3 months ago
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This morning at the Belize City House of Culture, The National Garifuna Council has released its calendar of events for Garifuna celebrations. In the coming weeks the Council will be showcasing activities from translation competitions that showcase language proficiency, to traditional Garifuna dancing, pageants and drumming competitions. This weekend the Miss Garifuna Belize City competition takes centre stage on October 25, 6:30 pm at the Belize elementary school auditorium. Raphael Martinez, Vice President of the NGC tells us about this year’s competition.
Raphael Martinez, Vice President, NGC : “The young ladies will be showcasing what we call Garifunadüaü. That is the Garifuna heritage, Garifuna culture, the Garifuna dance, singing and the presentation including the attire. Trust me this is going towards a worthy cause; in retrieving and of course the preservation and the practice of the Garifuna culture. especially the language that we’ve been losing for so long. Quite a few of us in Belize City grew up without actually speaking the Garifuna language so it’s something that is near and dear to my heart. The young ladies are from various high schools in Belize City hence the reason why they can’t be here this morning because they are so busy. We’ve been taking them away for practices and various events. I mean, education is very good. So, we want to ensure that they stay in school, but you will definitely be graced with their presence come this Saturday right here at the Belize Elementary School starting at 6.30pm.”
This year’s theme for the Garifuna celebration is “Garifuna Moving Forward, Honoring Tradition, Embracing Change, Strengthening Identity.”
English (US) ·