The Annual Kriol Festival was held today at the House of Culture. The National Kriol Council and NICH put together an impressive array of displays that were engaging, educational and interactive. I was there to take it all in.
There was simply no end to the variety in the displays that were put out today at the House of Culture celebrating the Creole culture. And I took the time to sample some of the products, beginning by toasting with Press Office Director Vaughn Gill with Anna's mango wine. Then it was on to a piece of black berry pie. Next I made it over to 78 year old Euphemia Bennett's tent where she showed me how she makes coconut oil using a century old mill. She then gave us a tip on how to keep the skin looking healthy and shiny using coconut trash. And as we kept moving the vibrance of the Creole culture was apparent from the Creole bread and bun to the rice and beans with fried fish and the crab soup. Nurse Bradley of Burrell boom told us what she brought out.
Nurse Bradley,
"I brought mango ice cream, craboo ice cream, and sour sop ice cream. The idea is, as I said before, is not to make a lot of money. It is to make our Belizeans know what we can do with what we have in our yards. We have the cashew fruitcake, we have the cashew fudge, and all of them are Creole things. We are Creole people, talk mi Creole man, be mi self, that is one of the biggest things; be miself when you meet people from anywhere. Be yourself and don't be afraid to talk Creole, look like a Creole, and dress like a Creole."
And that pride in the culture was vibrant and visible everywhere in the House of Culture's grounds with exhibit after exhibit showcasing just about every aspect of Creole life including things of a by-gone era from the Pitt's family Makobi collection. Silvana Woods explains that this day is important to impress on young people that the Creole culture is the glue holding a multi ethnic society together.
Silvana Woods, Kriol Council
"When you focus it in on thing, it gives people an opportunity to meet, it gives people an opportunity to understand something beyond the obvious, which is how Creole people eat, how they dress, how they are living, and all the customs and culture; it is a time to look inside your soul. And when you officially recognize it, today is not an official Creole day, if you ask me I would want it to be on September 10th. But you have all these cultures who bleed into the Creole so to my mind, if I were asked if I would fight that battle right now, no, the people have to come up and say that, and if it is not what happens then everyday you live your Creoleness."
And that's what the hundreds of students who streamed into the grounds got to experience.
Student #1,
"It has a very good culture atmosphere and I've learnt a lot from these old folks. I've learnt how to grate coconut, how to chop coconuts as she just showed us, and I tasted some food from the tent over there, they were nice. I tasted ginger beer, a drink, and I tasted Belizean fudge, it was very good. I didn't know them before but now I know."
Student #2,
"I learnt that our culture is great. I learnt about the grinding of the coconut, which the lady is doing right here, I learnt about some new juices, cucumber and etc., I learnt about new music, and when I went in there I saw the ruins and things where Miss Elizabeth Staine and the things she uses like cups, spoons, and different things. I know we have a good culture and that we have a lot of things to show off."
The National Kriol Council also inaugurated its resource center this morning that is located on the southern end of the House of Culture Compound next to the MIAB Resource Center.
