This article just came to my attention. It makes Belize sound pretty bad, and is certainly not good for tourism.

http://www.nhl.com:80/ice/news.htm?id=393455

I assume that this must be on the mainland, because I saw lots of big screen TVs shining through the windows at night while strolling on the streets of San Pedro, and I was never asked for money except by street vendors. Is there poverty on Ambergris Caye?

have you not seen poverty on Ambergris Caye??
I guess I am sucker I get asked for money, food, my shoes....
Mary

Thats not necessarily "poverty".

Every major city in Canada and the USA has panhandlers and people living in the streets. I didn't see any of that in SP. Maybe it's more on the backstreets. Now the dogs running wild, that's another story.

The dogs aren't poor either

I find a strange condescending attitude in Americans.
I've been away 23 years and its changed my opinion of them.
Belizeans are not living in poverty. All major populations have an element of people that could be a poster person for sorrow and pity.
even New Jersey.
Advocates press for anti-poverty initiatives for New Jersey poor
by South Jersey News Online
Thursday December 06, 2007, 12:20 AM

By ANGELA DELLI SANTI
Associated Press Writer

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Though the challenges of alleviating poverty in costly New Jersey are many, and money is tight, advocates for the poor, homeless and disabled hope to push lawmakers to direct limited state funds to programs that do the most good.

The advocates, known collectively as the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, paint a grim picture of low-income families fighting to stay solvent in a state where affordable housing is scarce, health insurance is hard to come by, and minimum-wage workers seldom break out of their low-wage rut.

In Cayo, where my parents live, they laugh at things we may think of as "necessities." My mom was showing a Mayan neighbor an automatic rice cooker and the lady laughed and said "you Americans take the fun and love out of everything."

Their needs/wants differ from what others are used to. Some don't have running water, and most of those who don't, really don't WANT running water. They do laundry in the river and a family member pours a bucket over them for a shower or they bathe in the river.

We took a Mayan teenager over to San Pedro w/ us years ago to keep my son company and for the most part, especially the plane ride and the shower, seemed to bewilder him and it kind of made us feel foolish and spoiled. We felt it would be neat to show him the ocean and for him to ride on a plane, but really we threw him way out of his element.

The definition of "poverty" or inversely "wealth" is not stated in dollars!

When my daughter first visited SP, she was upset by what she considered poverty. After a week on the island, she was amazed at how relaxed, and happy most people were. She got the opportunity to speak with a lot of people, and she was humbled by their answers to the poverty questions. Most agreed that their lifestyle may not be what we have in the US, but they had food for their families, a roof over their heads, and a job to go to. They didn't have the hassles of "keeping up with the Joneses", the car payments, or the huge mortgages. The freedom to enjoy life at it's best was the best lesson she could have learned from her visit. It isn't necessary to have stuff to have a good life. She often remembers "it isn't getting what you want, it's wanting what you have" and we could ALL learn a lot from that.

I agree that simple living is best and really enjoy the festive nature of this community (always a celebration going on - the enthusiasm makes up for the limited funds)!

My concern is for the children that may not have the opportunity for education. They are often on the street and not in school (with poor nutrition playing a part, it is often difficult to tell ages, but some appear to be 6 -10 yrs old. These kids are having fun playing and enjoying freedom and their beautiful great environment. It just breaks my heart to see these clearly bright young people have their future limited by lack of exposure to education.

You can help with that by contributing to Holy Cross or other schools.
Shelling out to beggar kids on the street doesn't help them!

Can't see the forest through the trees, or what?
Take one of your morning walks through San Mateo on the 2x6 planks meandering about the lagoon.
If you can tell me that's not poverty, then I just dunno. Not worth discussing any further, I guess.

Thats being fixed right now...
Those folks don't owe the bank and aren't under threat of foreclosure and being tossed in the street.

It's easy to say less is more when you have more.

jesse- We're all a little sharper than you think. Do not compare San Mateo to the US.....Poor people don't qualify for loans...even in Belize.....I'll just stop there...and hope you do the same.

On the bright side Belize doesn't look anything like Tondo in Manila or the river communities in Jakarta.....that's poverty.

