The San Pedro Cultural Committee along with the local National Garifuna Council (NGC) and the Ministry of Education recently organized an enlightening Garifuna Quiz contest on the island. The event took place on Monday, November 16th at the San Pedro RomanCatholic School (SPRCS) and saw the participation of six students from three different primary schools. The contest tested the participants’ knowledge of the Garifuna language, having them translate an English word into Garifuna. Representing La Isla Bonita Elementary School was Robert Ramirez and Aylin Tang, from Ambergris Caye Elementary School was Jasmine Sanchez and Yadi Flores, and representing SPRCS were Latoya Lewis and Alicia Arana.
Delivering the welcome address was Cultural Committee member Timrose Augustine, who expressed the importance of such an event. According to her, Garifuna is one of the cultures with the greatest influence in the country and children countrywide should be exposed to it and not just in the Garifuna communities. “For the past five years, we have been trying to put this quiz contest together and it has been a hard road, however, as someone passionate for my culture and my language I don’t give up, and finally we did it this year and we would like it to be an annual event. This is to continue keeping the cultural alive, get more people involved and even though it might be difficult to bring out this awareness, with the help of everyone we will pull through,” said Augustine.
After a series of three rounds, Latoya Lewis took third place, while Jasmine Sanchez and Robert Ramirez remained tied. The tie breaking round was comprised of two questions and based on the Garifuna history rather than translating words. After the contestants deliberated their answers, it was clear to the judges that Ramirez had flawlessly answered his final questions correctly as he did throughout the contest, and he walked away with the first place while Sanchez took second place.
Presenting the prizes was Councilor of Sports, Youth and Culture Hector “Tito” Alamilla along with president of the local NGC Elroy Castillo. The third place prize was a $50 dollar certificate along with school supplies while second place was a $75 gift certificate and school accessories as well. The grand prize for first place was a $100 gift certificate and a big bag of school supplies. All other participants received tokens of school supplies for their participation. All prizes were provided by the San Pedro Town Council and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture.
Organizers would like to thank the community and educational institutions for preparing their students to take part in the educational Garifuna event. Special thanks go also to The San Pedro Town Council, the SPRCS, and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture. Schools are encouraged to start getting their students ready to participate in next year’s contest, which promises to be bigger and better.
