Eve's Letter about schools & kids in Belize (Feb 2000)

This message sent to the Bz-Culture Mailing List from Eva Garber <ebay1160@neandertech.com>:

Hello Tiffani and list

This is one of the topics I wish I had had more help with, moving to Belize

with kid(s). My son is almost 3, and we are also computer people. For us,

satellite is more cost-effective than dial-up. It seems a bit more reliable,

too, and it will really work from anywhere that we can get the satellite

signal, even if we move away from Belize eventually. We don't even have to

have a "real" phone, which is important since new lines are not available

here. lol. We've got our cell for Belize calls, and we use a phone program

online to call our friends and family, or just e-mail.

I don't know anything about living close to lots of ex-pats or in the cayes.

We've been here for a couple months now, and we live in Unitedville, a small

village in the Cayo District. We chose this area because it was affordable

(found our house online), and in a safe area. We're from a small town in

Arkansas as well, so we feel at home away from the "big city". My ex-pat

friend here is like, "I'm so glad you moved here, but WHY did you choose

Unitedville? of all the wonderful places in Belize WHY Unitedville?" (She's

here so her husband can be closer to his family. She's originally from large

city in Canada, and hates small town life) But we really like it here. We

won't stay here forever, though. We want a big place to be away from people,

and we're saving up for that. But for the moment it's Unitedville.

I don't know much in the way of school and all that yet. I do know that there

is mandatory tuition and uniforms paid by the parents, which will be quite

expensive with 5 kids! :) But I know that they do work with you to help you

out if you need it. And I guess with lower taxes on other stuff, it kind of

balances out. And I'm sure you've read that almost all the schools are

Catholic or some other form of church/Christian affiliated. So they have to

learn religious stuff and attend chapel along with academic stuff. Don't

know if that's an issue with you. I grew up going to Christian schools, but

I'm now an atheist, as is my husband. So the thought of our son being taught

religion, and us having to pay for it... well, there are worse things, I guess.

Some things that are extremely lacking, at least in this area of Belize, are

good libraries, educational toys, and affordable new shoes for kids. I would

advise bringing plenty of books and toys and plenty of extra clothes and

shoes in a couple sizes larger than your kids currently wear from the US. I

wish I had brought more of this kind of thing. I knew that things were fairly

limited, and that there's not a Wal-Mart on every corner, but I didn't think

it would be this bad. Everything you would want is there, if you know where

to look, but the next week/month, that store may not have the same thing, and

you will need to start all over again. You have to be extremely careful when

buying clothes and shoes especially, because some stores will charge new

merchandise prices for used stuff. Most places do not give refunds or even

exchanges. It's similar to shopping a garage sale or thrift store in the US,

except you don't pay garage sale prices.

One thing that's nice about having 5 kids--you'll each get to bring two

check-in bags and a carry on if you fly, and the little ones probably won't

need 2 whole full suitcases for their stuff. Use this extra room to your

advantage! Backpacks make the best carry-on luggage, not those suitcases

with wheels, and you can use them here for carrying stuff back from shopping.

Very handy.

Celina's in San Ignacio and Angelis Press in Belmopan have the best

selections of books for children that I've found so far. The prices aren't

bad either. Celina's is a good place to buy a lot of stuff.

The hardest thing about Belize with my son so far is getting him to recognize

that some things are dangerous. He has no fear, and some of the stuff is

really new for him--living in a house way off the ground and dealing with

stairs; snakes, spiders and other critters (we had them in Arkansas too, of

course, but not all year round and he wasn't walking out in the woods or

anything. Here they're everywhere), strangers being so close, being close to

a body of water, and walking near the road. It's been a struggle to get him

to understand that these things can hurt him and to listen to me when I warn

him away from something. My ex-pat friend and most of our neighbors don't

seem to have this problem. Their kids grew up with these dangers and they've

been taught almost since birth that you don't pet or run after the numerous

stray dogs in our neighborhood, for instance. Jeffery doesn't understand why

he can't play with every dog that comes in the yard. He's learning all the

time, though.

Since your kids are mostly school age, they will be able to fit in and make

friends much faster than either of us. It's so easy to meet people when

you're going to school, but I can't just go to the neighbors and say "can my

kid play with yours for a while?" The children will more easily adapt to the

lifestyle, languages and culture, because they're still young and learning.

We adults tend to be set in our ways, and it's harder to change and learn new

things.

Don't know if you're planning on having any more kids, but for anyone who is

interested, my ex-pat friends has had two babies here. The first was at Loma

Luz Seventh Day Adventist Hospital. It cost about $3000 BZ for a c-section

(my c-section in the US was about $3000, but US dollars, she's from Canada,

where health care is free, so it seemed really expensive to her). She said

it was a very good experience, friendly, knowledgeable staff, very clean.

Her second baby was at the Belmopan public hospital. She had a good

experience except that during the delivery she noticed a roach on the floor,

and during the night while she was in labor the power went out for a long

time with no back up power. Other than that, everything was fine. :) If I

understood her right, this delivery was free (is public health care here free

for everyone, or just residents or citizens?), but she paid for her private

doctor to come in, like $60 or so.

I haven't had to go the doctor yet, but there are several general doctors,

pediatricians and ob-gyns in the San Ignacio area. My friend recommended a

couple, but I forgot the names.

It is sooo late. (2:17 AM). I have to go to bed now. I can't think of

anything else at the moment, but I'm sure I'll have more tomorrow.

If you have any specific questions about Belize in general or having kids in

Belize/travelling with kids, please let me know (anyone!) and I'll do my best

to answer you or find someone who can. Rick's site www.belizenorth.com has

some good info about Belize as well, including everyday little things that

you might not get from a more touristy site. This group tends to go off

topic a little (I think we talk US politics 40% of the time, and most of the

rest of the time we're criticizing each other for various nit-picky things),

but there is some good stuff here, too. I would definitely be interested in

meeting you and your family when you visit. Please contact me when you do!

Best Regards,

Eva Garber

Unitedville, Cayo District

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