Ice Cream, Chicken, Papaya, Sugar, and a Prison

Under the brilliant instruction of Jonathan Warner, we took a deeper look at Belize’s economic situation this week during the second week of Sustainable Community Development. We looked at several Mennonite-run agriculture initiatives like Western Dairies and Quality Poultry and we considered Belize’s connection to international commodities markets by visiting Fruta Bomba (a papaya export company) and Belize Sugar Industry. Traveling several hours north close to the Mexican border we did a homestay in Patchakan, a sizable, predominately Mayan village. Staying with our host families we met the people employed by these industries and heard from the local farmers who produce the sugar cane and package the papaya (100% of which is exported to the US). It was a great week of learning, tracing back to the roots those things we find packaged on our grocery store shelves. Is shalom possible amongst such a deeply economic-driven global market? Maybe, but maybe not. We’d prefer the farmers to give us their opinions.


On our way home we stopped by the Belize Central Prison for a tour of their facilities. Belize has the 5th highest amount of inmates per capita in the world, so we weren’t exactly sure what to expect with the tour. It just so happens that the Belize Central Prison, run by the Kolbe Foundation, may also be one of the most sustainable prisons in the world. The prison offers workshops like woodworking, cooking classes, jewelry making, brick making, agricultural production, tailoring, and welding to name a few. A prison run by a Christian foundation, really? Daily devotions are preformed via intercom, praise and worship songs are blasted from the speakers by the prison radio station Jeremiah 33:3, and most of the prison employees are Christian. No guns on the hips of these (Christian) security officers. It’s hard to count how many inmates we met that had a strong testimony because of their time behind bars. Matter of fact, the prison is employed by mostly inmates. It wasn’t until late in the tour we realized our guide was an inmate himself. To top it off, as we were leaving the room where the radio programs are produced, the inmate who controls the microphone asked to give us a quick shout out to all the inmates out in the prison yard. Clearing our throats we all crowded around the mic and sang the Doxology. It’s hard to explain how strange yet how incredible that moment was. We think they recorded our voices for further playlists!

Pictured in order: the group standing in front of mountains of fresh cane sugar at BSI, the group decked out at Western Dairies, chickens getting ready for slaughter at Quality Poultry, and a typical papaya field at Fruta Bomba.