When we stayed at Tutzil Nah Cottages, our host, Gregorio told us about his experience making this transition. He had only 4 years of primary schooling before he turned 16 and was no longer eligible to go to school. It is a combination of his tenacity and naivete that has allowed him to accomplish all that he has. By the time he was 22, he was working as a tour guide, living at a resort, away from his family for the first time. He was a popular guide, but he worked every day of the week, wasn't allowed to have guests- he was lonely. He told us he went home for a couple days one time, and looked at all of his family sitting around sharing dinner and he realized he wanted to be a part of that again. He ran away from his job in Dangriga and decided he should start his own business is Mayacenter. He wanted to be a guide in the Cockscomb Basin Reserve, where he grew up and knew his way around. So he wrote up a business plan (with a pen) and took it to the bank. They said they couldn't loan him any money- he had no experience, no education and no collateral. Fortunately, he found a Development fund that was willing to take a chance with him. They gave him US$6000, which was more money than he could have imagined. He bought a used car, and almost immediately his contacts from the old resort starting sending him people to take on tours. It was working! He even recruited one of his brother's to help him with the business. People would come to Mayacenter for the day to take his tours, and they starting asking him about a place to eat or stay over night.
That's when he decided to open the cottages. He went back to the Development fun and borrowed US$16000 to build a restaurant and places to stay. He and his brothers built the place in something like 6 months. At the same time, he had heard many of his clients talk about the emails, and websites, so he found a business that would make one of those for him, too. Not that he knew what they were for. He said, "People drive down this highway and we just hope that they pullover here." The cottages were due to open in late December. In mid-December he got a call that his website was ready to go up, and he should be ready to start getting emails. He falters a bit here, and the woman asks "Is there a problem?" "Well, no, I don't think it is a problem. But what is this email?"
The website was delayed until Gregorio could buy and learn to use a computer. His brothers wanted nothing to do with this- they were scared and intimidated by it. So Gregorio had to learn. Imagine trying to use a computer when you've never seen one before. A friend came out and helped him get it plugged in, and then told him to play around with it. "I don't want to play with it." He explained to him about the mouse, that you could wiggle it and interface with it. He HATED the mouse. It was always zipping away from him or he couldn't find it. He spend several hours every night on the machine before they got back to the issue of email. Things would go wrong. Almost everyday it would freeze, or crash or not do what he wanted it to do, and he would take the entire thing, still plugged together, to a shop in Dangriga. He was frustrated and embarrassed, but slowly it started to get better. Finally, he decided he is ready to get these emails.
When the first email comes in, both his brothers are there. Neither one knows what to say or do. His friend comes back to help them write an email. Gregorio had some sense that there should be some form to this kind of communication, but no idea what it should look like. The next email, he wrote a response with a pen where he is more comfortable, and then typed that up. It went slowly. He tried his first hunt-and-peck typing. He looked on his keyboard for one letter, and then hits it. He looks for the next letter, can't find it, maybe he doesn't have that one? keeps looking, finds it, hits it... he said it took him 6 hours to write a 10 line email. But by now, you know Gregorio will just keep working at it until he gets much better.
The business is up and running well, until someone sets fire to the cottages. They were unable to save anything. He was devastated, emotionally and financially. He had loans amounting to more money that he could fathom, and no way to every make that much money back. But he decided the best revenge would be to have a successful business to pass on to his kids. He makes some fliers about his situation, and goes to beg at the hotels and resorts in Dangriga. After a full day of rejection, he makes his final stop at the upscale resort, where the manager told him he had seen and liked those cottages, and if he would go to his brother's hardware store in Belmopan, he would give him some cement to start the project. The hardware store fills his van with as much cement as it will carry. And other people are donating things too, money and lumber. This is how nice people are in Belize. The new cottages were up in only 3 months. To all the emails he got during this period, he would say "we don't have any vacancies." The first people he accepted a reservation for was in December. When the Swiss couple arrived, they were putting the door on the outdoor bathroom.
Gregorio tells us that he is lucky to have all these things work for him. He knows how to live the traditional lifestyle, but now he can't be an hour away from his cell phone. But the Mayans further south are much more traditional. They have the slat and thatch houses, they grow their own livestock and crops. We see a lot of this when we travel down south- and you can kinda see that in this picture.
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