Women prepare for Garifuna pageant

In continuing with activities leading up to Garifuna Settlement Day, the Garifuna community has organised a pageant, this time featuring the more mature members of the community. We spoke to two of the women who will be participating.

Marthy Arana Cain, Contestant

“About two years ago a few Garifuna women from the ages of forty to sixty met, then decided to form a group. We named it Miss Yorumein and decided also to have the Pageant. So it was in 1998, if I?m not making a mistake, that we had the first Miss Yorumein Pageant.”

Josephine Rhaburn, Contestant

“Each candidate will be coming on the stage with their introduction according to Paranda, Gungai, combinations. Whenever we go out on the stage, we are going to present ourselves, say our names and say where we come from and what we will do after that.”

Marthy Cain

“The meaning of Yorumein is St. Vincent. And we named the group Miss Yorumein as a remembrance of the women who came from St. Vincent to different parts of Central America.”

Josephine Rhaburn

“It does a lot for us because it let us remember our ancestors, the struggle we went through and we are living it day to day. And we don’t have any difference because from way back we were together and we should be together. We are trying not to break that down.”

The pageant takes place seven-thirty Saturday night at the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall. Tickets are three dollars for children and seven dollars for adults. And if you’re planning to be in Dangriga Saturday night, the Dangriga Youth Arm and Denzel Castillo will be holding the first ever Mr. Dangriga. Four contestants will be vying for the title at the Methodist School grounds. The action starts at seven.