Notice for US Citizens in Belize

Starting Monday, March 1, 2010, all U.S. citizens seeking new or renewed passports, additional passport pages, notarial, and Consular Report of Birth Abroad services at the U.S. Embassy in Belmopan will need to schedule an appointment. Other services will continue to be available on a walk-in basis during new walk-in hours listed below. Emergencies that involve the death, injury, hospitalization, or arrest of an American citizen will continue to be handled without prior appointment.

This change is being implemented so that sufficient time and attention can be focused by consular staff on each service request. To make an appointment, please visit the citizen services page of the U.S. Embassy website at http://belize.usembassy.gov/citizen_services.html, review the information on required documents for each service, and schedule the appointment online.

Same-day appointments for passports lost due to accident, theft, or robbery will be available during the service hours listed below, or by phone request, as appropriate. Please note that overlooking that a passport has expired (or is about to expire) when making travel arrangements does not constitute an emergency.

Non-appointment services are provided Monday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00, Monday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00, and Thursday afternoons from 1:00 to 3:00.  Non-appointment services include questions about U.S. social security benefits, U.S. veteran benefits, voting, tax filing, consular registrations, passport pickup, non-emergency requests for assistance, and general inquiries.

For emergency services, the American Citizen Services office at the Embassy is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Americans requiring emergency services on weekends, holidays, or outside of normal business hours should contact the Embassy Duty Officer at 610-5030.

Non-emergency questions for American Citizen Services may be directed via e-mail to: ACSBelize@state.gov. The U.S. Embassy is located in Belmopan on Floral Park Road. The telephone number is 822-4011.

Belize National Heroes and Benefactors honored

Belize’s Heroes and Benefactors are being honored at the House of Culture. Exhibits honoring Baron Bliss, Belize’s greatest benefactor, and Belize’s heroes opened this morning. Love News spoke to Nigel Encalada, the Director of the Institute of Social and Cultural Research.

Nigel Encalada; Director, Institute of Social and Cultural Research

“The holiday was yesterday but March 9 is recognized as National Heroes and Benefactors Day. This was a small effort to begin to put together in an educational way information that is attractive and highly visual four our young people and for the public about Belize’s heroes and benefactors. We have two named national heroes but it goes without saying that we have a number of other individuals named and unnamed in our country who have made sacrifices for Belize. It is one of the ways NICH tries to educate people; our young people and this is something we will do continuously in terms of choosing those individuals whose information is available so that we can put together exhibits that highlight their lives as heroes. Highlight their lives as of service; highlight their lives of having made contributions to Belize.”

Encalada says that the exhibit is also a way for the National Institute of Culture and History to develop archives of all the Belizean men and women who made many selfless sacrifices for Belize and Belizeans.

Nigel Encalada

“There is the opportunity as we explore our history that there are more but the main benefactor is Baron Bliss who left this endowment. Then in terms of heroes today we are looking at two national heroes; the Honorable George Price and the Honorable Phillip Goldson. We chose two other who represent different facets of development in Belize; one being Samuel Hanes. Samuel Hanes went to war, recognized the oppression when he came back and leads this emerging consciousness of the injustices that befell Belizeans during the colonial era. There is Cleopatra White; the woman, the pioneer, the community service nurse whose lifetime of sacrifice made a difference. There are many others that we could have used. We did not exclude them because they were not worthy of anything. It is a part of the process. The next time we do it we will do another five or as many as we can until we can develop a full scope of who our heroes are.”

The exhibit will run until the end of the month. Source: LoveFM.com

Belize Celebrates Baron Bliss Day

Belize Lighthouse

Yesterday Belizeans celebrate Baron Bliss Day, a national holiday recognized on Monday, March 8, providing a three day weekend. The fourth Baron Bliss of the Kingdom of Portugal, Henry Edward Ernest Victor Bliss, was an Englishman by birth. In 1926, he sailed in his yacht Sea King to Belize and fell in love with the green Caribbean Sea, the cayes and balmy climate.

The Baron came to Belize from Trinidad, where he was a victim of food poisoning. He spent some months off the coast of Belize aboard the Sea King, attempting to recover from this illness. He never came ashore. Fishermen and colonial administrators treated him kindly and taught him about Belize. The Baron died of food poisoning, but not before he changed his will, leaving almost $2 million dollars to Belize in a trust fund. The fund is used for the benefit of Belizeans and has made possible the building of the Bliss Institute Library and Museum in Belize City, health clinics and markets around the country, and has helped with the Belize City water supply system. The Baron is considered Belize’s greatest benefactor.

Part of the trust was designated for an annual boat regatta which is held every year in honor of the Baron. The focus of Baron Bliss Day in Belize City is this regatta. Other towns in Belize celebrate the day by having small boat races and parties. There is a Baron Bliss Memorial Lighthouse and Park located in Belize City in the Fort George Area. The Baron’s tomb lies under the lighthouse overlooking the harbor entrance to the city. Source: San Pedro Sun

Lazing around in beautiful Belize

Scuba diving in Belize

Life too stressed? Holidays too hectic? Get a taste of the Caribbean in English-speaking Belize, Central America

In the words of Fyodor Dostoevsky, I find myself in some difficulty: on the one hand, I feel professionally compelled to lift myself from this wooden bench-seat, leave this tiny open bar, with its wooden jetty reaching out into the tranquil, turquoise sea, and head off down the sandy street in search of the essential Belize. On the other, I feel personally compelled to have another beer. This place seems to have that effect.

