Transcripts For DW The Mennonites 20240712

I wore. It mean looked like a scene from a bygone era these young people are part of a community in present day Central America. The i. Dont belong to a Christian Group known as mennonites ultra conservative protestants who shoot the modern wont. Care. To school house will sit on one side voice on the other the recession passages from the bible in only touch and her. Hair. This morning the youngest children under now for better. Look at the letter i am pointing to. God. The older children are reading the new testament printed in front to the traditional german script and not to history geography or Foreign Languages the bible is the textbook. All. Saying and baden i teach them to read saying pray recite poetry right here count thats it. The children begin their schooling at age 6 and finish from the 13th long enough to learn the basics. But this is we learned from when i went to school when the father of my grandpa no one who would have every hour with. No university not an ai some college or everything. Studying and practicing and i learning to feel better doing ricky. After he finished school became a blacksmith like his father he has 20 children 3 of his 60 grandchildren a peoples in this class mennonites believe children are a blessing directed from god. Blue eyed blondes abound originating from germany the netherlands and switzerland the mennonites from niger up 250 years ago and some eventually settled in central and south america. To bounce around about just a strictly adhere to the doctrine of menace seamans a 16th century dutch priest lead lives full of rigor and discipline. There are over 2000000 mennonites worldwide but only a fraction are old order mennonites virtually selfsufficient they live in settlements with their own schools churches and tribes this isolation shields them from modern day temptations. Now one colony of this secluded community has agreed to be filmed for this documentary. Life in this religious group revolves around the bible everything is predetermined right down to the color of their clouds just after that is can address thats going to religion and it will play in a different kind of those. 2 rooms a very strict breaking them can have severe consequences or. If people dont obey the church we must shun them. Yet the temptations are many a few months ago in france of course im a forbidden object a smartphone i know the reality though is enough you go there you see there are so many good things. Behind the serene facade some members are rebelling theyre challenging the communitys most fundamental doctrines. Vilhelm is one of the shop and. In their mind like a cell phone its made by see it from sort concept and living up in our brand on the other hand is averse to change thats why he and several other families plan. To set up a new colony in an even more remote part of the world cost of the amazon. To get started you know thats around starting around year old girl. Who are the mennonites and why do they flee modern civilization is it even possible to escape the contemporary world in this time n. H. We take a closer look at one of the 21st centurys most caused communities. Our journeys begins in Central America on the western edge of the turquoise waters of the caribbean sea. Situated between mexico and guatemala is the country of families the former british colony has an extremely diverse population among aside 400000 inhabitants a misuse of those creoles and mind you. Most of the mennonites live further inland hidden the why in the countryside is little billys an old order colony established in the 1970 s. Time seems to have stood still cause often didnt. Hold strong buggies he used to get around. Mennonites not used to having contact with outsiders and off hostile but somewhat perturbed by our presence. I dont know what to make of our cameras some even hide their faces like this woman. Is it possible to know who knew whom to do you. Allow that because people get frightened and young lady for when they get pregnant. So are when theyre yeah you know because theyre frightened. Theyre not they do not give you straight thats very. Conservative mennonites spurn wanted knology. A few are open minded mike france is a great to talk to us. And were here. And i am braving here the whole of my life i have never experienced somewhere else. My home. Old country. And i like it or get a culture and every kind of experience enjoyed by. Fans is 36 years old. He lives on this farm which he built himself. When. He and his wife elizabeth have 7 children the. 15 year old twins honor and capturing of the eldest. I got is 13 and elizabeth 10. And peter 6 and i. Am sorry the youngest is 4 years old. Theyre a typical mennonite family months have 7. 00 to 12. 00 children. They live a simple way of life a few fields a chicken coop and a couple of cows are enough to keep the family fed. The girls tend to the livestock and the little is known for it all on the same side put some here and some their. Families through. Franz works from home. Hes a mechanic in his workshop he repairs machinery for customers who are not members of the community. Here and around 500. 00 a month on average. His daughter catarina finished school 2 years ago since then shes been working with her father. You know only girl thats why she got the job yes we had boys big boys and it could think she would have to work against the boys would have to do this job this is probably a job for the boys with. The roles in a mennonite household who clearly defined. The women take care of the home. And they do the cooking cleaning and laundry. And they also so close for the entire family and that too is governed by strict rules. When elizabeth needs more fabric she goes shopping theres no sign or advertisement to indicate that it is a store and the choices here are limited. This one is too dark for me this ones pretty nice for the younger girls. The brighter colors are reserved for the younger girl stresses the darker fabrics of the married women the men are to wear straw hats and checked all stripes. By half a meter will do. Everything is precisely specified. As you see any big difference between these 2. Elisabet only speaks plattdeutsch warlow german a dialect used primarily by mennonites her sister in law margaret however also