Ms. Garifuna Bz. City to be held Sat.
In case you haven’t noticed, November nineteenth is not too far away and in preparation for the cultural event, branches of the Garifuna Council throughout the country are organizing activities relating to Garifuna Settlement Day, including crowning their delegates to participate in the national Ms. Garifuna Pageant. This weekend, the Belize City branch is inviting you to attend their contest of hopefuls. News 5’s Patrick Jones has a preview.
Patrick Jones
The five contestants in this year?s Belize City Garifuna pageant range in age from fourteen to seventeen. They are all proud of their culture and can?t wait to show it off on stage on Saturday night.
Franka Polonio
?I want you to know that it?s a very rich culture and the dance, the food, is very good.?
Kimberly Gentle
?I like my outfit and the language it?s like when I am speaking it, some people like, what language I?m speaking and they would want to learn what I?m saying.?
Karina Ramirez
?I decide to take part in this pageant because I want to show other people that I am proud of my culture and I am ready to go and face the five other young ladies.?
Mendy Reid
?I wanted to take part in the pageant because Gairfuna is very exciting. And I love my culture and I decided with no hesitation, I just want to be in this pageant.?
After weeks of practicing, the girls say they are ready, not only to compete against each other, but to entertain the audience.
Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Gentle says she will use the talent section to portray a struggling single parent determined to raise an upstanding child.
Kimberly Gentle
?I?m going to be a grandfather and grandson in one, I?m going to wash and how he is hard ears. When I told him to go to the farm or to go with me, he is studying to go to school. And he wrote a letter to the Government because I didn?t have any money to send him and I told him how if the Government doesn?t send him, what will he do??
Karina Ramirez
?I am talking about the hurricanes. The three hurricanes that pass in front of Belize and it went to hit other countries. So I am so sorry for those people because they loose their homes and their family. So I want us to come together to talk to each one another to let us change our ways.?
The contestants appear to have done their homework in preparation for the pageant, and have each chosen to use everyday happenings around them to teach important lessons. For guys who like to take advantage of girls, Mendy Reid has a message for you, first in her native language and then in English.
Mendy Reid
?Actually I will do a heartbreaking situation with my boyfriend. That bring along a dance also. He didn?t love me, he just wanted my money.?
Patrick Jones
?Does that happen a lot??
Mendy Reid
?It happens a lot, in Belize City also.?
Franka Polonio
?I will put on the talent of being a mother who is proud of her child and who would like to teach the Garifuna culture to my child and I know that when she grows older she will grow older knowing that her mother is proud of the Garifuna culture and she will be proud of the Garifuna culture too.?
Hyrra Alvarez
?I am doing a skit about me being pregnant and the father of my child is nowhere to be found. And I will be asking my grand mother who has already passed away to help me mind this child and despite of all the things that I am going through, I said that I will work and take care of my child.?
The contestants say they are hoping that the event will be competitive, entertaining and inspire greater understanding and appreciation of the Garifuna culture. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The pageant takes place on Saturday night at the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall beginning at eight. Tickets are five dollars children and ten dollars adults. The winner of Saturday’s pageant will go on to represent Belize City in the National Garifuna pageant one week later, also in Belize City.
