When de saints go marching

Six years ago the (USA) Kingstown Medical College of St. Georges that was operating here for over 20 years, closed its doors, pack-up and left! It was believed dat de Love-he-Dove-he try-an-glue wid Ralph, Castro and Chavez scared de Americans. But before dat, students were experiencing serious problems wid de increase in criminal activities hey in SVG, de harassment and robbery was becoming too much, student life in SVG was no longer safe, ah far cry from what dey were experiencing in Grenada, so dey moved de campus to Grenada.{{more}}

Ah can’t remember what de school’s population here was when it closed, but it was in de hundreds, and ah number ah dem were Vincentians who benefitted, some got scholarships and so on. Thanks to that college, today we have some ah de finest doctors: Charlie Woods, Camille Nicholls, Lennox Adams, Alwyn Leacock (he migrated), Dr Ambrose and many more. Dey was not enuff accommodation pon de campus, so ah large number ah dem lived off campus in private homes nearby. Ah would mek ah wild guess and say 6 out ah every 10 homes immediately around de campus, were converted into apartments to accommodate de students; ah lot ah property owners took up mortgages to expand dey homes, some even built new apartments. De US bucks was good, Van drivers did well, so too did de car rental business.

Supermarkets especially, did real business from de medical students. Yvette Pork City went round-de-clock on weekends as students limed dey, no doubt it was cheaper to dine dey dan at de hotels. De medical tour-is-him business was booming and it was ah sad day when de college closed. House owners were trapped in mortgages, everyway yuh tun was MT house; de Prospect and Ratho Mill area was like ah grave-yard, ah ghost town.

Just foh de records, in Grenada presently, de University’s population is over 12,000 wid students from over 140 countries. Is like dey offering programs in every field, science, medicine, health, vet, business etc, etc. Is de Medical College keeping Grenada ahfloat. Our loss is Grenada’s gain.

Now ah write all ah dis to mek ah special appeal foh de safety and protection ah de medical students of All Saints Medical College in Belair. Presently dem student literally under house arrest, dey are being terror-eyes by thieves, robbers and criminals. Residents of Belair and its surrounding communities Arnos Vale, Fountain, Cane Hall, Dauphine, time all yuh wake up! All Saints Medical College belongs to you all. Its presence could bring real tour-is-him $$$$ big bucks foh all yuh. Dis is ah golden opportunity foh de community to develop around de school, mek use are yuh agricultural skills and supply de students wid vegetables, fruits, meat, chicken; create yuh own night life wid Carry-yoh-key and so on; serve yuh souse, yuh Callaloo and Bar B-Q.

Right now de school’s population might only be 160, hopefully if dey still around, it will grow to 200 by September; and wid good Vincentian hospitality and community support it will grow to thousands like Grenada. Nah wait pon de Police, get ah Community Watch in action, get rid ah de bad elements, hunt down de Criminals, dis is de time to protect and preserve yuh community, nah mek criminals cut down yuh Breadfruit tree. Ensure de safety ah de medical students, dey are threatening to leave, it will be ah sad day If and When De Saints Go Marching On.

HEAD BAD BODY BAD

Our National Under-15 and Under-prepared Cricketers didn’t do well at all in de Windward Islands Tournament. Dey were beaten in all dey (six) matches, but ah was told de whole School’s Sports Program in de ministry is in ah mess. Lack ah P.E Teachers, lack ah Coaches and lack ah Organ-I-say-shun, too much pull-an-thugs.

De Manager/Coach ah de Youth team resigned ah week before de tournament, he opted to Umpire instead (more money in dat dey say). De new coach U’s-ah Pope “willing but weak” he was appointed de Sat-dey before Easter Sunday, three days before de tournament started de following Chose-dey. Ole people say if yuh head gone bad, yuh whole body gone bad too!

NATIONAL HERO SELECT-SHUN

Ha! Ha! Ha! Ralph ketch we same like Nansi. ‘Member when he did call foh ah new Flag, and when de competition was closed, Flag pick; he presented and adjudged his Flag as de winner?

Incidentally Kaisonian, Glenroy “Sulle” Caesar was de committee’s choice. In Ralph’s case it is National Hero select-shun. He appointed ah committee to submit Candidates foh National Hero. Wid all fear-ness, he did warn we dat de final selection rests wid he, Paw-Paw got de last say. At dat instant de few members pon de Committee dey wid spine and integrity, who nah ha foh lick balls should ah resign; it is not too late.

Anyhow, Dr Fraser opened de discussion and presented George Mc Intosh; Dr John did Joshua and PR Campbell, undoubtedly one ah de most brilliant minds in SVG, presented ah case foh Dr JP Eustace. De name Cato was no way in de running. But Cato is dey now, and he will be presented by none other dan de Pry-Minister himself. Oh boy, de more ting change, de more it stop de same darn way. Ah done say way ah had to say already, dey shall be one National Hero, Excellency Joseph Chatoyer.

And wid dat, is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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