Belize sits below Mexico, to the right of Guatemala and to the left of the Caribbean, which here, now, is a balmy 26C and contains one of the most glorious sets of islands and atolls in the western hemisphere. It’s a former British colony, it’s the only Central American country that officially speaks English and, of course, it’s where Lord Ashcroft may, or may not, be domiciled.

So far, so Wikipedia; what’s harder to explain is why so few people in the UK know it, or why so many of those who do — often ex-servicemen or diplomats who’ve been stationed there — have a habit of making it their home. Okay, so there’s the white coral sand, the tropical jungle, the sea life — but there’s something about Belize they really like.

First off, it’s not large. The vogue for describing land areas in terms of Wales works perfectly here: it’s about the size of Wales. Yet the population is only that of Cardiff, so a lot of the country has nobody in it. Culturally and ecologically, it’s both Central American and Caribbean, so, given its diminutive size, there’s a great variety of easily accessible experiences on offer, from the rainforests, caves and Mayan remains inland to the coast and islands in the east. (more…)

Breakfast with the Mennonites … in Belize

Breakfast with the Mennonites in Belize

The Caribbean is full of surprises. During our recent road trip through the Central American country of Belize, staff photographer Zach Stovall and I enjoyed a rare treat, thanks to Mark Howells, the Aussie owner of the Lamanai Outpost Lodge: We ate breakfast with a nearby Mennonite family. Belize has some 10,000 Mennonites — about 3 percent of the total population — who live in small communities all over the country. Defiantly nonviolent and anti-military, they left Europe in droves to escape religious persecution; Belize is one of about 65 countries where you’ll find them.

Over a long table laden with fresh eggs, pork, black beans, cucumbers, milk and home-made bread, patriarch Abraham Wiebe — Abe to his friends — did all the talking, partly out of patriarchal privilege and partly because of a language barrier. Mennonites in Belize speak an unusual amalgam of German and Dutch called Plautdietsch, though in the interest of working and doing business here, a few, such as Abe, have learned English and Spanish too. The somber faces family photo you see here belie the Wiebes’ warmth, hospitality and good humor.

Three thousand calories later, Abe gave us an impromptu tour of his farm — gorgeous rows of tomatoes and beans growing without pesticides or artificial fertilizers, chickens producing the eggs we’d just eaten. There was the family’s horse-drawn buggy and carriage, and the horses snacking on mashed sugar cane. The Mennonite faith has some very firm notions about technology’s ability to corrupt, so they shun its influence wherever possible. To wit, horse-drawn vehicles can use rubber tires, but motorized transportation — a farm tractor, for instance — cannot. Abe’s tractor has wheels fashioned out of steel, with a “tread” comprised of welded-on segments of rebar. It seems at first like a needlessly challenging lifestyle, but after spending a little time with these people, you start to see the beauty in their ways. Life here isn’t always easy, but it works.

Our feature story appears in the May issue of CT+L, on newsstands April 27. Source: Caribbean Travel + Life

Do the Right Thing honors Ocean Academy students in Caye Caulker

Mercedes Requena, A Do the Right thing Award Winner

Caye Caulker’s Ocean Academy held a ceremony on Tuesday to honor outstanding students in their institution who have been recognized for their academic accomplishments and for their contribution to the safety of the island.

Two outstanding Ocean Academy students were honored to win the community policing Do the Right Thing Award. Mercedes Requena (November) is a top student who is passionate about marine biology, conservation work, and Environmental Club and Jaison Hernandez (January) is a young man who has overcome difficult circumstances (tropical storm destruction of his home, missing a year of schooling, health challenges) and pursued his educational goals with grace, determination and strength of character.

‘Do The Right Thing’ aims at encouraging youths by reinforcing socially desirable behavior among our young people. It will also serve as a means of demonstrating that “good kids” are newsworthy and will go a long way in fostering a positive relation between the Belize Police Department, youths and the community. This is an exceptional program that specifically targets in-school youths that have made a positive turn around in their lives and are role models to the other youths around them.

During the ceremony, semester one honor roll students were also honored, along with the newly formed volunteering Interact Club. It was a day of applauding great achievements with Mercedes Requena winning yet another award, this one for National Youth Award for Environmentalism.

Ocean Academy joined parents, media representatives, Board of Governors, education officers in congratulating the outstanding students. Source: San Pedro Sun

Wafagua Nautical and Safety Institute offers Boating Skills and Seamanship Courses

Comprehensive Boating Skills and Seamanship Courses in Belize

Wafagua Nautical and Safety Institute Limited offers well structured, comprehensive Boating Skills and Seamanship Courses that are endorsed by and satisfy the Belize Port Authority legal requirements.

These courses provide life skills that can enable the successful participant to be an entrepreneur or be employable in the Fishing, Tourism or Shipping Industries.

