Me at Mayflower Bocawina National Park

Author: Graham Witte | Major: Finance, Marketing | Semester: Summer 2025

 My name is Graham Witte and this past summer I got to spend 8 weeks in the town of Dangriga, Belize! Through the Walton Honors school of Business, me and eight others were given the opportunity to attend University of Arkansas: Special Projects with Peacework in Belize. This experience was nothing short of life changing. I first learned about this program when the students from the year before attended my class to share about the program. Instantly it sparked something in me. Both the opportunity to live and experience a developing country and the chance to gain hands on business skills pulled me in, and Belize did not disappoint.

My academic experience was with Mayflower Bocawina National Park, which boasts with 7,000 acres of rainforests, waterfalls, and Mayan ruins, not to mention the vast wildlife. Working with this park was a great experience, the rangers and community-based organization we worked with that oversees the park became nothing short of family. It was invigorating to see how they managed the park despite only having four rangers, and their board being full of volunteers who also juggle other full-time commitments. We quickly saw that the park had so much potential but is largely held back by the limited staff, and large infrastructure constraints. As a marketing and finance student these were barriers that I haven’t faced in the real world, but as the summer went on we created advertisements and strategic plans for the park and some of what they offer, such as the scholarship nursery program, which visitors can donate to plant a tree and all the proceeds go towards funding scholarships for students. The nursery program is a perfect example of how Belize values community and is something I learned the importance of. One of the biggest highlights was at the end of our trip when we got the opportunity to attend a Belize Tourism Forum in Dangriga. Where local business owners, leaders, and politicians spoke about the future of Belize. We presented for the park, and shared with them our observations of infrastructural issues and lack of finances hold the park and what seems much of Dangriga back. Despite the locals having endless passion and ideas for their own ventures, they often lacked the skills to put forth a plan that can be tangibly produced. Which is where we as students got to offer our skills and knowledge.

Outside of my academic experience, living in Belize was a learning experience on its own. Strangers walking up to talk to you, just to say hi, or ask if we need help with anything the community opened its arms to us with kindness. Being from America we often feel like we are in a hurry to get all the things we want done, in Belize it is quite the opposite. Life moves slowly, often fitting the local catchphrase of “Go Slow”. The locals truly know how to be patient and observe the beauty around them, people are never in a hurry to do much of anything because they are simply content with living in the world and people around them. Although Belize can still grow in a lot of ways, I as an American will always appreciate the calm and unrushed feeling of Belize time.