BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LIFE for the youths in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has definitely changed for the better over the past 50 years or less, but some of them have developed and still developing negative attitudes towards a number of things that should matter most to them.
From the time men like Edgar Challenger, Matthew Sebastian, Joseph France and Robert Bradshaw, among others, took the fight to the oppressors, life for residents of the Federation had gotten better. But years after, for some, much of the essential qualities of the Sugar City were taken away.
These sentiments were expressed by Lower Monkey Hill long-standing resident Jane Carty, who in a sit down interview with SKNVibes shared some of her experiences and thoughts, noting that over the years her life has changed for the better. But she is not happy about the path some of the youths have taken.
She related too that growing up in Lower Monkey Hill, life has thrown minor challenges at her but she had been able to survive “by the grace of the Lord”.
Social Life
The 76-year-old took SKNVibes down memory lane, stating that life was not a bed of roses growing up under the colonial era; for since as a schoolgirl life began before the sun rose because she and her 14 siblings had to venture out together to gather grass for the cows and other animals that her parents reared.
“We had cows. We had to go gather the grass and pack up the grass. So when the sports time came around we could have attended. We had life real, real rough and we had to walk every day from Lower Monkey Hill to Cayon and Bayfords to get grass.”
With that done, Carty, her brothers and sisters still had to ready themselves and make it to the St. Peter’s Primary School before the bell rang.
Discipline/Attitude
She noted that disciple and positive attitude are two of the basic principles lacking in some of the young people of today’s society when compared with those of yesteryear. These, she said, were among the many principles parents of her time had instilled in their children.
“Life today is never as it was back then. My parents could have met you as a child and admonish you for misbehaving on the road. But today you can’t meet no child doing something wrong and talk to them, because they are going to tell you all kinda things. Parents today allow their kids to get away with a lot of things. Check, for example, at the prisons and you will see how many of them are there.
“In my days when the adults speak to you and you respond in a rude manner, they will go and complain to your parents. And when you reach home your mother will give the adult permission to bang you…and you will also get a good thrashing from your mother.”
As the years went by life took a twist for the young Carty. On completion of her primary education, her parents could not have afforded the hefty sum to send her to the Grammar School, within which the students were predominantly white, so she took up a job as a “live in”.
“What you find today is that the young people get more opportunities educationally than we had whilst growing up,” she stressed.
Foods
She also stated that food was not always in abundance as it is now, where most people are wasting it.
“Many mornings in those days my mother would pick breadfruit and cook it and we eat piece of it and drink we lil tea and we gone. Even sometimes when we go to school and come back we get nothing, but my mother would make some sugar water for us and we were thankful. Today, kids drop their bread and thing on the road corner.”
Carty explained that there was no electricity and her parents, like many others, had to preserve the little meat and other perishable foods for future use.
“We used to fry the fish and put it up for the coming days. We also used to walk to the salt pond and collect salt, which we would put in the mortar and pound it with the pestle. After doing that my mother would cut up the meat and the fish and corn them, then she would put them in the sun to preserve them for future use.”
Transportation
Carty said that in the early days there were no buses and only the wealthy could have afforded cars and bicycles, and the poor covered all distances, long and short, by foot.
“When it comes to transportation, we had to walk from Lower Monkey Hill to Basseterre and back to buy groceries. And at that time there weren’t so many houses in Lower Monkey Hill…it was all cane fields.”
She however stressed that there were no security fears at any point on the island, and that crime was not as prevalent as it is today. “You could have left your door open and nobody would go in your house to steal. We lived as one and members in the community looked out for each other. Not today though! Too much break-ins and too many guns in the hands of young people.”
Carty reminisced on Christmas in St. Kitts and opined that celebration of the festive season today is totally different. She said that Christmas is a time for peace and goodwill; “a time for love and sharing with your family and friends. But now it’s Carnival and people taking away from the Sunday school and church life”.
Carty still resides in Lower Monkey Hill and shares a homely cottage with her husband of over 50 years.
She concluded the sit down interview by stating that life for the Federation’s youth has changed for the better, especially in the area of education, but she was adamant that they need to revisit the past in order to inculcate some of the principles of the older folks.
