Who was Crowned 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize?
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Copyright 2023 by Teofilo Colon Jr for Being Garifuna. All Rights Reserved.
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Punta Gorda, Belize – Garinagu as well as Non-Garinagu were treated to a special evening of Garifuna Culture on SATURDAY, November 4th 2023 as Miss Belmopan, Marcelly Williams was crowned 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize at The 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant.
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The following four photos are courtesy of The National Garifuna Council: Peini Branch
It took place in at The Toledo Sporting Complex in Punta Gorda, Belize.
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Five Young Ladies representing the Belizean Garifuna Towns of Dangriga, Seine Bight, Punta Gorda, Hopkins and Belmopan competed for the Crown of 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize, which was ultimately won by Miss Belmopan, Marcelly Williams.
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2023 Miss Garifuna Belize Contestants
Miss Belmopan – Marcelly Williams
Miss Dangriga – Ashley Mejia
Miss Hopkins – Kayla Nuñez
Miss Punta Gorda – Natrice Mariano
Miss Seine Bight – Miracle Matura
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The 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant was shown on Facebook Live and had over 1,000 people watching Live. I was able to see The 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant this way.
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The following photos are screenshots from The 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant. Courtesy of Facebook.
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Under the theme,
“Wamúa Wanichigu lubá ámuñegü: Óundaruni hama niburentiña lun abagaridutiña Garifuna lárigi bían san irumu ya Balisi.”
which translates to, “Our Land, Our Culture, Our Future: Involving Our Youth for Garifuna Survival After 200 Years in Belize”, these Young Ladies are representive of part of Garifuna Youth and hope for the Future.
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Hopefully, these Young Ladies realize that. As I will discuss below, their mere participation in this National Pageant is a victory.
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Afterwards, there was a Post Pageant Panel Discussion on Facebook. It included Mr. Robert Mariano, Mayor of Dangriga, Belize, Miss Marsha Mejia, President of The Dangriga Branch of The National Garifuna Council, and Mr. Percy A. Lewis.
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In this Panel Discussion, various provocative questions regarding the state of Garifuna culture as it relates to this Miss Garifuna Belize National Pageant were asked.
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Questions like, Why aren’t The Young Ladies who are crowned Miss Garifuna Belize going to various communities to share what they know about Garifunadüo (The Garifuna Way), Garifuna Language, Garifuna Food, etc?
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When asked this Question, Miss Marsha Mejia, President of The Dangriga Branch of The National Garifuna Council, said that that’s an Initiative headed by National Garifuna Council National, however the girls ARE involved in various events and Initiatives put on by The National Garifuna Council National.
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Miss Mejia continued, declaring that More needs to be done. What she has noticed is that for some reason, it’s really hard to get Garifuna Youths involved in local Miss Garifuna Pageants.
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Miss Mejia explained, that this year, there were 5 Contestants in the 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize National Pageant. Of those 5 Contestants, only ONE was deemed representative of a Garifuna town via winning the local Pageant, and that was Miss Punta Gorda, Belize.
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None of the other Contestants participated in the National Pageant due to winning a local Pageant. Miss Marsha Mejia stressed that we want our Youths to put themselves out there and to get involved as early as possible.
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Panelists went on to discuss frustration over past decisions over who to crown Miss Garifuna Belize and alleged rigged competitions factoring in to potentially discourage young ladies from participating in the Miss Garifuna Belize National Pageant.
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Panelists also debated whether to continue to stress the speaking of the Garifuna Language and demonstrating fluency in the Garifuna Language in the Pageant. The concern being that speaking the Garifuna Language fluently as a factor in the Miss Garifuna Belize National Pageant may be too high a standard.
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Mr. Robert Mariano also added that we as Adults need to take ownership of our role in Young People not being able to speak the Garifuna Language.
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Mr. Mariano also asked, How can we attract the youth and influence them to WANT to learn to speak the Garifuna Language? To see this Panel Discussion, go to the Facebook profile of Mr. Robert Mariano and listen to it and watch it.
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Congratulations to Miss Belmopan, Marcelly Williams on being crowned 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize.
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Below is the link to the original article on The 2023 Miss Garifuna Belize Cultural Pageant.
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