“I was born in Nitty Gritty, which is Phase Two in Seaview Gardens, Kingston. There are two other phases, which are Phase One and Three.”

“Seaview Gardens, in my days, had its usual violence but I could live with it because we were young and innocent. And children were not targetted.”

“I had four siblings – three brothers and a sister. I fall third in line. Living with my mom was not easygoing as she was strict.”

“The first school I attended was Bailey Basic School which was situated in Phase Two. The Principal Ms. Bailey was very courteous and knew how to treat children.”

“Children from all over Seaview Gardens attended this school, which was about five minutes walk from my home.”

“The railway lines pass through the community. It took passengers and a large volume of goods elsewhere. We would try to outrun the train, but this was impossible to do. It was much fun because the competition was among us.”

“We also enjoyed playing marbles, mostly on weekends. There was a shop located in Nitty Gritty and we would save our money to buy marbles. These would be stored in orange juice boxes.”

“As boys, we would make trucks from orange juice boxes and would tie a string to these which was used to pull it along.”

“I loved, most of all, stew peas and white rice. It had several different types of meat, including chicken, and it was spicy.”

“One of the things I loved to participate in was the exchange of gifts with other students, especially just before the Christmas holidays.”

“We would make paper airplanes with book leaves and these would go around in a circle, leaving even adults to marvel how these were moving around with such ease.”

Be sure to read part three: Sully Sulfa at Coburn Gardens Primary School.

(Photo courtesy of Sully Sulfa)