WUNRN
http://www.ipsnews.net/2012/10/garifuna-women-custodians-of-culture-and-the-environment-in-honduras/
HONDURAS - GARIFUNA WOMEN PRESERVE
POST-HURRICANE CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
By Thelma Mejía - En
español
Traditional
Garifuna dance forms part of the projects aimed at preserving the culture,
boosting food security and conserving the environment in the area. Credit:
Thelma Mejía/IPS
TRUJILLO, Honduras , Oct 10 2012 (IPS) -
Hurricane Mitch, which devastated Honduras 14 years ago, prompted a group of
Garifuna women to start organising, to help the people in greatest need of
assistance.
Since then they have expanded their work, and have become an
example of the commitment to preserving the environment, farming in a
sustainable manner, and preserving their culture.
The experience gave rise to the Garifuna Emergency Committee of
Honduras, led mainly by women from the Caribbean
According to historical accounts, the Garifunas are descendants
of African slaves who survived the sinking of Spanish galleons off the coast of
the Caribbean
Their language combines words and grammar of West African
languages with the
“When Mitch hit our
community and the help didn’t arrive, we organised to go out in search of food,
medicine and shelter, because we could not allow our people to sink,” the
executive director of the committee, Nilda Hazel Gotay, told IPS.
From Oct. 22 to Nov. 5, 1998, Hurricane Mitch wrought havoc
throughout the Caribbean region, Central America, southern
It hit
The Garifuna Emergency Committee is made up of nine women and
three men, and has been working for 13 years in three main areas: the
environment, culture preservation and sustainable agriculture.
Sixteen communities have benefited from the work of the
Committee, which since its creation has managed to raise awareness in the
communities about the importance of preserving the local environment through
projects of reforestation of stream and river basins and mitigation of climate
change, and of growing crops without pesticides.
They have received a variety of international aid, because the
projects involve extremely poor Garifuna communities that “have to be strong to
face the challenges of the future,” said Gotay, a leader of the ethnic group.
“We teach our people how to grow crops that are traditional to
our culture, like manioc, taro, plantain, coconuts and sweet potatoes, besides
educating our children about Garifuna traditions in dance and music,” she said.
These traditional practices, said Gotay, have helped the communities
prepare for natural disasters and for the more frequent and lengthy drought
caused by climate change. They have managed to recover river basins in
Guadalupe and
Hugo Galeano, an expert on environmental issues, told IPS that
the work carried out by the Garifuna Emergency Committee is the best example of
empowerment and organisation of a community defending its natural resources,
“as they are the protagonists of their stories of change and cultural
preservation.”
“Garifuna women have demonstrated their leadership and
management capacity, without the need of intermediaries, which has brought down
costs and gives these grassroots civil society groups a stronger level of
community organisation,” he said.
Along with implementing projects in favour of the environment
and sustainable agriculture, the communities that have benefited from the
Committee’s projects have also managed to keep Garifuna culture from dying out
among the younger generations.
They now have a Garifuna market where they sell products related
to their cultural and gastronomic roots. And every April, they organise the
Educational Garifuna Carnival, where the “baile
They also explain to children the importance of the traditional
Garifuna drum made of hollowed-out hardwoods like mahogany, which links the
past and the future, and they teach them to write music in their native
language.
Agricultural engineer Noel Ruíz, the mayor of
In a conversation with IPS, Ruíz stressed the importance of the
strategic alliances with the Garifuna Committee for the preservation of the
culture and traditional foods, the creation of market gardens, humanitarian aid
and sustainable agriculture.
“They go to poor areas that have been abandoned to their fate,
and today they are a great example of association that local governments should
follow. I hope this example will be taken into account in national policies on
citizen participation, which haven’t been seen yet,” he added.
The work with local governments has been essential to the
members of the Garifuna Emergency Committee. They underline the importance of
lose relations with the municipal authorities, to coordinate training workshops
on the environment, cultural festivals, productive projects and other
activities.
“As Garifunas, we love supporting our people, designing projects
so they can pull ahead, and thus also teaching our children that there is a
culture and a language that must be preserved, and teaching them to learn to
love and value nature,” Gotay said.
The Committee has earned international prizes from