This afternoon, the Leo Bradley Library turned into a vibrant hub of culture and connection, as the sounds of Garifuna music fill the air. It’s all part of a unique “Train the Trainer” session hosted at the Belize National Library Service. The focus was a powerful initiative called Garifuna Language Retrieval Through Music, a creative and meaningful way to revive a language rich with history and identity. And leading the charge is Angela Palacio, the driving force behind today’s session. We caught up with her earlier to learn more about this cultural revival in action.
Angela Palacio, Organizer
“The summer program started on Monday from nine to nine every day and every day we taught them something different about the aspect of Garifuna, including songs and stuff like that. Yesterday we had at guest appearance, Mr. Josh Arana taught them about drumming and music. And today we have Mr. James Lovell, teaching them gar true songs and you hear them pronouncing the words, right? They’re doing a great job.”
Britney Gordon
“And how receptive have they been to that and on the other activities that they’ve been doing throughout, are they learning? Are they advancing? Are they enjoying it?”
Angela Palacio
“They learn so quickly. I prepared a lot of informative things for them to do. And the first day Mr. James said, you’re gonna teach the all that. They won’t be able to do it, man. They suck it up. I almost went out of material to teach them, so they’re very excited.”