Today, Wednesday, August 13, 2014, Amandala, against all odds, turned 45. We boast of this not for ourselves, but for the Belizean people who began supporting us 45 years ago – a long time in a person’s normal life span.

We speak not of the greedy, voracious multinationals who care for nothing but their bank accounts, or neo-colonialists to whom Belize is but a pawn in their games of dominance, wealth and power, or the loyal, local servants of these godless entities, or of selfish, corrupt local leaders who talk the talk and laugh on their way to the bank.

We speak of the good people of Belize, the poor, the oppressed, the hard-working people, those who sincerely hope for a better day, who struggle daily to survive a sometimes oppressive, cruel and unfair life – the salt of the Belizean earth.

It is these people we salute, men and women, and sometimes children, who have stood with us, as we have stood with them, through “thick and thin,” for 45 long years.

The real story of Amandala is the story of these extraordinary Belizeans, at home and abroad. We are here because of them. We love them. We salute them. They are of us, and we are of them.

Amandala and the people – 45. And the struggle continues …