My God-son Ken just turn 21, and he is what yuh would call ah handyman. He went climbing ah mango tree de day before he had Common Entrance, his head crashed into ah Jah-span-he-yard nest that caused him to miss his only chance foh ah future, well dat’s what we are led to believe here. So his Mom sent him off to “learn trade” on the construction site foh ah labourer’s wage. Now-ah-days yuh lucky to get ah youth-man to wuk on ah construction site foh ah labourer’s pay, nah when he could relax on de road-side and sell he spliff and mek easy dollars.{{more}}

Well, ah few weeks ago Ken passed by me looking foh green Banana to go “dub” (cook). But den he came to de point and ask foh de wuk to replace some ceiling boards on my house roof. At first ah thought he was joking, Ken, ah labourer, want to repair me house, especially de roof. He, however, convinced me dat he has his own tools and knows what he’s about. So ah invited him to come build me some shelves foh de office. We went shopping foh materials, and right away ah notice way he missed out ah lot in school wid spelling things like “screws” and “brackets” and don’t talk bout de hand-writing. Anyhow he was able to read from his list to de clerk. We got our stuff and were ready to build shelves. We discussed wages and he said he wuks foh $60 ah day, but as is me (God-father) ah could give me ah lickle something”.

Sixty dollars ah day”? ah nearly hit de roof, but dat’s what Godfathers are for!

Bright and early next morning he came, rearing to go, he wanted to know if ah had ah transformer. When ah asked, “what for”? He said to plug in his power saw. Was I hearing right? Yes and not only did he have power saw, was plane, drill and de whole electrical outfit. In ah Jiffy he was finished, and ah was convinced dat ah could give him ah shot at fixing de roof. So we made up another list foh materials. He certainly knew what he was up to as he called foh materials foh ah scaffold etc. Jokingly ah suggested he needed an apprentice. No Joke! he had dat organized too. Dis is de high point ah de story. He brought his buddy Keeve who just finished Grammar School wid ah few O-level subjects, but he not wuking, really what can he do, he got no skills. So boss-man Ken who doesn’t even have ah school leaving, puts Keeve, de CXC man to paint de ceiling boards on de ground. At de end of de day Keeve managed to finish painting three sheets ah plywood, and dat’s his I- day of ah day wuk! On de third morning Keeve sent to say he can’t tek de heights, wuking from de roof. So ah asked de boss what was Keeve’s pay, he told me to give him $ 70 foh his two days. De wuk was now left to Ken alone, all in all he did ah very good job. We settled foh $ 300 foh his three days, he was pleasantly surprised, and we were both satisfied. My biggest laugh was when it was all over, he said to me: “ Godfather yuh know dis is de first time ah ever wuk on ah roof all by me-self”.

We talked ah bit and have agreed dat he will go to de Adult Education classes and correct all de Educational Wrongs! He boasted he got ah lickle something to do foh Miss Julia at Vee Jays, he is de maintenance man there; den he will be by Joyette foh another three weeks. He is in demand, how one-dah-full! Ah keep saying Education is not only about University degrees, Education is first about M-powering people to earn ah decent wage. Half ah dem children dat we forcing into Secondary School and Community College, some say de doing So-see-allergy, would be better helped at ah trade school. Teach dem young ones to fish and farm, fix fridges and stove, build and repair house like Ken and so on, den dey will earn big wages and not have to run away from home, to go up in de hills to plant weed and get shoot-down in de process.

TO WEED OR NOT TO WEED

Talking bout Weed, de informal or underground economy! Ah read last week way regional forces in training, raided de hills in SVG and destroyed thousands of Miss Marie Warner plants and other edible vegetables, setting dem on fire. Sounds good foh ah news item eh? But ah wonder if it ain’t time dat we look at dis Marie Warner crop and see whether continued efforts to destroy crops just before harvesting is in de best interest ah de-con-ah-me. Miss Marie Warner remittances is quite significant, setting fire on her crop will bun us all. We keep hearing from Guv-ah-mint dat de-con-ah-me doing well, dem figures couldn’t be real, dey have to be apparent. Ah does mek it me business when ah go to de supermarkets to listen to de come-planes from shoppers and it is terrible. Prices foh all ah de basic essential items gone up! Food gone up! Lights gone up! Flour gone up! Bread gone up! Water gone up! De PM say de new water rates is foh de big consumers, who are obviously de people who in manufacture, and dey will pass it right on to de lickle man, excellent maths, Mr PM. It’s time he overs dat things bad, shoppers taking groceries to de cashier and have to leave dem, not enough money to pay. Young people are reacting, we keep destroying dey income in de hills offering no alternative. Dey not just killing one another, dey walking into crowds and selecting whom de want and open fire on anyone in de way… We are in foh some serious times. When Ordan Graham said Blood will run in de streets ah SVG, dey brought charges gainst him and want to put him in Jail; those words are now becoming a prophetic statement. Power to Ordan Graham and Fire foh all who want to shut we up!

POLLY-GRAPH FOH POLLY-TO-SHUN

Ah wid Pastah Frederick who want an explanation wid regards to dis Polly-Graff or Lie detectah machine. De Prime Minister say in Par-liar-mint dat some ah we police were given de test and came thru badly. Deputy Chief Pompey say we are not endowed wid such ah machine. Oh what tangled web we weave, when once we try to deceive. Lie Za is right on target, she say to find out de truth is to borrow ah Lie detectah, and put de Prime Minister, dem other Polly-to-shun and Pompey to detect sorry de test. Sorry but ah will ask Professor Show-we to show-we de truth on all matters concerning de PM. And wid dat ah gone again.

One Love Bassy.