A Family in Belize

I had the pleasure and honour of being invited into a local Mestizo family home this week. About 45% of the population in Belize are considered Mestizo, descendants of mixed Spanish an indigenous blood. Upon arriving in Corozal, I had made acquaintance with Estela Cairrllo during our first week. We live a couple of blocks away from each other and her youngest children attend St. Paul's Anglican School. My first impression of Estela was that of admiration for a mother, who at 36 years old could juggle having seven children and appear to be very calm and sane!

Estlela told me that she has been with her common law husband Roland Catzim for 18 years. When they first met, Roland was away for a month at a time as a fisherman and only to returned home three days at a time. Estela did not want to raise her children with an absent husband thus Roland builds houses and works with masonry. This also allows dad to come home for the lunch hour with Edwin, who he works with, during their workday. They have lived in the same rented house for the past five years, having previously lived in a much smaller dwelling on College Rd. Since meeting the children two months ago I can quite easily say that they are extremely well mannered and cheerful. Edwin is the oldest at 18 years, followed by Cynthia 14 years, Carolos 13, Rolando 12, Edwardo 11, Darwin 6 and the newest member of the household a very sweet baby of 5 months called Diego. On this day two nephews were visiting too.

The day I arrived to interview Estela, she was hoping that her tank of Butane would be filled by the delivery men as using her outdoor fire creates too much smoke and is a labour intensive chore cleaning pots and pans after using an open flame. Estela showed me around her house, which included a small living room that had a hammock set up for baby Diego (I love that name!), a kitchen that leads out to the sheltered area which has an overhang that houses the outdoor cooking area, and one of three bedrooms which are partitioned off with curtains for the five boys.

Estela cooks a lot of beans and rice, which is a popular kid's choice of meal in Belize. Meat is expensive so she chooses to cook vegetarian five days a week. Now that the children are getting older, it would require two pounds of meat for a meal. Her family favourite is either Panades or tortilla with chicken, tomato and cabbage. Roland will sometimes leave the house at 5 AM to go net fishing. After finding personally that Chetumal was an unique shopping experience, and talking to the locals who frequent there, I asked Estela if she shopped in Mexico. She told me that you cannot travel to Mexico without a permit. You are required to carry two pieces of picture ID. To obtain a Mexican ID card is $30 for a permit that only lasts one year.

Estela told me that she has little skill with reading, and she stated that her husband has difficulty with literacy also. She attended the Methodist school until she was ten years old and had obtained class 3. Despite the fact that she lacks reading and writing skills, she is quite dedicated to helping her children do their homework at night. Sometimes she works at a restaurant where the owner encourages her to learn to take orders. The math calculating the bills come easily to her. On the days that she works, Cynthia is like a little mother to the children and Roland comes home at the end of the day to take over. But that is not the normal routine as she feels that working outside the home would be difficult with Diego. In addition, Cynthia will be looking for a job in September. Carlos, who is the third oldest in the family, truly wants to have the opportunity to attend Corozal Community College in September. When I asked about the high cost of tuition, she said that she was hoping that they would obtain two sponsors who would pay for his attendance. This would help her focus on paying text books, uniforms and misc. fees like fees for writing exams.

When I asked what a normal day at the house looked like, she responded that getting up at 6 AM was the norm. Lunch preparations must start by 11 AM. Most evenings her bedtime is 8 PM. Thankfully, laundry does not have to be done every day. I also asked if there was anything that she wanted Canadians to know. She responded without hesitation that she loves her life in Corozal and would not want to live anywhere else. She had visited Guatemala once and did not like it much. Just as I was giving thanks for her hospitality at the end of our talk the delivery men arrived and refilled the cylinders so that another lunch could be prepared. Diego was asleep in his hammock with the Canadian sticker still on his forehead.