Jorge Bernardez

Jorge Bernardez, MD is a renowned physician, author, linguist, and Garifuna scholar who was born in the Garifuna village of Mañali, on the northern coast of [Honduras] in 1958. In the late 1980s, while studying medicine at UCLA, he began to take a significant interest in languages; specifically the Garifuna language. Throughout the 1980s and 90s, sometimes accompanied by his wife Teresa Bernardez he made frequent trips to Garifuna communities abroad in order to further conduct research on the origins of this unique and most interesting language. Throughout the years he has established himself as the chief expert on all facets of the Garifuna language and culture:

http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Du-Ha/Garifuna-Americans.html http://garifunacoalition.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/TheGarifunasin_the_21_Century.342144954.pdf

He has also extensively volunteered his services by providing healthcare to poor communities in numerous countries, including helping out during devastating [Hurricane Mitch] in 1998:

http://www.usc.edu/ext-relations/news_service/chronicle_pdf/1998.11.16.USC_Chronicle.pdf

For the past 10 years he has been hard at work on a publication tentatively titled Higabu: Wabagari, Wagücha, Wererun. The book promises to be "the premier reference on all things Garifuna."

He is also on staff at the University of Southern California Student Health Center and was also recently spotlighted in the campus newspaper:

http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/whats_happening/spotlight/jorge_bernardez.html