Amish people have always fascinated me. I admire their passion for tradition and confidence in their identity. They love Jesus Christ and are very kind hearted people. I expect to see them on Mackinac Island in the summer, or when I drive through the center of the state, but not in Belize! I inquired about their representation in this country after passing a couple of them at the hardware store with one of the locals. He explained that there was a large community just a short distance from Belmopan. This week we got to visit the town, known as the Spanish Lookout.
60 years ago an Amish community traveled from Mexico, escaping laws that were to change for their people. A representative from the Mennonites negotiated with the then leader of British Honduras, the former name of the country, for a safe piece of land to move to. At that time, Belize was still under English rule and desperately wanted their independence. For years the English abstracted all of Belize’s natural resources for their personal economy. The Caribbean land wanted to have their own sovereign nation, but lacked the knowledge on how to successfully run agricultural farms. That’s where the Amish came in! They knew how to farm. So the government allowed for the people to have a large piece of swampy land, in exchange for their skills.
Today, the Amish community run 85% of Belize’s economy. This statistic just blows my mind. They are extremely hard workers and have helped Belize become the nation is it today. On the 50th anniversary of the people migrating here, they created a beautiful oasis to represent how far they’ve come. The entrance was lined with trees that resembled a plantation- absolutely gorgeous. There was a man-made Lake with palm trees and other exotic greens on a small central island. Probably the most interesting part was the tiny village that represented the original community.
I am honestly so in awe of these hard working people, who remain extremely humble. They sure do make a killer ice cream too!
Peace and blessing my loves!
