Who We Are

Black Carib Nation is a coalition of international and local organizations, as well as private donors and contributors, who support the Guatemalan Indigenous Black Carib people, also known as Garifuna. We work to bring sustainability and resources to the Garifuna communities of Guatemala, and our joint projects include the Wamilito Bilingual School, teacher and women's group trainings, and the Global Warming Beach Reclamation Model Project.

Celso Alfredo Nery Rufino (Rastaman) of Livingston, Guatemala, is the Executive Director and Founder of the Black Carib Nation community project, and is a Buyei of the Black Carib (Garifuna) people. He was raised by grandmothers and spoke only Garifuna until the age of 9. He is a Reverend, author, international speaker, Master Teacher of the Garifuna language, cultural musician, INGUAT tour guide, and former boxing champion. He has read the Bible in 6 languages. Since he was young, he has been a community leader, founding groups and fundraising, and has experience interfacing with women's groups, youth, elders, human rights issues, poverty issues, education, health, government, and associations of Livingston. Reverendo Celso Nery is currently the President and Legal Representative of the Garifuna Fisherman's Association (APTG), Director of Escuela Garifuna Multilingue Wamilito, the only Garifuna school in Guatemala. He is the designer of the successful Model Beach Reclamation Sea Wall Project. He is the founder of Garifuna Settlement Day festivities of Guatemala in 1996, and has organized the event yearly. He is fondly loved by the children of the pueblo, offering much of his time as an advocate and leader of Black Carib youth groups.

Black Carib Grandmothers Council: is a group of elders who perform the traditional Black Carib ceremonies of the chugu and dugu; preserving oral history through song and reaffirming the lineage continuity from our ancestors to the unborn. Our transference to the adults in the 20-45 age groups was hampered due to Christian ministers preaching to our women that we were "devil worshipers". We are reversing that trend in the younger generation by providing instruction to children and young women to preserve our spiritual treasures. We have a social network to keep the community informed, and provide social justice system to Black Carib barrios.

Black Carib Madres Soltares: empowers single mothers to break the cycle of poverty through education and economic development. Training is available in sewing, cooking, business skills such as using a computer to compose letters, alternative health care, and early childhood care. In a village with no hospital, basic health care knowledge for women and their children is essential. We need funding for trainers, capital equipment, and start-up funds for small business to help women have better economic opportunities.

The International Multilingual Garifuna Teachers Training Institute - Our main office is located in Livingston, Guatemala. We train local teachers about basic Garifuna language literacy, instructional design models, child psychology, and how to use technology in the classroom. We design and produce instructional materials for primary through adult levels, including books, dictionaries, phrase books, as well as online and Skype tutoring for our multilingual community, which spans 5 countries of Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Nicaragua and the United States, to include the large communities of New York, and Los Angeles.

Asociacion Pescadores Tradicional Garifuna (APTG) is a legal ONG that has been helping fisherman and their families to live and survive since 2002. We stand for fishing rights, global climate change solutions, economic development, health and education, and support for members of our community in need, whether it is to buy shoes or food, help with documents, or rebuild homes. We are an emergency boat service to the hospital.

We are battling the effects of Global Climate Change, as the sea is encroaching on the homes and boats of the entire fishing fleet. We seek funding for a sea wall that will save 500 people from loosing their homes and livelihood.

We ask the global community to help us to purchase land and build homes next to the sea on higher ground to move the fisherman's families. We also ask the global community to help us with security of our fisheries. In the past 5 years, other ethnic groups with nontraditional fishing practices scoop up all of the bait fish, then dump thousands of pounds of dead fish on the beach. The removal of the "bait fish" prevents larger fish to come close into our fishing waters. The odor stops tourists from coming to our beaches. This is causing a severe blow to the economy of Livingston.

Fisherman used to sell enough fish to buy clothes, gas for the boat engine, and money for the children's care This has dwindled into barely making enough money to eat. We have a non-reliable and non-funded government coast guard on the Caribbean coast, and plead to the global community to help us get back our fishery.

The Escuela Garifuna Multilingue Wamilito is a private K-6 Garifuna/Spanish/English school located in Livingston, Guatemala. We received our accreditation in October 2011 from the Education Ministry of Guatemala, and as such we give opportunity to Black Carib youth to graduate from basic school. We are using innovative models to teach Garifuna language as the mother language in early childhood development and literacy. In this culture, even the very young are experts of percussion music, thus music and rhythm are integrated into all of the topics that we study. We are working with international universities and other ethnic groups to become a model for every barrio in Livingston.

Garifuna Arts and Cultural School Freedom Fighters: Since 1997 we have offered hundreds of classes to youth and young adults to preserve the uniqueness of the traditional Garifuna culture through creative and innovative educational programs.

Our classes span a broad range, including Garifuna language, reading and writing, traditional artisan crafts, traditional music, making music instruments, traditional dancing, cooking using food from the land and the sea, sewing traditional clothing and household items, sacred chugu ceremony, mariner skills, fishing skills, environmental education, plant medicine, sports such as gymnastics, soccer and swimming, citizenship, elders basic health and hygiene, tourism skills, photography, creative writing, and video recording, to create an oral history project of elders taking and singing.

Our program for young people builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating in citizenship, and develops personal fitness. WE are building the future leaders of Livingston by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun, because helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society.

