By Suelika N. Buchanan
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The angels preparing the cane back at their kingdom
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(Basseterre; St. Kitts): As simple as the headline may sound the selling of sugar cane by the Bobo Shanti Rastafarians of the Church of True Divine Salvation based in Phillips has turned it into a profitable business.
SKNVibes.com visited the Ethiopia Africa Black International Worldwide Repatriation Network, yesterday Thursday, Sep. 13 that houses the church and spoke with the Rt. Hon. Priest Nyahbinghi and Empress Mary Yenkin about the cane selling.
Empress Yenkin said that when one of the priests first mentioned the idea to them they were contemplating on whether it will work.
We were skeptical as to how effective selling canes would be as St. Kitts is known as Sugar City and cane is accessible by everyone, especially since the closure of the industry. However, we persisted with the venture.
That was two years ago, now the business has blossomed so much that the High Priest and his Empress were able to purchase a pick-up truck and acquire other things needed for the advancement of the “kingdom.”
The money which is collected from the selling of the cane is used to help pay for the pick-up and the building of homes for the young men that are part of the organization.
The Priest said that each day they try to go out with about 100 bags of cane, which they split amongst three “angels”. The angels would go out to various locations such as in the heart of town and at Bird Rock.”
“We have some angels that go out in the noon and others who meet them in the evening and assist them with what they have to sell,” he said.
“Friday is the beginning of our Sabbath so we send out more “angels” on that day because they have to end at a certain time, and on our Sabbath, which is Saturday, we take a break and then we start again on Sunday,” he added.
Empress Yenkin said that the “angels” go out into the cane fields at around 5: 30 a.m. to harvest the canes and peel them.
“Then they will bring them back here where they will wash them and bag them. Each bag contains about two to three lengths of cane, depending on how long each cane is,” she said.
At around 12 p.m., after each “croucous” bag is filled with about 20-30 cane bags, they are loaded into the pick-up and then taken to the various selling points.
The High Priest said on an average they make about $600 hundred dollars per day.
“They have a particular day where whatever is made belongs to them, so if they make a thousand dollars that day it’s theirs,” he said, “and believe me that’s the day when the most bags of cane are sold.”
“This is a means we use to try to empower them,” he added.
The Cane is taken from different areas in St. Kitts but mostly from neighboring communities- closest to Phillips Village.
“We use a type of cane called Braps, as we try to get the softest cane. One or two times we’ve had complaints but it hasn’t been complaints where it’s excessive because we try to improve,” he said.
~~Adz:Left~~“We always try to go and seek out the good cane. Amongst all of us we know the fields well and we know where to get the good ones from. When you go in the fields you have to search to find where you can get a good patch of soft cane from,” he added
Empress Yenkin continued, “And when we don’t go out with the cane, you hear the people, where’s the cane? We have peanuts to sell. We are entrepreneurs. Sometimes we have peanuts and other stuff from the farm, including brooms etc. to sell.”
Many may wonder what will happen when the cane is no longer available but the leaders have their own understanding about that situation.
“After the cane is no more, the land will be there for repatriation and even before repatriation, the land will also be there for farming,” Empress Yenkin said.
The Priest and his wife strongly believe that St. Kitts, being the ‘Mother Colony’, is the place for all black people from all over who were “stolen” from Africa to assemble before they repatriate to Africa.
“St. Kitts was where all the slaves were brought before they were sent to different islands so it has to begin here,” he said.
“So even though it’s a business it’s just a business for a particular time, and after that time we move on… because we know the cane wouldn’t be there for ever.”
The Priest also said that more so than anything else they are “stamping” out the cane.
“It’s not about replanting cane. Cane is a symbol of slavery,” he said. “What we are trying to do is stamp out that symbol and after erasing it that’s when repatriation comes into play,” he noted.
Empress Yenkin said that she feels some people have the same beliefs with regards to the stamping out of the canes.
“Because anyone can do it, some people juice the cane and so on, but I think a lot of people see it like us, our parents never made anything from selling cane, cane meant slavery so lets stamp it out,” she said.
However, shortly there will be another initiative that they will get into which is the selling of honey.
“Right now we’re moving into selling honey. We have bees already. True, we know cane will not be there forever, we are not just relying on cane,” she said.
“We have already started getting honey from the bees and now what we will do is get more on a broader scale so we can prepare it for sale,” she added.
So the next time when you purchase a bag of cane from one of the “angels”, not only is it a delicious treat for you but remember it is a way of helping to “stamp” out slavery.
