July 30th, 2015 -- Sister Myrtle Caines-Bailey who grew up at the St. Christopher Children’s Home situated at Cardin Avenue, St. Johnston Village, Basseterre, between 1958 and 1975 said she has always had it in mind to give back to the Home in some way as a tribute to the training and knowledge she gained while there.
Sister Bailey returns to the St. Christopher Children’s Home on her 60th birthday, August 3rd, to celebrate with the children, a party in thanksgiving to God just as she did 10 years ago when she made 50 years.
She resides at Shadwell Housing Site, Basseterre. This is worship in thanksgiving as she recites Psalm 111 verse 4, which says, He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
According to Bailey, who is the daughter of William “Sunny Money” Caines of Tabernacle and Muriel Almaria Tweede-Caines of Saddlers Village, both canefield laborers, she was 3-years-old when she was placed at the Children’s Home due to the mental illness of her mother.
She said that she lived at the Home until in 1975 when at the age of 20 she married Leonard Albert Bailey of Ottley’s Village.
Sister Bailey said she remembers the Home as being “one big extended family. The older ones took care of the younger ones. It was like a paddy system and we the younger ones called them our paddy”.
With a smile on her face, Bailey spoke of Nurse Doris Lloyd who passed away early 1997. Nurse Lloyd was the Matron when Bailey came of age at the Children’s Home. She remembers the Matron as a strict disciplinarian who saw to it that the children all spoke well, had daily morning devotions, attended church and were well involved in church activities at the Zion Moravian Church.
“Nurse nurtured us in fear and admonition of God and that training is responsible for the life I have been living up until today, for which I am eternally grateful,” said Sister Bailey, who added that the thought of going back to where she grew up “the spot of my earliest memories…………. to celebrate this landmark (60 years), brings such gratitude to me in worship and thanksgiving for my humble beginnings.”
Sister Bailey attended Ms. Claxton Pre School at St. Johnston Avenue, then the St. Johnston Village Primary School (now Dr. William Connor Primary School), then on to the Senior School at East Park Range. She said she was among the students in 1967 when the school merged into the Basseterre Senior High School that she graduated from in 1973.
After completing High School, Sister Bailey adhering to her passion for children, took a teaching position at the Convent High School where she taught Kindergarten for seven years before migrating to Montserrat where she taught at the St. Augustine Roman Catholic School for three years before returning to St. Kitts.
She said, “Give me children and my bible and we will move the world for God and live forever.”
After returning to St. Kitts Bailey said she took a break from teaching from 1983 to 1996 during which time she worked at the Magistrate’s Department in St. Kitts. She resumed her teaching position in 1996 at the Irish Town Primary School then on to Tucker Clarke as a trained teacher, having attended the Teacher Training College in 1998.
Bailey is the mother of three girls: Giselle Bailey 39, who holds a bachelor degree from the Caribbean Union College in Trinidad. Giselle teaches at the Washington Archibald High School. JoAnn Bailey, 36 years, is a graduate of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College who pursued her studies at the Northern Caribbean University in Jamaica. Jo-Ann is a dental Hygienist at Premier Dental and Kristal Bailey, 34 years was a pre-school teacher at the Royal Palms Pre-school at Bird Rock and Pond Industrial Site Pre-school, as well as a Kindergarten teacher at the seventh Day Adventist Primary School. She has now entered Law enforcement as a Police Officer.
Sister Bailey describes herself as a quiet person, pleasant, always cheerful, calm, always willing to help, friendly and very jovial. She said she was saved at her home at College Street in 1986 and became a Seventh Day Adventist in 1996.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church in March 2005 honored her for her “Outstanding ingathering performance in the Northern Caribbean Conference” for 2005. That same month she was also honored by the Caribbean Union of Seventh Day Adventists, Trinidad, for Harvest Ingathering Thrust when she attended the festival of the Laity.
To the current inmates of the Children Home, Sister Bailey had this to say: “Heed the training with patience, knowing that it will benefit you in in the long run because that same training is what has guided my life to the present.”
Sister Bailey is engaged in several activities such as missionary work. She is a lover of Summer Vacation Bible Schools, having attended several as a child growing up and began teaching at a Vacation Bible School in the summer of 1974.
A member of the Emmanuel Seventh Day Adventist company of Millionaire Street at St. Johnston Avenue where she is an Elder, Sister Bailey has been honoured as the first Vacation Bible School Director, a position she also holds within her church even to present.
The St. Christopher Children’s Home was constructed and established by the St. Christopher Home and Service League Association Limited. The initiative for the construction of the Home came from Mrs. Millie Neverson who in 1937 had introduced the group to the idea of a Million Penny Scheme for the purpose of providing a building for neglected children.
The Scheme was enthusiastically pursued and grew steadily over the years and eventually with assistance from government, which obtained a Colonial Development and Welfare Grant, constructed the Home which was opened on January 26, 1950 with a family of six; a Matron, an Assistant and four children.
The Home is under the general management of a Board of Directors, but the children are under the direct control and supervision of the Matron and assistants. It is grant-aided in part by the Government which gives free electrical and water services and assists with the maintenance of the buildings through the Public Works Department.
Apart from the Government’s annual grant, the financial upkeep is facilitated by donations of cash or gifts in kind from service organizations, commercial firms and private individuals.
*************************
DISCLAIMER
This article was posted in its entirety as received by SKNVibes.com. This media house does not correct any spelling or grammatical error within press releases and commentaries. The views expressed therein are not necessarily those of SKNVibes.com, its sponsors or advertisers
