Umalali: The Garifuna Women's Project is musical collection of stories, organized and produced by Ivan Duran.
The album is built upon the voices of local women in Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.
In the 1600s, shipwrecked West African slaves intermarried with the native Carib/Arawak people on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and lived there until the 1790s, when most were exiled to Central America by British authorities.
After deciding the types of voices that he wanted to have on the album, Duran began setting up small recording studios in shacks by the water.
Then there are the personal stories of the women who participated in this magical recording project: mothers and daughters who, while working tirelessly to support their families, sing songs and pass on the traditions of their people to future generations.