Two Belizeans Win Runner Ups in Garifuna Pageant in Guatemala. Loads of Caribbean melanin, as two Belizean beauties walk away with second and third place at Garifuna Pageant in Guatemala located in the Central American country south of Mexico.
Two Belizeans Win Runner Ups in Garifuna Pageant in Guatemala
18 year old Katehlyn Rubio of Punta Gorda (‘Peini’ in Garifuna) in the Toledo District, won the title of Miss Garifuna 2016, after a stellar display of Garifunadüaü—the rich essence of the Garifuna culture—and delivering a compelling message for her main item on pageant night, calling for peace between Belize and Guatemala, and especially at the Sarstoon River, the country’s southern border where there have been numerous conflicts between Guatemala’s military and Belizeans, both civilians and armed forces.
The Garifuna of Belize City Guatemala hosted a Reina Garifuna del Caribe (the Miss Garifuna Caribbean) pageant on Saturday November 5th, as a prelude to the national Settlement Day festivities. The event held at the Malecon Cultural Park in Puerto Barrios in Guatemala and the Pageant focused on the Garifuna language, customs, and traditional dances. With the purpose of bringing unity to Garinagu within the Caribbean diaspora and assist with the preservation of Garifuna culture.
Asociacion Amigos para el Desarrollo de Izabal in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Guatemala organized the event. Several contestants from Belize, Guatemala and Honduras attended the pageant.
Miss Garifuna 2016, Katehlyn Rubio, is an employee of King’s Service Station in Punta Gorda. Her next aim is to attain a degree in natural resource management from the University of Belize – a program which she plans to begin in January 2017. She acknowledged that her strongest competitors were Kaylin Mejia of Dangriga and Sobrina Solano of Hopkins.
The National Garifuna Council of Belize announced Ms. Sabrina Solano of Hopkins Village and Ms. Kaylin Mejia of Dangriga as runner ups in the pageant.
The National Garifuna Council of Belize congratulated Ms. Solano and Ms Kaylin Mejia for thier victory and for making Belize Proud.
