Thousands versus tens of thousands

According to de story, David de shepherd boy had returned from slaughtering de Phillistines, and de women of de city of Israel, always out to mek trouble, came out singing and dancing to meet king Saul, but hear de words ah dey Road March Tune: “ Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands!”De story continues : And Saul was very wroth!”

Ah Secondary School in Can-One is ah dream come thru foh not just Can-One but de whole ah de Grenadines. Ah could just see some my good ole deceased friends of Can-One, partying in de Society Hall, music provided by Violinist,Thornhill Sandy and his family (string) band; Officer De Roche at de bar; Wilson Burke will provide de drinks, he was de man who by himself, built ah Schooner, no engine, would sail alone up de French Islands bringing back Contra Band Liquor and Cigarettes. My ole ladies Tanty Jessie and Dorothy De Roche; Sir James’ girl-friend, Ilca De Roche, woman who rode ah donkey drunk or sober; Granny Anne Snagg and Ben, her bad-boy son; Tanty Becca Telemaque who ran ah lickle shop, she was able to send Gilbert her son to Grammar School. In dem days Boarding and Lodging was $21.00 ah month; today it is over $ 800.00 ah month to keep ah child in school on mainland SVG. Enuff name calling.

Dat Secondary School is ah full-fill-meant of one ah de many outstanding promises made by de Investors on de I-land. But is celebration time, so ah nah go remind readers of de unprecedented negative and outright objection by de ULP headed by of all persons, Chief add-vacate foh “No child left behind” our PM. Mister Eddy-Care-shun Rev-all-yuh-shun himself. De sad story is dat no ULP Grenadines party supporter, boot-licker, fan-ah-tick or care-taker was Man or Woe-Man e-nuff to stand up and say, “de children of Can-One deserve better, dey need ah Secondary School!” No not one, where was Snaggy and Her-man Bell-mar. But cork and oil always float to de surface. So did de perseverance, de undaunted spirit, purified by de eye water of de Hon. Terrance Olliverre, de Representative foh de Southern Grenadines.

Right now ah picturing de inscript-shun on de School’s corner stone, big and bold capital letters: “THIS SCHOOL WAS BUILT BY DE ULP GO-VENOM-MIMT OF SVG AS PART OF THE EDDY-CARE-SHUN REV-ALL-YUH-SHUN!” But de real Teaser will be unfolded in de simple name ah de School, just four letters: “Tea, Owe, Eye, Ail” as in “TOIL” de acronym foh “TERRANCE OLLIVERRE INSTITUTE OF LEARNING” Generations will learn about Terrance’s struggle shedding tears like ah “Cry-Cry Baby” in Par-liar-mint, begging foh ah Secondary School on de I-Land. Dr Richard Cox wrote ah lovely book sharing his life growing up, de name matches well wid Terrance’s victory: “Mama’s Tears were not in Vain!”

Hopefully one bright morning when de school opens its doors, it will have rocketed into its full potential, offering subjects in Navigation, Marine Engineering, Marine Biology, Deep sea Fishing; Hotel-Motel Management and related studies; attracting students from neighbouring islands, including Grenada and mainland St Vincent. Dat will be de day, just fancy all dem young Can-One women abandoning dey offices, heading foh“Snagg Avenue,” Can-One main street, dancing and singing: “ Ralph his thousands but Terrance his ten thousands!” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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