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CCNTV6
  • 2 years ago
World Creole Month was observed in the month of October with several activities locally.


We bring you highlights of 'Creole Festival' hosted by The Organization For the Culture.
Transcript
00:00 The education and advancement of Creole culture is the main thrust of groups hosting activities
00:07 for World Creole Month. A Creole festival hosted by For the Culture at the end of October
00:15 highlighted dance, language, music and other elements that are a part of Creole culture.
00:20 Director of the organization, Rhea Ward, spoke about her passion for Patois.
00:25 This idea was good when I had my first Patois class with Miss Michelle Mora of Rotterdam
00:30 and I actually have a business called For the Culture which we do all our events under
00:33 because we specialize specifically in cultural events. So when it is we have the initial
00:38 interaction, she's so passionate about Patois that she would have given history coming down
00:42 the line about it and that passed on to me and that is what started the fire to create
00:48 an actual Creole festival.
00:50 The inaugural festival was originally scheduled for 2022 but was postponed due to bad weather.
00:57 The festival focused on the French Creole culture for its inaugural staging and will
01:01 incorporate other Creole cultures in the coming years.
01:05 Event partner, Michelle Mora Fodringham shared her experience with us.
01:10 We had lovely workshops here today. We had ballet workshops, we had stick fighting workshops,
01:15 we had jab molassi and it was very interactive and I did two Patois lessons and I saw the
01:22 appreciation on the people's faces when I said things like pomse de and series, all
01:28 the talking Patois, not even all the talking Patois. So I saw that happiness, I saw it
01:33 come to the city.
01:34 Mrs. Fodringham also told us what sparked her interest in Patois.
01:39 My father spoke Patois and at the age of 94 he told me that he regretted not speaking
01:45 that language with me.
01:46 Nnamdi Hodge was around interviewing elders, trying to preserve their knowledge, what they
01:52 knew, games and songs and I had contacted Nnamdi to my father and he told me, he said
01:57 I can't remember, I said stop speaking it and I saw this joy come back to him. He came
02:03 back to life.
02:04 So his last two months of life we had some of the happiest times we ever had together
02:09 and I do not want to have the same regret that he had, which is I regret not teaching
02:14 him the language sooner.
02:15 Aksha Galstang, TV6 News.
02:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
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