live in Belize?

I live two hours from the coast on the border of Guatemala and Belize in a small town of about 11,000 people called Benque Viejo del Carmen.

What language do they speak in Belize?
Because of its British influence, the official language in Belize is English. It is the language that everything is taught in at school. However, most Belizeans' first language is Spanish. In Benque Viejo del Carmen, I speak with all of my students in English, however, most of my students speak Spanish to each other and with their families.

First Language:
Spanish 50%
Kriol 37%
English 5.6%
Garifuna 5%
Maya: Kekchi, Mopan, Yucateco 5%
German 3%
Chinese .8%

What are the primary ethnicities in Belize?

The primary ethnicity in Belize are the Mestizo who are the descendants of Amerindians and the Spanish. The Kriol are the next highest ethnicity who are the descendants of African slaves and their British owners.

Mestizo 34%
Kriol 25%
Spanish 15%
Mayan 11%
Garinagu 6%
Mennonite 3%
Other 6%
-East Indians
-Chinese
-Taiwanese
-Lebanese

Is it really poor down there?

Yes. Belize is way poorer than you would think. There are many shacks and shanties that are very dilapidated. And yet it's not as poor as you would think. It depends from house to house and family to family. Most houses are in good condition, however you will see that 34%-58% of homes are indeed in poverty. Most do have running water and most do have electricity, but there are many that do not. In Belize, you can see a family of four living in literally a huge mansion or you can see a family of fourteen living in a two-room half-outside half-inside wooden shack in the same town. The latter is probably more likely though.

What religions are in Belize?

80% Christian
- 50% Catholic
- 29% Protestant
--Pentecostal 7.4%
--Anglicans 5.3%
--Seventh-Day Adventist 5.2%
--Mennonite 4.1%
--Baptist 3.5%
--Methodist 3.5%
10% Other
-Jehovah Witness
-Mormon
-Hindus
-Muslim
-Ba’hai
-Rastafari
10% Non-believers


What is the culture like?
Belize has a very interesting culture. It is a mixture of Caribbean, Latino, and Mayan culture. It is a very laid-back machismo culture that realizes spending time in the present with individuals is more important than meeting deadlines and making appointments. The family is very central to Belizean life, however, often due to problems with male servant leadership families are divided and split up. Traditions and rituals are considered very important. In general, there are a not a lot of opportunities past high school and so there can be a lack of educational and occupational drive. The people are very, very friendly and have an excellent sense of humor.

How did you hear about Belize?

I am good friends with one of the missionaries and he told me about it. I was interviewing for jobs and Belize kept on coming up in my mind and heart. I prayed and thought about it for a while and realized that I believed God was asking me to come here and serve.

What organization do you work for?

I work with a religious order called the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity (SOLT) which was founded in 1958 by Fr. James Flanagan. The goal of the order is to model the relationship of Mary with each person of the Trinity through the different vocations who work on ecclesial teams of priests, brothers, sisters, deacons, SOLT families, and SOLT lay single people. The Belize mission was started in 1967.

What do you do for the mission?
I teach high school sophomores (2nd form) boys and girls singing/music theory twice a week and I am the campus minister. I plan retreats, organize confession and adoration schedules, lead adoration, lead RCIA/sacraments classes,

How much do you get paid?
I am provided with food and housing. Besides that I am a volunteer teacher who earns a weekly stipend of US$17.50 or BZ$35.

What do you eat?
A very basic diet of rice, beans, eggs, and tortillas. Some days we will have ground beef, chicken, soup, or beef chunks.




Are there other volunteers with you?
Currently there are 11 other American and 1 Canadian volunteer teachers ranging from the ages of 20-30. Some teach English, Math, Religion, Science, and Music.

How many students do you teach and what do you specifically teach?
I teach 29 students total (9 boys and 20 girls). I teach music theory (notes, key signature, time signature, timing, and I'm trying to teach the circle of fifths right now) and singing. We work on choral pieces, simple hymns, pop songs, or Christmas music.

What are the students like?
A lot of them are coming from broken homes and/or very tough cultural, financial, familial, and personal problems. Yet the students are very child-like with a very funny sense of humor. They are very loving and they thirst for the truth of faith, hope, and love.




Is it safe where you live?
It depends. For the most part, yes. However, there have been some dangerous incidents but those seem to occur very late at night on the weekends. We tend to stay put in the evenings.