JUST IMAGINE THE INCREASE IN THE POORER POPULATION OF SANPEDRO...2ND YEAR INTO THE ''SOUTH BEACH'' PROJECT....I HAVENT HEARD A THING OF PROJECT HOUSEING FOR THE WORKERS.....JUST AS WITH ''REEF VILLAGE''
....is another...''san mateo''...part of the ''south beach'' plan?

How about pensions and health care for life? Here's a plan sneaky.......get rid of the illegal immigrants.....The belizeans on ambergris caye already have housing.......the immigrants from Guatemala and Honduras are your problem...they're stealing your jobs.

There is poverty here but the difference here to other very poor countries is opportunity. If a person is willing to work hard and stay relatively straight, they are able to emerge in to a budding middle class. People here make good and bad choices just like everywhere. But students can work hard and go to college on very solid scholarships. Men and women can work in service and other industries. Most hard working people in the country, no matter from what culture, believe that they can have a better life for themselves and their children. Admittedly, there is more work to be done to supply opportunity in all sectors.

LESS FORIEGN EMPLOYMENT...IT SEEMS TO ME... WOULD ENSURE MORE BZEAN GRADS GET JOBS...WHETHER IT BE OUT OF A C.E.T. OR A COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY

Sneaky, why are you yelling?

I'M NOT...JUSS USIN CAPS

Good morning S&S !

Just send your money?

That is a good article and very TRUE in the part about all these orphan children.
I am the director of an international Adoption agency. I have been to Belize City and spoken to the officials and tried to start doing adoptions of Belize orphans to the US.
I have been told their are no children to be adopted in Belize.

I have placed children as old as 14 and many, many handicapped children from all over the world . I know there are children in Belize that need homes and in US foster care system.

Problem is you can't get them out of the system to be adopted. Adoption has been my profession for years. I have seen many, many places like he describes. I think Haiti is the worst where they stack cribs 4 high and babies just fall out.

UNICEF, is the reason these kids can not be adopted. YOU WANT ME TO TELL you how UNICEF does not help orphans just email me.
UNICEF does not want children to be adopted. They raise money to feed kids if all these children had homes they would be out of business so they make donations to Governments NOT to do adoptions. UNICEF Closed adoptions in Guatemala last year.
I could PLACE ALL of these children. There are more people wanting to adopt then children!! Adoption has been my passion and it is so sad to see so many children without parents and the people like UNICEF that would rather these children die then be adopted.

This article serves to help UNICEF raise money not to help these orphans find homes. UNICEF does help feed poor people but it would be easier to let the orphans go to a forever family. They would have food and a loving family!


Mary

Wow, that sure opens my eyes. Thanks Mary.

I am a member of www.JCICS.org "Joint Council on International Concerns for children". We pretty much do not support UNICEF. Between UNICEF and the Dept of State many, many orphans will not find their forever family in the next few years. There have been less and less international adoptions. Many adoption agencies are closing but you see more and more homeless children due to AIDS etc. but our governments are worried someone will buy a baby so they figure just don't let anyone get adopted because of this issue.
Mary

I thought one reason international/interracial/intercultural adoptions are not as well thought of these days was that they have produced disproportionate problems down the line? I'm in no way an expert or even particularly knowledgeable on this mind, but I do try to keep up with the newspapers. What's the truth on this, Mary?

Mary, what are the statistics on kids waiting to be adopted in the U.S.? Are people actively looking to adopt these kids or is there too much red tape involved? Just curious. Thanks!

In 1999, the latest year for which totals have been finalized, there were about 581,000 children in foster care in the United States. Twenty-two percent of these children -- about 127,000 kids -- were available for adoption.

From what I have seen most available for adoption are over 10 and have mental health or serious health issues.


There are millions of orphans all over the world.
Mary

The truth is supply and demand. There are more people wanting to adopt young children than adoption professionals can get. So the price for a healthy baby goes up. Then it all becomes about money. And the healthy white babies go to the person that pays the most money. Now many because it is hard to get a white baby everyone moved to Latin Am. now Africa. BUT because of a few bad people in adoption the US wants more control so they set rules that have now cut international adoptions in 1/2. There will always be bad people in every business.
Mary