Courses offered include:

• Master (Captain) License Course Captain Enhancement Course
• Coastal Navigation Boat Crew (Basic Seamanship)
• Boating Essentials and the Environment Maritime Communications
• Marlinspikes (Ropework) Regulations for Prevention of Collisions
• Safety, Survival and Emergency Procedures Search and Rescue Awareness

These courses which are designed to endure that the mariners become proficient and confident on the water are geared towards those who are complete beginners or the experienced operators who may need to be certified or improve their seamanship skills.

WNSI Ltd prides itself in providing the highest standard of skills to assist you to become safer at sea, without jeopardizing the crew while taking advantage of the pleasures and challenges of boating.

“BOATING SAFETY IS NO ACCIDENT; SAFE BOATING BEGINS WITH YOU”!!!!

Whenever you take a course you make a contribution is to the development of the Sea Scouts. Consultancy, other courses (Personal Safety Course) and services are also offered. To book your course kindly contact: Cell # 670 – 8297, Email: wnsi@yahoo.com. (more…)

Sonia Linares is the Woman of the Year

Sonia Linares is the Belize Woman of the Year

She is a humble woman, but she has worked consistently to bring positive changes to her gender and to young people. Meet Sonia Linares, she has been chosen as the Woman of the Year… a title she was honoured to receive for her more than five decades of service.

The first US Embassy Woman of the year competition ended today with the announcement of the winner. There were ten outstanding finalists but the woman in the spotlight is the General Secretary of the Belize YWCA, Sonia Linares who has devoted more than fifty years to empowering women and youth. Linares was thrilled at receiving the honor and Ambassador Vinai Thummalapally says the selection was no easy task.

Vinai Thummalapally, US Ambassador

“It was not very easy because every single one of the ten finalists who were on our list, we went through their background, their contributions. We had to put a lot of weight on their nominator’s application and information that the nominator had given us, so using that and we used a very sort of objective process to come up with the winner.”

Sonia Linares, Woman of the Year 2010: “It’s a wonderful feeling. It’s one that I had never thought of. I usually just believe in doing what I like to do; working with youth and women because I want to help to empower them and help to give them the opportunity to live a better quality of life.” (more…)

Belize Business Tycoon Sir Barry Bowen Laid To Rest

Sir Barry Bowen Internment

Belmopan – (Belizean.com). Belize business tycoon Sir Barry Bowen who perished in an air accident on February 26th along with a prominent Albany New York couple Michael and Jill Casey and their two children, was interred this afternoon next to his parents Eric and Emilie Bowen at San Ignacio Town Cayo district in western Belize following a thanksgiving service at St. John’s Cathedral in Belize City.

The mass of thanksgiving was officiated by the Anglican Bishop of Belize Philip Wright assisted by Cannon Leroy Flowers. As a former Senator, Sir Barry was given a state funeral attended by current Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition John Briceno. members of parliament and the diplomatic corps, relatives, friends and employees and managers of his group of companies.

The funeral was escorted by the Belize Defense Force and concluded with a Gun Salute, Reveille and the laying of wreaths by Belize’s Governor General Sir Colville Young and government officials.

Sir Barry Bowen was born in Belize on September 19th 1945. His ancestors arrived in British Honduras as it was then known, from Britain and France in the 1700s. He grew up in Belize and was sent to boarding school in the U.K. but because of the weather changed to college in the U.S.A. where he graduated from Cornell University at age 20. (more…)

Sir Barry Manfield Bowen’s legacy

Sir Barry Bowen

And while he was loved on San Pedro, Barry’s Bowen’s footprint was all across Belize. He was without compare the most enterprising, progressive, risk-taking businessman in Belize. And he was all Belizean. Bowen was born in Belize as were his Welsh and French parents and grandparents. He never held dual nationality and never sought to invest outside of Belize. Today we asked the current and former Prime Minister about the importance of being Sir Barry.

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
“He was quite clearly a Belizean giant, a colossus in terms of Belizean enterprise. What I found particularly impressive was the fact that while he could have sat back and simply raked in the money in terms of Belize Brewing Company and the Bottling Works which were sure fire hits, he always ploughed the money back into other ventures in the productive sector that were far riskier, I think really distinguished him and stamped him as a Belizean businessman and Belizean entrepreneur, a Belizean innovator of the first order.”

Rt. Hon. Said Musa, Former Prime Minister
“I need to say very emphatically that the loss of Barry Bowen, his death is a great loss for Belize, because Barry Bowen has been one of the biggest investors in Belize, one of the great financial contributors to the development of Belize, in sports, community, whatever have you, and he typifies for me the true entrepreneur and we have so few of them in Belize that Barry Bowen stood out, an outstanding Belizean in sense of being enterprising businessman, somebody who was not averse to taking risks and the way he went about doing it. Belize today has one of the state of the art breweries in Central America. Belize thanks to Barry Bowen has a state of the art shrimp processing facility, a world class shrimp farm facility, perhaps a too expensive investment as it is turning out now. But that was Barry Bowen, he always did things with class. He was a man of quality, you look at Chan Chich, his resort again, very done with finesse.” (more…)