KULCHA Symposium Presenter, Eleanor Castillo-Bullock: Promotion, Protection and Preservation of the Garifuna Culture and Language
My name is Eleanor Castillo Bullock. I was born in Dangriga, Belize, and raised in the USA. I lived and attended school in St. Albans Queens New York, and attended and graduated from Syracuse University with a major in Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). I use my training from in VPA to teach and train primarily Garifuna children, youth and young adults the Garifuna language, music and dance in an effort to promote, protect and preserve our Garifuna Culture and particular our Garifuna Language which is endangered and facing extinction. I feel compelled to give back what I know, including my gifts and talent, and to teach the Garifuna language that I know and by the grace of God that I can still speak to our Garifuna community, and particularly to our Garifuna children, youth and young adults because they are our future and we will need them to learn our culture, especially our Garifuna language so that they can continue to uphold, promote, protect, preserve and pass it down generation to generation so that our Garifuna culture and language will never die. In addition to teaching and training Garifuna children, youth and young adults, I am willing to teach and train anyone who is interested in learning our Garifuna culture and language simply because you don't know who will be touched and moved and can help with the preservation of our Garifuna culture and Language.
About the Presentation
Thematic Group: Community Heritage Initiatives - September 3rd, 2021 from 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM (UTC-6:00)
I will present a brief description of our Organization GAMAE International Inc. and speak a little about what we are about and our mission, vision and goals. I will also speak a bit about the GAMAE Projects we are doing at this time. I will then speak on my position and my role in GAMAE, as well as the "GAMAE Endangered Garifuna Language Retrieval Program" Project and the "Garifuna Drama" Project that I am also working on at this time, and my plan for future work. I will introduce and show videos of "The Habinaha Garinagu Performing Arts Program" that I co-created, and describe its purpose and why the Program is needed and required today. If available, I also hope to show a short version of a video the work that I doing now with a children group in Hopkins, Belize. I will then go to the Questions and Answer section of my Presentation.