About Belize
Belize is a Central American country on the Caribbean Sea. Its lies south of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, with Guatemala to the west and south. Its long east coast is mainly flat and swampy. It has low mountains in the south. Tropical forest covers more than half of its land area.
Find out more about Belize.
Region
Language
English remains the most common language spoken followed closely by Creole, but Spanish is becoming more widely spoken. The Garifuna, Mayas and Mennonites speak their own language.
Population
397,620 (2022)
Area
22,965
High Commissioner
Her Excellency Therese Rath
Capital
Belmopan
Joined Commonwealth
1981, following independence from Britain
Episode guests
Felene M Cayetano
Librarian, Author, Mother, Screenwriter and Director
Felene Cayetano is a Belizean, Garifuna, Librarian, Author, Mother, Screenwriter and Director. Since 2007, she has served as Librarian at the National Heritage Library branch of the Belize National Library Service and Information System. She has published 2 collections of poetry (Evolution and Crossing Bridges), edited/published an anthology of short fiction by Belizean authors (Belizean Nail Soup) and written/directed a short film (Afieni).
Her poetry and short stories have appeared in multiple Caribbean and Latin American journals since 2015. She has presented her poetry at events across Belize, Los Angeles, Baltimore, New York City, Treasure Beach (Jamaica), Bridgetown (Barbados), Paramaribo (Suriname), Georgetown (Guyana) and Puerto Barrios (Guatemala).
Dawn is a Fisherman
Dawn is a fisherman, his harpoon of light
Poised for a throw – so swiftly morning comes.
The darkness squats upon the sleeping land
Like a flung cast-net, and the black shapes of boats
Lie hunched like nesting turtles
On the flat calm of the sea.
Among the trees the houses peep at the stars
Blinking farewell, and half-awakened birds
Hurtle across the vista, some in the distance
Giving their voice self-criticized auditions.
Warning comes from the cocks, their necks distended
Like city trumpeters: and suddenly
Between the straggling fences of gray cloud
The sun, a barefoot boy, strides briskly up
The curved beach of the sky, flinging his greetings
Warmly in all directions, laughingly saying
Up, up, the day is here! Another day is here!
In My Feet
When I sing
she sings;
when I dance
she dances;
she is in my rhythm
in my feet
in my smile
in my character
in the threads
of my shield
in the love
I give my family
in the words
and phrases
that come when they should
in the water
in the air
in the flashes
of dreams
where she appears
as she is to me
free.
5:16a.m. About Granny and Aunty Maude Aug. 24, 2010
