A Banana Republic

For the most part, things do not happen quickly in Belize.  Almost all businesses in Punta Gorda  close at noon and are set to reopen at 2 pm but it can be as late as 3 pm before they do. They often close again promptly at 5 pm or shortly before.   It can be very frustrating to us Americans trying to get things done on the pace we are used to as well.  We have had to work through this a couple of times this past week.  The government had only issued us visas for 30 days and so we have to renew them monthly.  We have applied for long-term visas but they are rarely granted because the monthly fees are a good source of income for the government.  We presented to immigration in Punta Gorda and had our documents checked.  We were then given an invoice and told to go to the courthouse to pay the fees.  After waiting in line with people paying taxes and other government fees, we paid for our visas and then took the receipt back to the immigration building before we could get our passports stamped.

  

                              Supreme Court building in Belize City

We faced a similar situation getting our medical licenses.  Our administrator applies for temporary Belizean medical licenses for all short-term volunteer physicians who come down but we applied for long-term medical licenses due to our positions.  We received official faxes stating that we were approved and were to appear at the National Registry in the Supreme Court building in Belize City to sign for them.  We had a volunteer physician here from Iowa for the week so we were able to leave the clinic with her and drive up to Belize City Friday morning.  When we arrived, the offices were closed for lunch and then when we returned at 1 pm, we were told that the person who we needed to see would not be back until 2 pm.  Shortly after 2 pm, we were able to see Ms. Lopez who informed us that the faxes that we brought were not sufficient but we needed the original signed copy that was with an administrator across town at the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital.  By this time it was 2:30 pm and they would not accept fees after 3:30 pm.  We caught a cab, as we figured he would get us across town much faster than if we drove, and arrived at the hospital.  We knew the administrator was out of the country but thought his secretary could help us.  We were sent in multiple different directions by several people and saw a lot of the hospital including Labor and Delivery before we were taken to the right administrative offices.  We were able to get the original documents and then head back to the Supreme Court building by cab.  Once there we met with Ms. Lopez again who entered our names in a large bound book.  She then handed us the book to take out to the cashier in the hall to pay our fee.  Once again we waited in a line with other people paying for licenses, taxes and other government fees.  When we brought the large registry book with our receipt back to Ms. Lopez, she had us sign our licenses and gave us a copy.  In Belize they have a saying, "If you have patience, you will lose it; if you don't have patience, you should get some."  We found this saying applied perfectly to our situation.  We were impressed with the amount of time and effort it took simply trying to get our medical licenses after they had been approved!

 Unlike the city, the way of life is much different in the Maya villages we visit.  They work very hard to live without many resources.  The men work in the fields growing the rice, beans and corn for tortillas.  The women grind the corn for each meal and cook it over a fire.  They raise chickens, pigs, some turkeys and ducks to supplement their diet on special occasions.  They wash their clothes on stones by the river and often have to haul their water from the river or a shared well.  They make their own clothes using a manual sewing machine powered by a foot pedal.  They have to gather and carry their firewood as well.  There are no cars in the villages and so transportation is by walking, bicycles or a bus from the village to Punta Gorda 3 times a week on market days.

Thank you for all of your interest in helping the people of southern Belize.  There have been a lot of questions about where to send things.   If you are able to collect any of the needed medications and supplies, please email me when you are ready to mail them and I can send you an address of a medical student or volunteer who is coming down from the U.S. to save on international postage.