speaks english and she feels a scene in some of the customs there thats why we have learned like that since my parents my grandparents great grandparents were just people like that its been like that all the time what were what you know you just have to read is can address its going to religion have to do all kind of different clues you know and you know they know not to you dont know up make up not in no make up now and. If youre. Going to stop oh man its just how it like that. Where we dont know like a house. You have to. Material for 2 dresses and a shirt for what amounts to 8 euros theres no excessive spending mennonites little of so austere its almost monastic void of distractions no music no sports and no television. The closest they come to a moment of leisure is in church every sunday. We were asked not to film their way a. Community leader has agreed to meet and talk with us. William is Something Like the colonies man he too has 7 children in order to give us a better understanding of their lives he invites us to his home for dinner the only source of light is a single oil lamp the house has no electricity the furnishings a spouse there are no pictures on the walls only the bare minimum. Let us pray. The girl sit on both sides of the table while william sits at the head and whose son at the other end of the meal is eaten in silence its a practice mennonite so followed for centuries. Tonights dinner consists of bins of vegetable soup and sausages life as it was lived in the 19th century. And. With long history bible says that to be accepted into heaven you were not allowed to have any modern things like t. V. s telephones computers or cars or were taught or announcement and when certain people did not want to obey the church very mush on them they can no longer take part in the Community Like city already in mind dont turn to the like. To know is explicit i think you abide by the rules or you were banished from the community. A lot has changed since the mennonites came and founded a colony here half a century ago. This used to be nothing but jungle now the colony is spread out over a 100 square kilometers and post nearly 3000. 00 inhabitants. When they built roads they paved the way to fit the development. In spite of their respect for the doctrine some believers find modern conveniences hard to resist. For france it all began when he had to buy a farm for work and hes taking a few tricks on showing it to us. Therefore when i saw. For yourself things of yours and others that i feel very guilty. Very. They know their reality is enough you see there are so many good ones and france discovered the internet and a love for music the rhythm of country and western radically changed his familys life. Was me and very very fascinated. They really like their new life its a new lifestyle for us. If we really had there is any music so sure. They could livers have any. Its a good pleasure to them. And then promptly france which is off the spine. Theres. A rather is coming. Off. For now this ones for my brother you have to hide my folly because that really but i dont like to see them. Mad if they dont see the point it will be more happy to me that maybe in the future they will start to know more. About the reality busy. France has to be careful even around his brother if anyone finds out that he has a fun. Communication. He used to provide medical care for the families here he lives next to 2 friends. Kind of surgery. To sit down here and sit down here and then i have a speech and then the probe would probably check if the pain then there are the men i would have them there dont cover them up shakhtar all the people from the king here and yet. Preacher said there. Yeah. For 20 years bill how was the common use lady doctor though he has no formal training his mother was a nurse and he taught himself by studying medical textbooks people to find in order to save lives. Kind of books. And i felt like i had to have it because there were so many accidents and you then i felt like an obligation to call. A taxi or to call on the doctors or i said that was so useful for me and i had it then and the they were complaining about that and they wanted me tole to lose it and i said no. That decision cost him dearly because he broke the rules he lost everything. And then they then knew that they would excommunicate me the day before i would say i heard about at least 60 patients at least 60 that went on the whole day up told late in the night the next day i got excommunicated no one comes again so all that stops from 60 to overnight to 0. Since his expulsion will has been shunned by the community these days he sells time as an hours drive from home. He decided to found a new non conformists congregation within the conservative community. Mennonites behind the wheel of a pickup trucks a surprising size they belong to the dozens of families that now attend the new church. From all appearances these believe is still seem to abide by the traditional mennonite codes of conduct but on closer inspection there are undeniable signs of change even from the pulpit the sermon is read from a smartphone is no bible to be sane. Birthrates all the gospel of matthew the 11 disciples went to galilee to the mountain where jesus had sent them when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted. Vilhelm instigated the construction of the new church. Oh yeah. Because music is. Only what its not allowed to drink. And all that what. This Development Troubles more traditional mennonites they believe that souls have been lost. As one of those traditionalists hes joining several other families who decided to leave police to set up a new colony in peru one that small new to the old would. Like. More traditional. And a community so that they will be more more more i dont know exactly how to explain but that people are more conservative more people together. Opera im a foul mouth will embark on a new adventure with his wife and 7 children even though hes invested a lot in his life here in little police. So this is the house what i had. To 1st find so now d. I want to live it so let 4 out of people can get it and now if they want to change i have a better one so they can put a new one so thats how i am thinking now now i want to sell it for everything and the land for our prime prove