Is good luck dat attend me

This week is massive foh two outstanding Education Institutions here, St Joseph Convent Marriaqua Secondary School (SJCM) and St Vincent Grammar School (SVGS), to-gather dey celebrate 140 years of life. And both institutions are so dear to my heart. Back in 1968, de Catholics in Marriaqua led by ah Father Mc Dougall, de ever faithful Chippy Browne and others, saw de burning need foh secondary education foh de disadvantaged kids of the twenty-plus villages in de Marriaqua Valley.{{more}} Foh d’s kids Grammar School and High School were out ah bound foh He-can-nah-mix and So-shall reasons. So de R.C. folks identified ah piece ah land from Minors foh ah school. Ah was just ah Surveying Assistant den, but ah was sent to measure de site foh what has blossomed today into de Prized Gem ah de Valley. De school is celebrating 40 years dis week!

Ah must remember Chippy, de day we wuk, he invited us down foh lunch way tanty Velma had ah spread foh us, those were de days when all roads led to Chippy and Velma’s home foh ah nice time, look how time change, nobody does even stop by to see dem!

Ah remember wuking extra hard pon dat job, plenty bush to cut and it was all foh charity. Ah have absolutely no regrets, none at all. Exactly thirty years after, ah met ah past student and teacher at dat Institution, and guess what, she married me, not me married she eh, she married me! So ah got to thank de late Principal, Sis Pat foh ah one-dah-full wife. Ah would recommend to fellars who looking foh ah good wife, to check ah past student of de SJCMS before making up dey mind, ask Toffee Pompey, Pastor Isaacs, ’Ole George and Dr Jules Ferdinand, trouble is, dey might not have our luck, because “It was good-luck dat attend me”! Congrats Marriaqua!

DE BEST SCHOOL OF ALL

And Grammar School (SVGS), my Alma Mater, celebrates its 100th Anniversary dis weekend. Ah think ah have to agree wid de Prime Minister, de school was built in Colonial times foh Colonials and dat has had ah lasting effect. Things had not changed when I went dey in 1955. My first day was unforgettable, initiation time! Licks foh so, clout and slaps down ah corridor from seniors, if yuh dare hit back de whole school will turn on yuh. Sixth Formers were addressed as “Yes Sir, No Sir”! Discrimmination?? Ask de boys from de country and Grenadines; as ah junior boy ah would ah been off limits if ah went into ah senior form. As SVGS boys, we had attitude and looked down on Intermediate and Emmanuel School, dey never measured up to our standard, dat’s how it was.

But de Grammar School culture was powerful, in one year ah was fully indoctrinated and became ah proud student. In de community everybody, including de girls, looked up to yuh wid respect, especially wid dat green blazer and green and gold tie. Yuh dare not slip-up in public, someone will quickly remind yuh way yuh belong: “Shame on yuh, ah big Grammar School Boy behaving so?”

De school’s athletes, cricket and football teams were de nation’s pride. Back den it was SVGS and its sibling de GHS dat prepared and produced de majority ah candidates foh de Colonial Civil Service. Most if not all of our male professionals and prominent Managers and Chief Executives would have passed thru de SVGS corridors. Ah not good at stats but ah think every Prime Minister so far and every Govern-nah except one was ah SVGS past student. So really and truly whenever de diary is completed, de name Grammar School would go down as producing many ah dis nation’s greatest citizens, not to mention de notorious ones too, eh. Like most other boys ah spent what was possibly de most significant five year period ah me life at dat institution, and it was only when ah went to study in Canada, ah realized what ah great education ah got at de SVGS, was “de Best School of All” and “It was good-Luck dat attend me” to have gone dey. My one regret is dat during my time we didn’t have more institutions offering ah SVGS or GHS education, way more youths could ah benefited and get what we got. Credit must be given to de Education Revolution foh trying to correct dat deficiency in de system. Congrats, SVGS, go foh de next scent-tree.

MEK SURE BETTER DAN COCK SURE

Ah couldn’t find ah better way to spend de launching ah de Wellness Rev-all-yuh-shun dan to visit Decent Henry at Dickson Village. Tiny borrowed ah monster pot from de ole village character name Jack Fish, man is de sweetest Callaloo and Goat ah had foh ah while. But is real wellness ting going on up dey. Decent got three (don’t) Die-I’ll-assist machines in ah bedroom way he treats kidney patients including he-self. He got ten more units at de centre and ten more units ah dial-lies at de G’town Hospital, waiting on de powers dat be to get on board. While kidney patients here dying foh want ah Die-I’ll-assist treatment, de Guv-ah-mint done decide to do nothing until we get ah De-egg-noh-stick Centre promised by de Cubans. De Cubans have delivered on dey promises all along, and ah believe we will get de Centre. But Cuba has just suffered ah three billion dollar lash from Hurry-Cane Ike, de question is, when? Shouldn’t we Mek Sure wid what Decent is offering us, or do we go foh Cock Sure and wait on Cuba while we watch our people die foh want ah proper health care. Ole people uses to say Mek sure better dan Cock sure. And wid dat, is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.