Keynote speakers:
Prof. dr. Franklin Jabini
Franklin Jabini holds doctoral degrees in Biblical Studies and Theology (Missiology). He has several publications to his name, including in English: Christianity in Suriname, Introduction to Biblical Languages, and contributions to various international academic reference works, such as the World Christian Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South. In Dutch, he published, among other works, Het Kruis voor een Kankantri (The History of Christianity in Suriname) and was the editor of Saamaka en de Ontwikkeling, to which 14 Saamaka academics contributed.
For the past two decades, he has been actively involved in international higher education, in various countries and roles such as head Undergraduate and Post-graduate School at the South African Theological Seminary and Provost and Academic Vice President at the Caribbean College of the Bible International. Until recently, he was a professor of Intercultural Studies at Emmaus University in the United States, where he taught courses in intercultural leadership, intercultural skills, and world religions. He continues to work as a research professor at the Caribbean College of the Bible and has been actively involved in the research and conversations about Christianity and slavery in Suriname.
In addition to his work as a minister and pastor within the Brethren Assemblies, he is involved in various projects at the Surinamese Ministry of Education. Frank and his wife Irene have three adult children and five grandchildren.
Dr. Gelien Matthews
Gelien Matthews is Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of History of The UWI, St Augustine Campus in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Her major publications include Caribbean Slave Revolts and the British Abolitionist Movement, Historical Dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago (co- authored), History of the Church of the Nazarene Trinidad and Tobago and The Church of the Nazarene in Four of the Windward Islands. She lectures in Caribbean, Latin American and US History. She is the recipient of the prestigious UWI/Guardian Life Premium Teaching Award.
Dr. Armando Lampe
Armando Lampe is born in Aruba (Dutch Caribbean) on January 13, 1958. He holds a master’s degree in Theology (cum laude) at the Catholic University of Nijmegen (The Netherlands), as well as a Master’s degree in Sociology (cum laude) at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. He did a doctorate Program in Latin American Studies at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the National University of Mexico and obtained his Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Sciences at the Free University of Amsterdam. During his life he has been active both in the Roman Catholic Church as a priest, and in the Aruban government in several capacities, among which Minister of Education. Among his many publications is the book Mission or Submission? Moravian and Catholic missionaries in the Dutch Caribbean during the 19th century (2001).
Ms. Marian Markelo
Born in eastern Suriname. Winti priestess/Winti clergyperson. Organizer of heritage trips to West and Central Africa. Founder and board member of various heritage and spiritual organizations. Provides Winti spiritual care upon request to institutions and individuals. Educational activities in the field of African-Surinamese cultural, spiritual, historical, and social heritage.
Daughter, sister, aunt, mother, grandmother, human rights activist, and child of Mother Nature.