represents the promise of an even better life if 1st. Like here it sounds like its. Everything at sounds better to work here. Having. Having more more like more people and who will buy. Beings and all that think what we produce they will buy more so we could sell more of what we produce that will make far more happy are. Those moving to prove caring for the departure. That entails selling most of their positions. How much for this set of balls 5 dollars 2 dollars 4 dollars or higher on fire oh. Yeah code needs to sell as much as he can. With it would be a trash can or a casserole dish everything must go. Im selling whatever i cant take with me. Ok im selling the house my all the furniture all the things we used every day were taking as our buggy the rest will be sold if. It goes yeah but not. Every dollar counts the money will go toward constructing the new colony. The auction last the whole day. One thing after wants to take to his farming equipment. 11 families sharing space in cost of a shipping container. Lets take this over there. Yeah there is a lot we have to approach everything together and to get it together and tell it fits. Only their most precious possessions will might to trip to peru that includes tractors and machinery needed to clear roads. The country had a few things theyre not big farmers and and the country so thats why we think about we can care cheaper we have it here and we care it over dared cheaper than we buy it from brazil or anywhere 1st of billys city then by boat yes by boat right. The container will arrive 2 months after they do there isnt much room left but has a surprise in store for his wife hes going to take their marriage bed the only reminder of the past life. Is the bed so that we have it ready at once your wife liked it so yeah and i want that to keep theirs she want to keep the beds so she will be happy there. Not lose everything should lose that they got none but not lose everything. You need. Its the evening before the departure. Friends family is feeling apprehensive especially his wife elena. Birth america it will be difficult there we had everything here we have to start all over again. At the moment their biggest fear is the flight no one has been on an airplane before. With hands are you afraid of flying. Not yet but i dont know how ill feel when i have to board. And you have and how do you feel about going through im really excited really is. It yes i cant wait. Well see who gets on the plane 1st that. I dont want to be 1st. It. Doesnt mean im going to still. Go the time has come for the family to guy. Its a great moment. In vegas one when i have ever had in my life. Climb in boys. You know. Parents want to see them off its not easy for his mother this is the 1st time one of the children has left the colony. Yeah you know dont worry everythings going to be fine its all under control question im still anxious you know i understand. Ok good bye and safe journey back to. The bicycle you visit us maybe in april. Of next. 3 hours later they arrive to be Important Police since he did the 1st of the group to get there. This is where the adventure truly begins. Is the 1st time what i am thinking the plane has thats what im telling my children now and which in 43 years i want to go with the plane so i know my children all day ill be all they can go but with together a long drive with yeah get them there ill let the work go and i will go so its going to be great. The rest of the group also arrived 7 families 53. 00 people in total. Have a whole book one way tickets no one plans to return. Its time to say goodbye. Parents came to the airport to make the most of the last few moments with the family. There were no hugs bookie says. A simple handshake suffices everyone appears calm and composed. But our brands mother cant quite hold back richie is she doesnt know if shell ever see her son or grandchildren again. To take new huge into the unknown. The challenges begin with the escalator. Run. By. A. Very good. Are you scared. Let me know either this is fine. Its a bit shaky. Our prime seems excited but his wife elena is a little anxious whats that clouds clouds yes clouds. Were flying over clouds i was wondering why there was so much smoke. A journey will take 24 hours after a stopover in panama they arrived in lima the capital of peru. While waiting for their final flight to paul culpa few can keep their eyes open no one has slept much since they left belize. Stuffed. Lazy lazy. Lazy shit on. A long trip. In. The sprawling group of men and anstice not go unnoticed. In. The air force employee who checks in their luggage is curious. She knows where theyre headed and i ask them about us but why are you going to put culpa we want to work there its work ok and if we bought land theyre in for careless and were going to work at it if youll see. What will you grow because it will grow corn beans saw a melon you cumbers peppers and tomatoes and all and will keep chickens. Where will your children go to school its t. R. U. You get any feedback and i will build a school the there is one area but well build one that there are plenty that you simply havent seen im surprised. Peter i didnt think it was possible to live out there but im happy for you that theyre going to for nothing and it will always surprise they dont know you were days rather than when he left a lot of people there surprised they didnt know that about us and its more than asking for where are you coming from where you want to go so what happens whats going on. Because they dont know you know and they dont know is did look people saw them but they sometimes if they think about travelling but but not so ive grown so many in the group on so many baggage. The mennonites take 53rd and final flights this ones to compound a town northeast of lima thats close to the amazon rainforest theyve traveled nearly 3500 kilometers. Upon arrival a few mostly taxis awaiting the mennonites as something of an attraction here too. Theres a row over here. With the Largest Court in the region is the gateway to the amazon the city has around 200000 inhabitants. Vendors from surrounding villages come here to sell their goods. Are prime is delighted and yet saw such bright that looks happy beautiful yet. Here. Theres a look they. Found in a nice little cell and looks like dad you know lots of moments yeah and that that all of. Its very clear i. Looked up lots of low men so right here i think here we can work like we how we like to because i see the people is moving and lots and lots of people. Will be a big big different than in the least because bill is so poor and so little that people on everything tight just the fast boats leave from their. Brand has no time to lose he looked believes good to be a minimum so he needs to plant few supplies people hitting into the rainforest but 1st he has to change money. Cant say come and count the dollars this is our primes in time savings 30 years of work now hes investing it in his future but we sell our system call it whatever what they sell and the auction sale and they get the money and then they change. For buying things more by meyer land or open my land. Opera house a total of 18000. 