Lime squash and soursop popsicle

When de late Eddy Griffith ran foh de NDP in East Kingstown in 1984, ah went “house to house” Calm Pain in my area wid him. Every home we visited, de folks kept asking him one question: “Bro. Griffith way yuh going do foh me when yuh win?” Eddy was always frank wid people, he had de same answer foh everyone: “ I’m not promising anybody anything, I don’t know what I’ll meet when ah get dey, but as long as dey’s something foh de people, everybody will get dey fair share, no picking and chosing.”{{more}} If ah remember correctly, Eddy won in every Polling Station and virtually locked down dat East Kingstown seat foh de NDP, foh good! East Kingstown and de Grenadines are de only constituencies dat have remained NDP since 1984.

In ah way Jewels Ferdinand reminds me of Eddy Griffith. Ah listened to him on Sat-dey night and he is offering de elect-to-rate ah new brand, he spoke ‘bout encouraging people to help dem-selves, no more hand-out! Put an end to handing out de fish to party supporters alone, if dey’s any giving out to give, give everybody ah fishing tackle, ah hook and ah line, teach dem to fish and dey’ll feed demselves foh life. But Jewels himself is not ah fisherman, apart from his lecture stint at de UWI, he fancies himself as having ah “green finger” potting plants and feeding his rabbits; he could get my East Kingstown vote, just keep bringing de Rabbit meat! Before even teking up his seat in Par-lie-ah-mint, he has ah pet project, “making sure dat dey’s ah Lime or Soursop tree planted in de yard ah everyone ah his constituents.” He has already germinated hundreds ah plants to be given out. Today de market is flooded wid Mangoes, Avocadoes, Oranges etc, thanks to Sir James, den Premier in 1972, who had reduced all fruit trees prices at de Botanical Gardens from $10.00 and $20.00 to ten cents. Also back in de 1950’s, Colonel Anderson of Jah-mek-her was Police Commissioner; he planted an Ackee tree (Jah-mek-her national fruit), at every Police Station in SVG. Today, fifty-something years after dat Ackee tree planting exercise, we now have hundreds ah Ackee trees in SVG. De only problem is dat except foh those Vincies who got introduced to Jah-mek-her’s National Dish, “Ackee and Salt Fish”, most ah we are yet to acquire de taste of dis delish-us and nutrish-us West African fruit.

Lie-Za say Jewels Ferdinand is likely to win de West St George seat, but whatever he might initiate in terms ah projects, yuh can bet yuh last dollar dat years after he dead and gone, second and third generation West St Georgians will be drinking “Lime squash” and “Soursop popsicle” from trees planted by dey representer, Jewels Ferdinand. Dat Lie-Za love ah miss-shift, she say dat Cess Mc Kie is not going to let Jewels sour-up de constituency wid Sour Lime and Sour Sop, he going sweeten up de voters and plant ah “Joint” ah Cane in every garden; especially how all dem things de-cream-an-all-lies foh Me-dissing-all use.

VINCY FRIUTS IS ME-DISSING-ALL

Ah trying to remember all de local fruits dat rich in me-dissing-all properties. Did I write bout de Lemon dat is not as acidic as we believe, once in de stomach it becomes Alkaline which is ah master foh fighting off viruses, cancer in particular. Ah did mention de Gravioli, Jewels Soursop, how dey discovered dat Soursop juice, tea from de leaves and bark has anti cancer virus properties. Ah wrote bout our ripe Bananas, how even de skin good foh clearing up moles and so on. Ah remember writing bout my cousin Ken, ah serious Die-or-be-tease case, came in one night foh vacation, de only thing in de fridge was ah piece ah green breadfruit and ah piece ah king fish. Hungry, he had ah feast and de next morning when he checked his ‘blood sugar lever’, to his dismay, it was ah five point something, de lowest reading he has ever had. When it nice do um twice and thrice, and foh de entire six weeks vacation, we could find nuff breadfruit to feed Ken, who was able to reduce his medication considerably. Ain’t nobody love Mangoes like Doc Fraser, he sent me an e-mail on Mangoes and ley me quote: “ De most pop-yuh-law fresh fruit in de world, mangoes are ah whole lot more dan just ah delish-us, refreshing treat produced by nature. As evidenced by copious (plenty) scientific research, Mangoes are also ah powerful me-dissing-all food, as dey contain nutrients dat can help clear up de skin, promote eye health, stave off Die-or-be-tease and even prevent de formation and spread of Cancer!” Let’s talk bout Legal-Lies-in our Fruits FOH Me-dissing-all Use! Lie-Za’s Question foh oral answer: “Why was ‘Randy D’ not made ah Soca oops, Cultural Ambassador?” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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