Taiwan donates to Garifuna museum

As part of his official tour, Premier Yu and Prime Minister Said Musa held a joint press conference this afternoon. While the occasion was used to sign several important agreements, one of the more interesting parts of the event was the handing over of a cheque to the National Garifuna Council to establish a library and museum. According to Vice President of the council, Austin Flores, the money will make the dream of cultural preservation a reality.

Austin Flores, V.P., National Garifuna Council

“Our cultural artefacts have not had a home, and hence much has been lost. Retrieval will be a task for more than giants. With the generous donation from the government and the people of Taiwan, the National Garifuna Council shall begin the gigantic task of cultural retrieval, to retrieve what little is left of our culture and cultural artefacts. Our children have a place to look into the past, a place where they can read about the past and a place where they can learn about the past, and eventually to dream for the future. This gift offers us hope an promises us the survival of our culture.”

Yu Shyi-kun, Premier, Taiwan

“As an ally of Belize, the Republic of China was glad to be able to participate in the renovation of the museum of Belize in the first half of this year. And today on behalf of my government I would like to stress that my government and the Taiwan people are happy to be able to once again participate in the establishment of the Garifuna museum and library, which is aimed at preserving and promoting the Garifuna culture.”

The cheque presented this afternoon was for two hundred and five thousand, five hundred dollars.