Belize Kriol Council wins funding from I.D.B.

And just in time for the cultural extravaganza in this year’s national day celebrations, the Belize Kriol Council has won major funding from the Inter-American Development Bank to assist in the development, preservation and promotion of the Belizean Kriol culture. The funding of five thousand U. S. dollars is designated for the preservation of Kriol dances and the strengthening of Kriol music. Vice-President of the Kriol Council of Belize, Lila Vernon, was on hand to receive the I.D.B. donation.

Lila Vernon, Vice-President, Belize Kriol Council
“It’s not only the dances and music. We have another part of the culture—education. As I mentioned, education, the land issue, I mean relocating some of the young people, let them go into different projects like farming and things like that. What I’m saying here is that this is just an introduction to the assistance and to the promotion of the youths that are dying out. They are crying out for help. They are so desperate and I think that’s the reason why we have gotten this grant. This is just the beginning. We have to educate wi people dehn fi begin with and from there everything is gonna fall in its place.”

Caroline Clarke, Representative, Inter-American Dev. Bank Group
“We are so delighted that the Kriol Council won this year’s annual grant award. Every year the bank puts out a call for proposals looking for cultural micro-enterprises that promote culture at a community level and with the focus on youth and education, the different groups from around the region made proposals. And this year, as we know, the Kriol Council won, out of more than seven hundred and fifty applications, forty-five groups won region-wide and here in Belize we have the Kriol Dancing Culture Project.”