How Saving Elderly Lives Could Mean Preserving Culture
When cultures start to erode, they normally start with the oral tradition – that intangible part that exists only by how it is passed on via lore – spoken word and practice. The Institute of Social and Cultural Research is holding a week-long workshop to not only safeguard those cultures, but to protect them from disasters, natural and manmade. In this week’s edition of Kolcha Tuesday, we stopped by the Government House, where the institute was engaging people from different walks of society who have one commonality – cultural preservation. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
When we save an elder from a fire, how often do we think that we’re actually preserving culture? When there’s that kind of event happening, culture is not the first thought that comes to mind. We found out that that is what we’re doing, when we stopped by a workshop today being conducted by the Institute of Social and Cultural Research at the Government House in Belize City.
April Martinez
April Martinez, Living Heritage Officer, I.S.C.R
“In the midst of a natural disaster or a hurricane or so forth, living heritage is affected. Even though you might not think about it, or you might not be aware of it, protecting an elder is protecting living heritage. You are protecting your grandmother’s recipe, the oral history of a community, you are protecting the architectural technique of a home when you protect living heritage. You might not know that that is what you are protecting, or sometimes, you might not think that this needs protection. What if a flood comes or a hurricane comes and wipes out all of the crops that I use for my traditional healing. What do I do then?”
The faces, complexions and attire of the people around the table depict their individual ingrained cultures. Those unique features also add to the lively discussion. Florencia Castillo is a traditional food caterer who says she has been interested in this kind of a discussion since childhood.
Florencia Castillo
Florencia Castillo, Traditional Food Caterer
“In my tradition, in my home I grew up eating many foods that are not prepared today, eating Chaya, eating Cocoyol, stew pumpkin. It was very difficult for me, being a young adult to continue eating these foods so I knew in my mind that I had to prepare myself to continue having this available for myself and for my children.”
Castillo said the types of food she was accustomed to eating became scarce, but she took steps that put her in a position to reintroduce them to her community.
Florencia Castillo
“I educated myself. I took courses in food, food preparation, food processing, agriculture – different aspects – pesticide control, you can just name it – soymilk making, honey production. What I need to do to sustain this forever.”
Lucia Ellis is a traditional healer whose resource centre is based in Unitedville, Cayo, but who takes her services countrywide. For her, preserving what she has been accustomed to is important so that her grandchildren can follow in her footsteps.
Lucia Ellis
Lucia Ellis, Owner, Numasa Wellness Resource Centre, Unitedville
“My interest is herbal medicine, so I am very focused on that – identifying the plants, are the people aware of the richness that is there? As a grandmother, I want to see this knowledge passed on to my grandchildren and future generations, and to build awareness for even adults’ safeguarding. There’s a lot of knowledge out there that people have that is not being documented, so if we don’t document it and if we don’t encourage the practicing, it will be lost. If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
The group will head north to Sarteneja on Thursday. April Martinez, a Living Heritage Officer with the institute, says the purpose of the trip will be to apply the inventorying the participants have learned.
April Martinez
“They’re going to take everything that they’re learning over the past few days and tomorrow and we’re going to go to a coastal community. We’re going to go to Sarteneja and apply that inventorying. We want to document living heritage, so we want to save it, protect it so that if something does happen, we have it in our record-keeping that it exists somewhere. It’s an inventory list. We have it, it’s called the Belize Living Heritage.org website and that is where we have been, for the past couple of years, collecting, documenting it and displaying it for public education.”
Marion Ali for News Five.
