Date: Tue 12-Oct-1993 Paper Page: 16 Publication: Daily Nation Writer: Rose Blenman TO PASSERS-BY they may seem like a bunch of idlers, but the guys who gather daily at the bottom of Fruitful Hill, St. Andrew, are simply doing their best to keep out of trouble. They come from the surrounding districts, but most of them are from the sleepy village of Cane Garden. When the Cross Country team passed by music blared from a sound system, a game of dominoes was in progress, there was a heated discussion on the "disgraceful" transportation system in St. Andrew, and the cooks had just finished roasting some breadfruit. They even offered us some of their meal. "Some days we roast up to two dozen breadfruits, and when they go out of season, we roast sweet potatoes," said one guy who identified himself as Sherlon, the chief cook. The guys, numbering about a dozen, share a friendship that goes back to primary school. They have mutual love and respect for each other and believe each is his brother's keeper. The shared friendship is a source of inspiration for the group. "Some of us have jobs; sometimes it is week-on, week-off and sometimes it's a three-day week and so on. So whenever we have free time, we gather on this corner, play we music and dominoes and roast breadfruit," said one group member, a construction worker. "This is a land of peace," added another, making reference to Cane Garden. "You don't find the police down here looking for anybody, and we stay out of trouble because we want to keep it that way." And when they get tired of just hanging out on the corner or have time off from work, they head to a nearby spring for a refreshing bath and catch some cray fish, which most of them prefer flour-coated and fried crisp. "I know some people roast them, but we don't like cray fish that way, so we fry them and douse dem wif pepper sauce and dat go down good by itself, or wif some salt bread and a glass of mauby," the chief cook explained. The guys certainly don't intend to spend all their days on the corner, and are working towards bettering their employment situation. In fact, one of them had to leave early to get to the airport for a job he recently started. "In this life you have to be determined to get up and do something for yourself, otherwise you don't get anywhere, so we just keep on trying," he added. |