Vilma Trigueno of Livingston Guatemala is the Presidente y Hermada of the agriculture group, San Isidro de Livingston. Vilma is the laboratory technician at the Central Salud, and is assists the Black Carib Single Mothers to arrange for health care for their children. She is a delegate from the Black Carib Nation to the First Annual Afrodescendant Summit in Honduras.

26 DE NOVIEMBRE DIA NACIONAL GARIGUNA Decreto 83-96 Garifuna Settlement Day Commision: Since the first year in 1996, the Pescadores Garifuna (APTG) and the Labuga Rastas have planned celebrations for the Yurumein, a reenactment of the ancestors arriving to the Caribbean Coast of Guatemala. Solebne día con fiestas Culturales, Espiritual, Gastronómicos, Deportivas, Danzas y Religiosas. Free traditional fish dinner is given to over 2,000 people, and is funded by donations from the people of the village. We seek funding for next year to provide for a festival to handle the influx of International guests.

Candido's Kids: For over 20 years, local Rasta Candido has helped to build and support young Black Carib boys' self esteem. He collects donations for shoes, clothes, notebooks, soccer balls and uniforms, and trophies. Most fathers have immigrated to the United States, they are not seen at the soccer game. Candido is one of the few male role models, spiritual, humble and an open hearted. Men who have been in his group as boys have a higher success rate of not falling into drugs or alcohol addictions.

Water Council: The traditional fishing village of Livingston, Guatemala receives non-potable water every other day for 3 hours. Many families have no water tanks, thus bathing, washing clothes, pots and pans, all have to be done in those hours. Our local government is not supportive. Our dream is to have water come to our homes everyday to wash clothes and bathe, and to have filtration devices so that we can drink safe, clean water.

Alternative Energy: We have a dream to in the near future have alternative energy projects to help us become self-sustainable and create jobs for our community. We have abundant sunshine, wind, and wave power available, and seek consultants, trainers, and equipment.

Labuga Radio of Livingston, Guatemala is the source of Garifuna programming of talk shows, traditional and modern Garifuna music. Since there is no local newspaper in any language, such a high rate of illiteracy, and lack of money for reading glasses, this radio station is a major resource for disseminating information on meetings, health clinics and workshops, religious and government celebrations, political information, local sports schedules, cultural performances, social announcements, municipal water schedules, and hurricane reports, all in the Garifuna language.

Spontaneous Social Movement: We respond to immediate and unexpected needs of the Black Carib Community. We are ready to take action when time is of the essence. We offer first responders service for medical emergencies, emergency boat taxi, search for lost children, help to keep the peace, interface with police force to keep our neighborhoods safe and pleasant to live.

Garifuna School of Alternative Therapy: Teaches adults biological and pschycospiritual aspects of healing, as well as hands on experience of table massage, chair massage for tourists, myofascial release, triggerpoint, Reiki energy work, shamanism, sound healing, meditation, yoga, healing with diet, and natural plant medicine. Located in Barrio Paris, Doctor Huicol Pastuer has been the Director of the school for over 40 years.

Garifuna Heritage Foundation Garifuna American Heritage Foundation United is an exempt organization under section 501 (c) (3) and all donations are tax deductible. Our purpose is to preserve the uniqueness of the Garifuna culture, history, language, music, arts & crafts and spirituality by working closely with the Garifuna community not only in Los Angeles County, but throughout the world. in addition to providing social & cultural awareness programs such as youth mentoring/leadership, cultural competency and enrichment programs, community forums, and Garifuna classes, both in classroom, written instruction on the internet, as well as Youtube videos of our classes

Heaven Caribe: Based in Boulder Creek, California, we are a publishing company specializing in bilingual educational materials. We also direct the Garifuna Teacher's Training Institute in Livingston, Guatemala. Our goal is to make enough money through educational books sales to the US to fund free books to all of the Black Carib children of Livingston, as well as becas for primary school students.

Natural Villages, of Felton, California, is a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization that handles donations from US donors to the Black Carib Nation projects.

We promote technologies that focus on natural, toxin free sustainable food and lifestyle development processes that support the quality, comfort, stability and vibrancy of healthy community that has been inherent in human evolution from our beginnings.

From the beginning of human habitation a natural village has consisted of buildings wholly constructed of natural and recycled materials. The villagers tend gardens and run businesses, with a goal of being over 50% — and as close to 100% as possible — self-sufficient in food production. The village also looks to the sun, wind and water to complement its grid-supplied energy consumption.

With care, each village can restore its local environment back into a healthy condition of food producing landscape with lovely natural homes nestled in central clusters, as the tradition has held since our beginnings. Sharing daily survival goals in such a village (or neighborhood) — one consisting of adults and children, animals, gardens and environmentally-friendly technology creates an inherently stable home life and supportive community atmosphere, which in turn contributes to meeting people's basic needs for food, social life and shelter.

Christopher Parry: Technology Support for the Black Carib Nation – Chris works at Yahoo in Santa Clara, CA. He has volunteered in Livingston to repair computer equipment in schools, set up computer networks, and donated to have DSL service at Esculea Garifuna Multilingue. He has also been involved in APTG house rebuilding projects.

Lizabeth Rymland: Project Coordinator, Visionary, Author, Grant Writer. Liz spent 6 months living with the ethnic Black Carib people of Livingston, inspiring projects in agriculture, women's groups, and economic development, as well as documenting histories of the ethnic Black Carib.