Belize Notebook

Being Rich

Being rich means you can...

...have something to eat every day.
...have a pack of ramen noodles all to yourself.
...buy toilet paper before the old role runs out.
...have a bathroom inside the house.
...have a house.


We have been taught by foreign television to want many things that are bad for us, and to disparage many things that are good for us. We can grow all that we need to eat, but foreigners have gained control of what we want.

The farmer must learn new ways of working so that improved quality and sufficient quantity of local produce is available at the market. All of us must learn a new attitude toward the food we eat and be prepared for the day when the fancy foreign product is hard to get; when the top shelf is too high for our hands or our pocketbooks to reach. That day could come, and that day could come sooner than we expect if there should be a global economic meltdown. We need to ensure that both the public and the private sector have in place policies and programmes that can, in future, lead to true food security for the nation. We must each, producer, processor, and consumer, do our part to make those programmes work.

We can feed ourselves if we really want to, and the day could come when we will have to feed ourselves whether we want to or not. Let's be prepared.

And let's keep this thought in mind. We can be rich, but only if we want to be.

A Prayer for the Gringos

Lord, forgive them for having so much

when there are so many

who have so little.