Sisters of Mercy Take the Symposium to Belize
Sisters Nancy Audette, Kathleen Erickson and myself just returned home after ten days in Belize, where we presented the Symposium to four different groups and led a Facilitator Training for a group of eighteen participants.
Do we Share the Same Dream?
We went to Belize with the knowledge that the American Dream which guides our behavior here in the North, leading us all on the treacherous path of mindless consumerism, might not be the operative worldview in Belize.
What we heard about was the same old American Dream, with “things” expected to fill the hunger in the human heart and it doesn’t work in Central America any more than it does here!
We Share the Same Problems
A country facing into the beautiful Caribbean with various palms, birds and fruit is already feeling the effects of climate change: the dry season drier, the rainy season wetter and stormier, the temperature noticeably hotter.
We wondered if the participants in Belize would resent us as Northerners, or even argue that they should be entitled to enjoy some of the American Dream benefits since they have not greatly contributed to the current ecological overshoot, climate disruption, or economic downturn.
Oil has been discovered off the coast, and the hope of job creation is being weighed against potential destruction of the ecosystem. There will be a referendum, and many people have mixed feelings as to how to vote.
There are serious problems in Belize. The poverty is evident, violence is escalating, and lack of respect for one another, animals and the environment was shared and discussed openly. The need for spiritual fulfillment and meaning was expressed as a deep hunger.
Some parents have left their children in the care of grandparents while they go off to work in the US. The parents then send back to their children great gifts of toys and clothes and electronic devices.
We learned that the same advertisements promising the good life if only you buy (fill in the blank) are filling the airwaves, billboards and human consciousness.
Measuring self worth by how much we earn and what it can buy creates a narcissistic society, destroys a sense of community and rewards predatory competition.
We could all be living in equitable, caring and sharing communities and enjoying the resulting health and happiness benefits, but we have assumed that the advertisements are correct and been seduced by limited models of success! So many are left behind with no hope of ever catching up in this system, and few get what we really want or really need.
A new casino hotel sits on the beach, but a Belizean has to show three hundred Belizean dollars in order to enter! We saw places where people are merely squatters on a piece of swamp land where crocodiles live. The same dream tells them they are not worth the consideration of others, they are not good enough to be carefree and happy go lucky.
Not valued by anyone, some young people turn to gangs, to violence and drugs, to belong and to escape. The gap between the rich and the poor is very evident, but education is still hoped to be the great equalizer.
We had to examine that assumption as well. Is education a value in itself or is it the promise of a better life, a life filled with North American “stuff”?
I found it sad that our way of life is admired, that the hope for growth includes a vision of skyscrapers in a country below sea level whose streets flood in heavy rains and whose very existence is threatened by a major hurricane six months of every year.
Reaching all Sectors in Belize
We presented the Symposium to the Sisters and Associates, to the students of St Catherine Academy and Muffles College and to a group of local leaders from Audubon, the UN Development Program, the Scouts, Women’s International Network/Belize, the Ministry of Education, the local meteorologist, Belize University and teachers from St John’s, St Catherine’s and Muffles.
The same concerns emerged in every group: violence, lack of respect, the ever present garbage dumping problem, poverty, pollution, and the lack of any real recycling. Every group of participants went to work and tackled some area of the problems.
It was exhilarating to watch the young students be so confident and forceful in their ideas and commitment. The Facilitator Training Group was so hopeful and determined to make a difference.
In all, we met with just under one hundred people, each one fired with the knowledge of the power of one! In Blessed Unrest, let us pray for Belize, for a future filled with environmental sustainability, spiritual fulfillment and social justice!
