Return to Belize – Father Bob and Jill Rhodes visit their old haunts - March 2008

It’s Ash Wednesday and Election Time – time for us to go to Belize. Our comings and goings have coincided with these events in the past: our first arrival in 2003 was on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, the day of the election when the PUP were returned to power. We left the Sunday after Ash Wednesday in 2006; this time, the local government elections, when the UDP swept the board. So it seemed fitting that we should make our brief return visit coincide with Ash Wednesday and the 2008 election.

Coming from the UK we found both events – Ash Wednesday and the Election - to be eye-openers , very different from the way we experience them in England. Here, Ash Wednesday comes at the end of winter, when it is still cold and dark. Only a few devoted souls make it to church, even less emerge with the cross of ash on their foreheads. So it was a great surprise to find the churches in Belize full of people, young and old, coming to receive their ashes. We were surprised too at the energy and enthusiasm put into the democratic process at election time – everyone seemed to be out in the street sporting their red or blue, not just to vote, but supporting their party in many different ways. In UK, the lack of participation in elections is a real concern to politicians; in some places fewer than 50% of the people bother to turn out. So it was good to find that the political system bequeathed by Britain to Belize is in good shape; even more pleasing that a change of government was effected without violence or too much recrimination. Expectations of the new UDP led government are high. We hope they can deliver – please pray for your new leaders.

The purpose of our trip was not political but say ‘Hello’ to friends; to revisit our old haunts and touch base with the Anglican Church in Belize, especially All Saints; to complete at least one piece of unfinished business and to absorb some winter sunshine by going back to one or two of our favourite resorts – places we used to retreat to, away from the noise and bustle of Belize City, when we were living here.

We were able to meet up with most of the people we were close to during our time in Belize. It was good to be welcomed back and to be treated to generous hospitality. There were a few we were unable to meet up with during our short time in Belize – please accept our greeting through the Anglican News. Our visit coincided with that of the Revd. Tess Meadows from Canada, someone we got to know well in Belize and who, like us, went back to her native land to retire. We went with her to the Eucharist at the Cathedral on Ash Wednesday evening and were able to catch up over a meal afterwards

One of the highlights for me was to be able preach at the Eucharist in All Saints on the First Sunday of Lent – the worship was just as lively as we remembered. It was really exciting to see the finished extension, with the two wings in use, making it a much more interesting building and the new vestry and meeting room making it much more serviceable. It was also good to see the public address system we left to All Saints and the hymn books we were able to send from England being put to good use, and a joy to see that the congregation continues to grow. In the afternoon we joined with the Mission congregation of the Church of Christ the Good Shepherd at Lord’s Bank for their worship. Again, we were heartened by signs of growth.

Our unfinished business took us to Punta Gorda to spend a day with the Toledo Cacao Growers Association. This was something we had planned to do before we left in 2006, but were prevented by flu. Cacao from Toledo is quite well known in Britain as the source of Maya Gold chocolate made by Green & Black. Maya Gold was the first Fair Trade Product to be sold in the UK, so becoming the pioneer for a growing Fair Trade Movement in Britain and other Western countries. People who purchase Fair Trade goods (tea, coffee, chocolate, bananas, clothing etc) pay a little extra in the knowledge that the producers in Third World countries get a fair price for their products. Even more important, it is a stable price, not subject to the ups and downs of the world commodity markets. In Derbyshire, where we are now living in England, a group is trying to make our town of Wirksworth a Fair Trade Town. That means that shops, churches and schools all deal with Fairly Traded Goods. When they knew we were going to Belize, the group commissioned us to research the TCGA, find out how Fair Trade affected the lives of the farmers and come back with some photos.

We spent a fascinating day being taken around a few of farms supported by the TGCA learning about the process –planting, pruning and fertilizing the trees, harvesting the pods, fermenting and drying the cocoa beans before they are carried off to PG, usually in the local bus, to the Association warehouse, before export. There are about a thousand farmers in the scheme, some with as little as six acres. Cacao provides an ideal cash crop: it provides a good return and a guaranteed income; different varieties enable a year-round harvest; it is very eco-friendly, growing under the forest canopy; all the family can be involved in the fermentation and drying process; it fits in well with the farming of other cash crops – beans and corn as well as fruit and vegetables. The Fair Trade, organic cacoa growing has raised the living standards of the farmers, enabling them to do such things as pay for health care and secondary school fees for their children.

We asked the question – Why is Green & Black’s Maya Gold chocolate not more widely known and available in Belize? The answer came, on the bottom shelf in Belmopan Brodie’s, some bars of Maya Gold, but at $14.90 a bar, we don’t think they will be selling too well.

Our return from PG took us to San Ignacio, where we joined in the worship at St. Andrew’s and then on to Belize City for our goodbyes. We were fortunate enough to be taken out to lunch by the Bishop, away from the reach of the telephone and the internet, and to hear first hand some of the opportunities and problems, the joys and heartaches of the Diocese. He deserves and needs our support and prayers. We hope we can reciprocate with hospitality when he comes to England for the Lambeth Conference later this year.

And then, after an all too brief visit, we are on our way back to Cancun to catch the plane back to Manchester. Our final experience of Belize City was the bus station – no booking office, no time-table, no express bus available, nowhere clean to sit contrasted starkly with the cleanliness and punctuality of the Mexican ADO buses. It gave us a measure of the uphill task facing the new government.

Our thanks to everyone who welcomed us back and gave us generous hospitality and to the Diocese for the loan of our old car, the 1989 Oldsmobile, which proved as reliable as it had done during our three years in Belize.

Fr. Bob & Jill Rhodes