Miss Garifuna Pageant this weekend
Although Garifuna Settlement Day isn’t until the nineteenth, the entire month of November is starting to be associated with the holiday and all things Garifuna. This week contestants for the Miss Garifuna Pageant began arriving in Belize City and getting ready for the big event Saturday Night. News Five’s Jacqueline Woods had a chance to speak with these young ladies who want everyone to know how proud they are of their people, and are willing to get up on stage in front of hundreds of strangers to prove it.
Six young ladies want to be the next Miss Garifuna. The contestants from Punta Gorda, Hopkins, Georgetown, Seine Bight, Dangriga and Belize City will be given only two practice sessions to get everything right before the pageant this weekend.
Christina Castillo, Pageant Coordinator
“This is the their first rehearsal for the national contest that’s because they come from the big one knowing the introduction, the individual items. We have a new set of questions so they have been studying.”
The contestants, although shy on the camera, say they had their reasons why they chose to take part in the annual cultural pageant.
Eslyn Cabral, Nineteen Years Old
“I am proud of my culture and I really want to show the others that my culture is very important to me.”
Shereene Martinez, Seventeen Years Old
“I want to encourage the Garinagu youths to continue being Garinagu.”
Kelly Martinez, Eighteen Years Old
“I think I will win because I have confidence in myself and I’m ready to do everything, ready for the contestants. I just have to show what I have up.”
Rosa Petillo, Fifteen Years Old
“Because my dad ask me to and I am proud to be a Garifuna.”
Tanisha Rodriguez, Fourteen Years Old
“I love the Garifuna culture. It is very rich with its food, clothing and the way they are dressed.”
One very young face that will be seen is Nirise Martinez. Martinez, who is only eleven years old, is the youngest contestant to ever take part in the pageant.
Q: “You are the youngest contestant. Are you feeling nervous?”
Nirise Martinez, Eleven Years Old
“No.”
Q: “Getting along with the other ladies?”
Nirise Martinez
“Yes.”
Q: “What have you been doing to prepare yourself for tomorrow’s pageant?”
Nirise Martinez
“I have been getting closer with the other girls, getting myself prepared and still practicing my speech and the dances.”
Christina Castillo
“Well, I am surprised. I thought there was but because of the situation in the different communities we take what the communities can send to us.”
Q: “What situation is that?”
Christina Castillo
“Communities where like for instance Barranco and Georgetown where the younger people would go out of the community either for schooling or to look for jobs and they would be left with the very old people and the younger ones. And it is hard to get the kind of teenagers, older teenagers to participate.”
The contestants will be judged on their introductions, dances, individual items and how well they answer questions on the Garifuna culture and social issues. Reporting for News Five I am Jacqueline Woods.
The Miss Garifuna Pageant begins at eight p.m. Saturday at the Belize City Center. Tickets will be sold at the gate at fifteen dollars for adults, ten dollars general admission and five dollars for children.
