Can anyone give us some idea on living in Belize for a couple of years only. Currently living in Scotland have a 4 yr old and would like any info on job opportunities and primary education for our little one.

Sorry to ask, but have you ever been there? Job 'opportunities' are pretty limited. What sort of work?

Well!! I am a Belize Citizen with dual nationality. Always worked in the voluntary sector mainly in the Mental Health Field in both vocational training and community inclusion. I am currently employed as a Social Networker: this role involves encouraging individuals to engage in community activities and become self reliant in their communities.I am also involved with networking opportunities with other agencies throughout various local communities.
My hubby is a HGV driving instructor and also delivers Safe Economical Fuel Efficient Driving instruction with sound experience of management.

I haven't lived in Belize for the past 20 years so have lost touch a bit. I am aware the we would need to diversify a bit with our skills and the present market demands.

let us know your thoughts.

It sounds like our experiences are of about the same vintage then.. back a ways. You probably keep up on the local news even more than I do. Truthfully, and somoeone will smack me for this, I'd find one of the local forums that are more active; there are several. You are well-positioned to get a Real Job in BZ with your qualifications and citizenship, so I'm sorry for my early assumption.

I did some volunteering in our village clinic back in the day, but there wasn't much they needed help with at the time.

Hubby may have to take up farming, but that's not all bad! (can't imagine there's much trucking work).

I'll keep you in mind to send some links along; google searching will help you find the big ones.

It's expensive and not that easy to find work from what I hear.

You might be better off looking into starting something up... there's lots of retirees looking for something to spend their money on.

A lot depends on your expectations. I've lived here in Belize for around 8 years, and I can tell you things aren't easy here. Many expats (which is effectively what you'd be) end up losing their shirts here. You'd be better off ensuring you have some form of income and then live here on it - work will be very hard to come by and wages very low.

Living costs on Ambergris Caye, where I am, are exceptionally high (higher than England for a dramatically lower standard of living) but in general they're much lower on the mainland - by as much as 60% depending on where exactly you are.

Crime levels are getting worrying, but you don't generally hear much about it. There is a practice here which I abhore of suppressing news which might be seen as negative by potential visitors. But even so, they're still much less than many eg. Americans live with every day of their lives.

hi there you mention local forums in your reply - just wondered if you could give contact or url details. I shall be moving to Placencia in October from the UK

Thanks