Earlier on in this segment, you saw us interviewing the mayors of Dangriga and Belize City. That's because we ran into them at the airport, where they were greeting Jesse White, the Secretary of State for the State of Illinois in the US - but first the past 53 years, he's also been in charge of a tumbling troupe.
And that is principally why White is here - touring with ten members of his 305 person troupe.
They will be the featured attraction at this weekend's bandfest in Belmopan and we found out more about the thrill of tumbling:
Emmanuel McGhee - Tumbler
"We have a huge crowd; everyone loves our show, everyone roaring, clapping, shouting and screaming because of how high we jump. We elevate to about 20 feet sometimes; the audience loves it. It's a thrill for them, the stuff that we do; we get higher than anything that you have ever seen."
Jesse White - Secretary of State, Illinois
"It's a known fact that when our young people are actively involved in something positive, it's a win-win situation for us. I've had about 13,500 young people to come through my program, within the 53 year period it lasted count, and only 115 had gotten themselves in trouble with the law. It's been after a comeback from Juvenal delinquency."
Emmanuel McGhee
"The team is created to take the tumblers outside the environment of the negative things that happen in Chicago and give them a positive outlet, to give them an option to perform, give them an option to a safe haven and sorts."
Jules Vasquez
"Have you seen the tumbling group save lives?"
Emmanuel McGhee
"I've seen the tumbling team save many lives. We've saved many tumblers off the streets; we've save many people off the street from broken homes, bad environments, from shootings and everything of that nature."
Member of Tumbling Group
"Being with this team is like a family. We stick together with one another; we train each other to do better stunts that we do, and we're just happy to be down here as a family."
Emmanuel McGhee
"When you're a part of something like this, it gives you a sense of entitlement. It gives you a sense of - you want to do something else in the world like this, and once you're a part of something like this, you want to bring it to other people. You want to be a positive role model for others, you want to bring the sense of gratifying - the sense that you've got and it's really life changing."
The Jesse White Tumblers are regulars at NBA HALFTIME shows and have toured Croatia, Japan, and China.
But Secretary of State White is also here to help out Belize Cities and Towns. He's already given two ambulances to Dangriga and told us what else he's planning to arrange donations for:
Jesse White
"They said that they needed 2 dialysis machines, and since I run the second largest organ and tissue program in the nation, and a lot of people, especially African - Americans, the diet is not where it should be. They don't exercise like they should, and eat the wrong foods. Sometimes they become diabetic, so they have to have their system cleansed. So, you have to have a machine to do that, and so, we're in the process of sending 2 dialysis machines down here. And then, they told me that they were having trouble collecting the garbage, so I talked with some of my friends in Chicago who own trucks, and they told me that they were would be glad to give 2-4 truck. So, within the next month, you could see some action in the area of those dialysis machines, and those dump trucks."
White first became familiar with Belize through Belizean staffers in his office and Belizean food.
Tomorrow, White will be hosted at a meeting of the Mayors' Association in Orange Walk...
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