Refugee florist helps other women bloom in Belize

*Name changed for protection concerns

As she rebuilds her life in the tiny Central American nation, Emily teaches other asylum-seeking and Belizean women to turn plants and flowers into natural medicine and soap - one of the most essential items to prevent COVID-19.

Emily closes her eyes as she takes in the scent of the soap bar she had just taken out of the mould.

“The smell of lemongrass always relaxes me” she said, pointing to the backyard garden where her students are harvesting mint, lemongrass and cilantro.

Over the past few weeks, Emily Perez*, a sweet but strong 53-year-old asylum seeker has been delivering lessons to other refugee and Belizean women on how to turn plants and flowers into natural remedies, soap bars and face scrubs – a craft she learned in her home town in El Salvador before being forced to flee in 2017.

Back then, Emily was a florist, and grew her own flowers to sell at the local market in the small Salvadoran nation.

But what she believed to be a joyful Christmas, devolved to a day she will never forget. “I had sold all my flowers and bought enough groceries to cook a delicious dinner for my entire family,” remembered Emily, adding how she then fell asleep to rest before celebrations began.

As the clock hit midnight, Emily’s life was forever changed.

‘Mami, wake up! They just shot the house!’ is all she heard before being startled awake. “My son and son-in-law were running away from gang members who were chasing them from the nearby store,” said Emily, explaining that the gangs opened fire when the two young men had managed to run inside the compound.

“They gave them until 6 a.m. of Christmas morning to flee, or they would kill them.”

Emily’s son, son-in-law, her daughter, and their three children fled to another family members’ home for a few days, while she and her husband stayed home. Worried they would be next, the entire family of eight eventually met and fled together to Belize.

Over 830,000 people in northern Central America have fled brutal gang violence and persecution. In countries like El Salvador, this violence affects particularly young men and women who are at risk of being recruited by gangs. When young people refuse to join this circle of violence, they are threatened to death until they have no other option but to flee. Like Emily and her family, over two thousand people have sought safety in Belize, 700 kilometres away from danger.

Four years later, Emily and her family are making ends meet selling traditional Salvadoran food, like pususas, salbutes or nuegados from cassava, while waiting for their asylum claim to be reviewed.

But Emily has now gained a new spark as she started growing her plants again in Belize, and she now teaches other asylum-seeking and Belizean women how to use plants for medicinal use. She recently led a course on natural soap making, and her next session is on making natural face scrubs.

“It is a sin to have knowledge about something and not teach it to others” said Emily.

And even at 53 years of age, she and her husband remain committed to rebuilding their lives in Belize fully, and are now the oldest students at the English as a Second Language classes provided by UNHCR, the UNHCR Refugee Agency, and partner Humana People to People.

“It is harder for my husband and I to learn English” she admitted. “We know it’s important. And we enjoy taking these classes and making everyone laugh as we learn.”

“Life can be very difficult, but there’s always a way to overcome the obstacles” she shared. She does not give up, and along her path of overcoming obstacles, she includes other women so that, together, they can all accomplish their goals while supporting and empowering each other.