Mennonite Immersion Tour

With a Population of about 3,418 inhabitants, Shipyard is a village in the Orange Walk District of Belize. Most of the population are Mennonite. Most residents of Shipyard speak Low German. The Mennonites of Shipyard are a very integrated community most of them work as carpenters, farmers and mechanics. The Mennonites originally established communities in large uninhabited parcels of land in the districts of Corozal, Orange Walk, and Cayo. Widely respected throughout the countryside for their hard work ethic, the Mennonites have turned sections of rural Belize into neat, highly productive farmland and dairies. After building a road from the Blue Creek settlement to Orange Walk, the Mennonites later founded Spanish Lookout and Shipyard. Although isolating themselves from the other cultures of Belize, they provide indispensable services and products to the entire countryside. They participate fully in the Belizean economy, mostly in the production and sale of poultry and dairy products. In addition, Mennonites craft a variety of elegant, sturdy wooden furniture sold in all Belizean districts. When venturing into the urban areas of Belize, the Mennonite complexion, clothes, modes of transportation and unique dialect make them highly conspicuous. Most still resemble blond German farmers; the men in dark trousers, suspenders, and straw hats and the women in conservative long plaid dresses and bonnets.