by Charles Gladden
BELIZE CITY, Wed. May 28, 2024
Local Belizean writer Melissa Bradley launched her new book, “Mahagni Gyal,” at the Imagination Factri in Belize City on Wednesday, May 28. “Mahagni Gyal”, which was illustrated by Nisa Sanchez, is a 28-page book about Belize in the early 1990s, bringing across the story of its protagonist, 13-year-old Melony, who navigates life as a Belizean girl. She is described as an observant, caring, and innocent young girl; and, while her story is being developed, she begins a relationship with a male character in the narrative.
“At that time certain things were taboo. Something as simple as the menstrual cycle wasn’t something that was discussed, or it wasn’t mentioned directly to girls. My mom had 5 girls, and she never gathered us together and said, ‘Girls, one day you will start your menstrual cycle.’ She would say, ‘One day you all will get your thing;’ and we were, like, ‘whe da dis ting?’ But, eventually you learn what this thing is. So, with this book, you will see dialogue and characters’ experiences are not as bold as what we experience today; but it’s still a way of nurturing what happens in our lives, and preserving the experience of people of the 1990s, and even those who can relate to it today,” Bradley said.
For about 3 years, Bradley’s literary pieces have been in development. It came to light as she searched for Belizean stories in Kriol for her studies; thus, the birth of “Mahagni Gyal”, which focuses on the native Kriol language, creating an identity and acceptance, instead of academic English, the primary language of instruction.
“We need to see more of us in our literature in schools. When I say more of us, I am talking about all ethnic groups in Belize. We need to give more power to the languages we speak and to our identities. I am an advocate for using our language within the classroom. What I’m saying is, to allow students so they can use their language to understand the content you are teaching,” she said.
“English is not our first language. We have a multicultural society, yet our language of instruction is English. If we do not see what is wrong with that picture, then something is wrong with us. Even though the education rules encourage us to use students’ language in the classroom, schools do not push this, because we prepare our students to take English examinations that are written in English, marginalizing and ignoring the identities of our multicultural [background],” Bradley further mentioned.
Sanchez has been drawing since the age of 10, and doing so professionally for a couple of years; this new work of hers being the second time she is working with Bradley.
“I felt so happy that she approached me again, because it’s another opportunity to work with her; and the best thing about Miss Bradley is that she lets me have an open canvas – I can interpret characters however I want, and I can propose new ideas. For me, I was excited to work with her,” she said.