The village has been repeatedly devastated by hurricanes.  Here in the U.S., the government as well as every NGO, volunteer organization and charity help pitch in to recover from a natural disaster.  In Belize, it appears to be a different story.  The government only sees fit to help people in rebuilding their homes but not the small business.  If the government were to help rebuild small businesses, the affected villagers could conceivably rebuild their own homes with their own money while continuing to support their families.  I had the pleasure of interviewing Miss Virginia, a school teacher in MR.  She is an incredibly intelligent and strong woman, but you could see the tiredness in her face.  I think it was during her interview that I had an epiphany about life in a coastal area prone to hurricanes; nothing in life is permanent.  Surviving repeated natural disasters takes a toll on a person’s soul and apparently the heart of a community as well.

The most pressing issue facing the people of Monkey River, as viewed by the people of Monkey River, is getting electricity to the village.  Having had the opportunity to sleep in the village for 5 nights, I could see why the use of solar cells and generators only might be an issue.  Electrification will have a tremendous impact on the village.  Without proper planning, though, in time Monkey River may look a lot like Placencia, especially once the road to Monkey River becomes paved.  Many of the villagers and members of the village council are aware of this.  I think the thing that most surprised me about MR was the strength of the village council.  With Miss Eleanor at the helm, it seems a lot of the important issues facing MR are being dealt with and progress is being made.

It appears as though the people of Monkey River are engaged in two major types of activities: fishing and tourism.  The fishing activity has become more regulated because of sanctions placed on them by the TIDE organization.  Many of the fishermen are disgruntled because “outsiders” (illegal fishermen from other countries) are not complying with the same TIDE sanctions.  They feel it’s a double standard, and they are the ones losing because over-fishing is still occurring.  Many villagers feel, though, that the good/intelligent fishermen in the village are still able to make a good living by fishing.  It was amazing to hear the “three cheers” for TIDE from the men living in PG and then the disdain for TIDE in MR. 

As for tourism, the village owns a plot of land further up along the Monkey River where they have created trails to be used only by Monkey River Tour Guides.  In a conversation I had with George on the way back from the Danish farm, we discussed the matter of knowledge spillovers, although that’s not what he would have called the topic.  Often tourists from Placencia (or PG) will hire a guide to take them to MR, where they will pick up a MR tour guide to take them down the river and then show them the medicinal trees along the trail.  George said it is hard to give tours to people from Placencia or PG in this manner because he is afraid of giving away his secrets to the other tour guides (the competition): the things that make Monkey River tours unique.  It’s the issue of intellectual property rights.  One way I see for MR to deal with this issue is to encourage more tourists to come and stay IN Monkey River, that way the tour can originate from MR with only a MR tour guide present.  This would require more infrastructure/business geared toward accommodating tourists, of course, like food establishments and lodging.

I don’t think it needs to be said, but I also learned a lot about shrimp farming and growing bananas and citrus trees.  That adventure is a whole other paper…summed up in a sentence, though, “It was sooo cool!”

The process of collecting this information was a learning experience in and of itself.  I found that for myself and others in the group some of the best information came during times of informal conversation with the villagers (a truck ride to the Danish farm, a drink at the bar, or a trip to the general store).  I never thought our presence would ever be as accepted and welcomed as it was.  Each one of us seemed to develop a rapport with at least one member of the village.  As a group, I think we had a very positive influence on the community.  It was great to have students with differing backgrounds to make up our research group.  I think it aided in allowing us to see the whole picture of what is going on in Monkey River Village.

The people of Monkey River have a lot of good momentum.  The village is in a good geographical location to take advantage of tourism.  The atmosphere is ripe for joint business ventures with tour guides in Placencia and PG and even with the Danish farm, if Christian decides he wants to give tours for profit.  In my opinion, more financial resources are needed for entrepreneurial activities as well as guidance for the development of these businesses.