I first went to Belize in Dec. 1980. Taking a Christmas break from Miss. State U., I drove to Belize. After crossing the Mexico border I followed a van pulling a trailer with Tenn. tags. Soon they pulled into a gas station and I followed them to the gas pump.
They said they were an Adventist school group going to a small village in Belize (Progresso). I mentioned that I was going to Belize also, but didn’t have a specific destination. They said I could follow them to Progresso village where they were going to work for two weeks at the Progresso Vocational Health Institute. Unfortunately it is no longer there. Now it appears as a giant circle on Google Earth’s map just north of Progresso.
After staying in Progresso for two weeks I followed the school group back to the states. They went on to their school close to Chatanooga and I stopped in Mississippi.
I made several trips back and forth with them over the next few years and gradually became acquainted with some local people working at the Health Institute.
I applied for Permenet Residence and started a small sugarcane operation with a local friend, Regino. Now almost thirty years later we are still friends and I have watched his family grow up and have children. Cane farming has been a slow and difficult work. We still do a little but not so much. At one time I was the only Gringo cane farmer in Belize.