Is it really hot in Belize?
Yes, absolutely. It is around 85-95 degrees every day with humidity in the 70%-85% range. The sun is much more direct in Belize and it is not uncommon to be sweating constantly.

What do you do during your free time?
What free time? Ha! Everyday we wake up, walk to school which starts at 8 AM. After school we usually stick around and watch volleyball, basketball, or soccer games, staff meeting, or I have my RCIA class or Handmaidens (girls group). We head to dinner at 5PM, have Eucharistic Holy Hour at 6PM, Mass at 7PM, head home at 8PM, rest and relax and maybe do more work or relax by watching a movie, talking, playing cards, or something else. On the weekends, we either clean the house, do laundry, play sports, watch a movie, go out to eat (Chinese food or Benny's, a favorite restaurant of ours), once in a while we travel, go to the market, grade, prepare for future classes, etc...

Do you like it?
Yes I definitely like it. It is a wonderful job but it is very challenging and it has forced me to step out of my comfort zone in many ways!

When the Holy Spirit is in Charge

The month of November has been quite busy so far. We have had two retreats this month: third form girls and boys. Both retreats were centered on the theme "Abba, Father" as we looked at our earthly fathers, our relationships with them, the goodness and the imperfections of earthly fathers, and God the Father as the greatest example and the perfection of "Father". It was a very powerful retreat.

The morning started out with an icebreaker and staff introductions. We had students do impressions of staff members and the rest of us had to guess which teacher it was (this part is always entertaining). Next, we had a panel where staff told anecdotes about times they have experienced God the Father. The stories were really amazing and each one was unique with its own twist. At one point there was a pause after the teachers told their stories and I felt moved (Holy Spirit!) to ask if any students wanted to come up and share. After a few minutes, one of the students stood up and came over. She told a story about struggling with loneliness in her faith---she would often go to the chapel alone and wanted her brothers to be with her. Tears starting coming down her cheeks and as soon as that happened I started to other girls crying and I started to tear up as well. She explained that one day she was comforted by God the Father in that chapel and she did not feel as alone. Great side-note: her brothers are now part of a young men's group on campus here that seeks to grow closer to God ("Knights of the Immaculate").

Miss Lucia gave a short talk on what it means to be a daughter of God. She shared with us a struggle she had in high school and how she ran to her father and cried all over his shirt. She was so upset that all of this gook was coming out of her nose and she was ruining her dad's shirt but he said "I don't care, Lucia," and he kept on hugging her. She experienced God the Father's love through her own father. Her story was making me cry too! It was an emotional day.

We later performed a skit suggested to me by one of the SOLT candidates, Nick, who helps out on retreats. He is a huge help to me because he has had a lot of experience putting on retreats for teenagers. He always has great ideas. The skit was called the "Baggage Skit". In it we showed a girl (Miss P.) go through different points of her life as a teenager and how she picked up baggage along the way (after each situation, we had her pick up a backpack and put it on). The first scenario showed her in school with girl friends that excluded her, the second was pressure from her mom to do better in school and help around the house, the third was betrayal by a friend over a boy, the fourth was a struggle with a teacher, and the fifth was her Dad missing her Quinceñera (a huge celebration for a young girl in Belize).

After all of this, Dave and I read an "Apology" that addressed most of the situations covered in the skit. We apologized in place of brothers, fathers, sisters, mothers, gossiping friends, disrespectful boyfriends, teachers (ourselves), and others who have hurt these young women. That was probably one of the most moving parts of the day for me.

As an activity, we made a giant circle and I had each girl write their name on a piece of paper. Every girl wrote something good about themselves and then passed their paper to the right and the next person would write something good about the person whose paper they had. This went on until all the papers were filled with good qualities. I always like affirmation activities because I think we can all get too critical of ourselves and each other and it is vital to build each other up.

After lunch we passed out letters from God that teachers had handwritten during the week (it was a letter that has been written by taking various points from Scripture and from our knowledge of the God the father and put it in poem/letter form). The girls were very moved by these letters. They had time to pray after receiving them. I went outside to tell a girl that we were going to have Adoration soon and she was crying. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "This letter...it has touched me." She continued on and said, "When I have prayed to God the Father, He always calls me 'princess'. I did not expect it to say that in this letter." (The letters we had re-written often address the girl reading it as "princess").

What a day! I was touched more than I expected to be and I was so grateful to see that the students got a lot out of it. The Holy Spirit was ever flowing---everything was working out on time and going above and beyond what we had expected!

Girls Music Class

Pictures

2nd Form Boys Music Class