Shelley Huber is set to launch a free culinary training programme for adults on Ambergris Caye, run through Mama Vilma's Family Home NGO and hosted at her own home on the island.
The classes will be hands-on from the start. Rather than lectures, participants will cook, covering core techniques, how to use kitchen utensils properly, and safety basics like handling stoves and knives responsibly. Organisers are still finalising the format, and attendees may be asked to bring some of their own supplies. Details such as start date, class times, age requirements and how to register will be announced separately.
If the concept sounds familiar, that's because Huber has already proven the model works with a younger crowd. Her free culinary course for children wrapped up in April with 18 graduates. It started with 25 kids drawn from schools across the island, and there was no registration fee at all — Mama Vilma's Family Home covered the food while Huber donated her time and teaching.
The children's course was structured like a working kitchen. Students made their own meals, handled the cleaning and other kitchen duties, and then shared what they'd cooked. Huber put heavy emphasis on discipline and safety: tools were to be used only for their intended purposes and handled responsibly. She says the experience showed the value of practical learning combined with parental involvement, and that she learned plenty from the kids herself.
The adult version aims to build on that foundation. For locals, the payoff is twofold: better everyday meal-preparation skills at home, and a possible stepping stone toward work in San Pedro's food and hospitality sector — a meaningful opportunity on an island where restaurants and resorts are a major employer. As with the kids' course, the teaching method stays deliberately practical, with participants learning by actually preparing food and running through real kitchen tasks.
For travellers, this is a small but telling story about the island beyond the beach bars. San Pedro's community fabric — local NGOs, volunteer instructors, free skills training — is part of what makes Ambergris Caye more than a dive-and-sunset destination. And if the adult programme eventually feeds trained cooks into local kitchens, visitors may taste the results firsthand at island eateries. Anyone spending time in San Pedro who wants to connect with community initiatives, or simply understand the town beyond the tourist strip, should keep an eye on Mama Vilma's Family Home and its ongoing work.
Huber is expected to share full enrolment details soon, so interested adults on the island should watch for the announcement.
Story via the San Pedro Sun.
