Friday, July 19, 2013

Wamalali

Fri. 19/7/13- It is 4:35 in the morning.  What I can hear in the background is the soothing sounds of the waves.  As usual, I can hear the chirping of the birds and the crowing of my rooster; you see I live in Barrio Paris, in Labuga, Guatemala.  It was this neighborhood that I came back to in year 1976, I was then fourteen years old.

Yesterday I was able to meet Ruben Reyes and part of his team, they made it to Labuga and the screening of Garífuna in Peril was shown at ONEGUA’s headquarters on the same night of Nelson Mandela’s birthday. Nelson Mandela turned ninety five years yesterday. Most people on this planet know that Mandela fought for “freedom”. Most of us around my age, can remember what they were doing the moment when they first heard about the release of Mandela from prison after twenty seven years in the struggle for “freedom”.

Here is an excerpt from Drums of Thunder that I would like to share with you and then I will get to the point:

“A couple days ago, I was watching a report on YouTube about Garífuna- A Culture Close to Extinction. In a few days we could be watching the screening of a film by the name of Garífuna in Peril. The objective of their trip to Labuga is to share with us the same message they have manage to share with other Garífuna communities beyond borders."

One of the main roles in the film was the role of Shatuye and the struggle for “freedom”. I was numb when I first heard the word freedom in Garífuna. To be honest I am writing you live, therefore I don’t remember the Garífuna word for “freedom” at this moment.

In this case, I hope to see Ruben and his team before they leave today, sometime this morning. I want to thank them in person and to say this in writing. You have managed to share with the Garífuna communities beyond borders.

Au-Le

Lúbara Huya

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