00 u. S. Dollars not much to start a new life thats why the group feistiness info to save money 1st thing on the list mattresses. Me. Altogether because both parents and i have a different price thats why we are all together going and buying things. Not why this one is hard it would be like sleeping on the ground like that. The day is drawing to an end in part but auburns work has just begun tomorrow he will take an exploratory expedition to the new colony. I said apples apples vitamins come and get your apple. Has reserved a seat on the 1st bunty had a blank on the last milledge before the colony johann another member of the group is accompanying him. Contributed to days on. A tributary of the amazon. Im going to have. A problem but. I thought it was a white house that was way by watering every day. That they call. It every day. But. A few hours later there are no more buildings inside nothing but long stretches of forest but that doesnt trouble abra on the contrary. Thats what id like. Me back but. Id much rather like thats what it looks like the night that looks like it was wrong on our club to go pick out there are a much like are going to far. Off to 48 hours on the parks on from his nearly reached his personal paradise. Were almost there yes not far know. How much longer. About half an hour. But this move to come ob rehman your hand take another much smaller boat its the only way to reach the new high and deep in the heart of the amazon. Hardly anyone traverse. Says the river at this point. And once they touch land its still not over theyve got another 90 minutes bumpy road. You hear that. At one point johanan are brown have to get out and porsche still nothing can dampen up browns enthusiasm. The road is very difficult. But they have they could change if they change. The baseline to work. Yes but you have to do Everything Else everything you have to start a new thats from starting from 0. 00 to 2 hours the 1st house comes into view it was built by the 6 men and i promise you 73 years ago. We reached. We finally found your fellow welcome. Like thats enough luckily we could take the road otherwise wed have had to walk and. Thats nothing compared to how it was when we came with all our luggage. Around 15 minutes living here all in around in the middle of the jungle without electricity overrunning most of. The iraq. Is not to be done opera and his family will have to live in tents because they are able to build a house of their own. All on one will it be finished. He says one way you have work maybe 2 or 3 days more and then you ready. Just 2 weeks to build a house mennonites a seasoned carpenters and they know how to make the most of what theyve got. The people and the least lot of time and they say oh how could that happen that we dont go to school and they do love Different Things than they do and how could it be but they say we say we work on the farm. On a farm we dont go to school we go to school on the farm. A little deeper in the forest opera musi his own plot of land for the 1st time hes waiting to hear this moment as if you get a job. Like this this is that my piece of land here yes or no this is how we. Ill be 1st open this is the bush so i know right now we will go inside and there i could show you how it will make my house its the land ive always dreamed of. Our parents 1st instinct is to reach down and grab a handful of. Town man to plant carrots. All over us for death will be a very good. One side and will be good and on our side there will be us out there and they vegetables will be here front and on the yard front yard so when people are calm on the scene there are 8 ears up for the yard and Credit Rating tell us our carry happy day the day after. This is when he wants to create a new Mennonite Community based on old water traditions thank your we will be even more isolated earn more. Helpful more law and everything it will be more together people living. In a years time and the 40 families will be a time here around 300 people in. The amazon. It may be the last refuge for the many hundreds. The penultimate day of the bundesliga season on call abani the coosa out of the way for Champions League coming close to a momentous the effect of hatton but them. Im now the vadra brand with the most to minds of their loves being relegated for a 2nd time as a. Chicagoan. 13 years spawn w. Digital surveillance is a given where. Journalists and critics are under threat. As truth censorship or a lot of books this is china during the coronavirus pandemic. People hope to return to normal. Again but is that even possible. Close up. 90 minutes on d w. Innovation. But can it conquer the major issues of our society a. Long season of the sally. Field bianco could pose as modern day heroes in. The inspirational people who take all the challenges of the world with their unique ideas. To the person with this entrepreneurial minds to look at those 2 problems and make them one solution to a new season of sounders valley. This week on the job. This is news and these are our top stories the number of people whove tested positive for corona virus at a meat packing plant in germany has risen to over 1500 the facility has been closed for 2 weeks and thousands of people in the surrounding area have been placed in quarantine. European Union Leaders have won china that pressing ahead with a controversial security law for hong kong would have quote very negative consequences they also urged beijing to