Kriol used as upliftment tool
The traditional debate over Kriol has been whether or not it is a language, dialect or just bad English. But having declared victory in the linguistic wars, Kriol’s champions have gone one step further. Patrick Jones reports.
Patrick Jones, Reporting
The pulsating rhythm coming out of one southside neighbourhood this morning was the result of an experiment in using language to influence change. Fifty children from the Mayflower Street area of Belize City spent the last three weeks learning to write the Kriol language. One of the Facilitators of the summer camp Yvette Herrera says the children’s background gave them a head start in the programme.
Yvette Herrera, Facilitator
“They speak the language already, so all I had to do was teach them the symbols that represented all the sounds. And so actually, it’s easier to teach than English.”
Myrna Manzanares, President, National Kriol Council
“We wanted children to see their own culture and wanted them to understand that there are other cultures, but they have to be proud of their own particular culture.”
That cultural awareness, organizers hope, will catch on in the community and lead to an overall improvement in the standard of living. Herrera says the strategy is get people to start feeling good about themselves, starting with the youngest residents, using the one thing that unites them all: Kriol.
Patrick Jones
“What does Kriol have to do with upliftment?”
Yvette Herrera
“Well, first of all, if people are not aware and are not proud of the language that they speak, their mother tongue, then that means they are not proud of themselves. Your language is your identity, and they speak Kriol. And we feel that for too long children have been made to feel less than, because of their language.”
Myrna Manzanares
“They were able to look at their own language, the Kriol language, and there are some kids that were not Kriol, so we make sure that they understand that we’re dealing with the Kriol language and that their language was also very important. They looked at their language and they also looked at English and the differences between the two languages. They were able to see that there were specific structural differences in grammar and then also they looked at the spelling and they were able to read it.”
The success of the Mayflower Street Cultural Awareness Project was put on display for this morning, as the children joined Kriol icon Lela Vernon in songs and dance.
Yvette Herrera
“It doesn’t matter where a child comes from, if he gets enough motivation, he can move on.”
While learning to write Kriol was the main objective of the program, Herrera says the larger focus is to give people a chance to make a difference in their community.
Yvette Herrera
“Along with teaching them the language, all of us teachers were teaching them that they have a choice whether they want to stay where they are and live like what they see around them. We have been trying to promote having good self-esteem and feeling good about who you are and having the choice to move on and move up.”
Apart from the writing of Kriol, the boys and girls who took part in the Mayflower Street Cultural Awareness Project were also educated on health and nutrition. Patrick Jones, for News 5.
The Kriol programme is part of a larger endeavour called the Mayflower Upliftment Project conducted by other groups, including BOWAND and NOPCAN.
