Livingston

After a late night due to dancing and cockroaches, the group makes its way somewhat more slowly to our morning talk, but between Gloria de Silva (our speaker) and our incredible breakfast, we rejuvenate quickly.

Like much of the population of Livingston, Gloria is Garifuna, a group descended from the survivors of a shipwreck of captured Africans heading to slavery in the Carribean. She gives us a brief history of the Garifuna in Livingston, and then talks to us about the problems they face. From the sound of it, things are not at all as they suggested in the city where people talked about the happy Garifuna, who like to dance and sing.

Gloria discussed such issues as the loss of the Garifuna language (a complex mix of Carribean and European languages), the recent spread of AIDS in the population, and the general tendency of the government to ignore the area.