Belize
Brokdong 2005: A CDERA/NEMO initiative to promote Hazard Mitigation
By NEMO Press Officer
Mon, 23 Jan 2006, 14:43

CDERA representative, Ms. Nicole Alleyne, recently presented a CDERA/NEMO plaque to Mr. Kenny Morgan, the winner in the Hazard Mitigation Category of the 2005 Brokdong Competition.

A true original to Belize and its 'Kriol' culture, brokdong music reflects the journey of the African slave into the mahogany camps of Belize. It uses syncopated rhythms and call & response patterns firmly rooted in Africa, harmonies borrowed from Europe and lyrical themes colored with the Belizean Kriol language and experience.
 
Brokdong became the music of the people, whether urban or rural, tied to religious and recreational activities. People sang, played, and danced at worship and at work and expressed joy, sorrow and/or fear. Since timber continued to dominate the economy throughout most of Belize’s history, it was in the logging camps where Brokdong had its start.

Mr. Kenny Morgan (center), winner of the 2005 Hazard Mitigation category of the Brokdong Competition, proudly displays his CDERA/NEMO plaque as he is joined by Miss Alleyne of CDERA and Jean Marc Racine , a Technical Supervisor of the Organization of American States that helps to sponsor hazard mitigation programs in the Caribbean.

Christmas time was the time annually when mahogany workers came home for a break, celebrated with friends and families, renewed contracts and used their monies to celebrate and buy provisions for their families. It was this time that Belize Town came alive with the beating of drums—as people celebrated or ‘brammed’.  Music was supplied by a combination of two or three of the following: a two-sided bass drum, jawbone of an ass, accordions, banjos, guitars, mouth organs, forks pulled across graters, pint bottles tapped against each other, combs covered with soft paper, and brooms struck on the floor. Songs composed covered recent happenings, gossip, petty thefts, elopements, and even animals’ birthdays.

Today, Brokdong music is still played but its popularity is waning. As a result, the Institute of Creative Arts (ICA), in partnership with the National Kriol Council, decided to organize and sponsor a competition in 2004.

CDERA/NEMO saw the Brukdong Competition as an opportunity to promote hazard mitigation in Belize. A workshop was held early in 2005 to sensitize artists to its importance in disaster prevention. At that workshop, Hazard Mitigation versus Emergency Preparedness was clarified in order that each artist could develop musical and other artistic pieces with the appropriate theme.

Belize’s National Emergency Coordinator, Col. (Ret’d) George Lovell stated, “The 2005 Brokdong Competition was a unique opportunity that we agreed to pursue because of its popularity and potential to reach a wide sector of the Belizean population who need to understand the benefits of hazard mitigation.”

Along with a plaque, the winner of the Brokdong Competition in the category of Hazard Mitigation also received a handsome cash prize of (Bz) $750.