August – January – My 5 months in Jamaica

I should first start by admitting that I didn’t set foot in Negril during this trip but I hope some of my pictures and observations will entertain you enough to get an insight into living in Jamaica.

I don’t know when it started but early on in life I dreamed of living on a deserted island like Robinson Crusoe (first published in 1719 under the title; "The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York). I think I read the book until the pages simply fell out from overuse but the visions live vividly in my mind. I first went to Jamaica in 1983 and was extremely fortunate to have met many of my best friends to this day. The most fortunate of these some 80+ visits was to discover my now hometown of Accompong Town, St. Elizabeth Jamaica.

Everyday life in Jamaica is “noh easy” as most any rural Jamaican will tell you. Hard work and a small return from that work is simply a fact of life but the sunny, “no problem” attitude to life belies the enormous stress they must bear. About 4 years ago after Hurricane Ivan destroyed my best friend Marshall’s house, we decided to rebuild the house where we both would live in our little corner of Paradise. This is my story of life in Accompong Town.

I hope you will enjoy.

Peace and Guidance
The beginning of a typical day as the sun rises over the Figueroa Mountains.
Attachment 34183
More soon come.

stories by bill . . . bring in on . . .

I recently read (a link you posted) about all of your many years of travels to Jamaica & enjoyed it very much. My first trip to Accompong was in 1972, my friend & I drove up there and stayed the night in our rented VW bug. They had us park under a place where MANY banannas were stored under some kind of large zinc covered open structure. We heard of some German people who lived very deep into the walkfoot area, did you ever hear of them? They supposedly had been there for a couple of years (and this was in 1972!). We wanted to go and meet them but the hike into the bush from Accompong was something like 16 hours so we didn't go. I was always curious about them though & what happened to them.

Marshall and I get up just before sunrise each morning. Me? Well, I just grab a cup of bush tea and enjoy the morning on my verandah but Marshall’s day starts in the bush even before the sun comes up.
Making Charcoal

Since I first met Marshall, he has always seemed to have a chainsaw either in his hand or in close proximity. Originally, it was a 4 foot bar Stihl when he was cutting large trees for selling the lumber but today it is a 2 foot Poulan Pro and he is cutting small pieces of hardwood and putting them in a “still”.
A still is a pit in the ground where you put dried wild grass in the center of the hole and stack the wood pieces around it like making a Boy Scout fire and then you put more grass on the top before burying the whole thing in a mound of dirt with a vent hole in the top leading down to the dry grass below. Once the fire is lit, then you block up the hole and keep checking on the still every few hours to make sure no “blow outs” (smoke escaping) occur. After 4 or 5 days, you dig up the pit and the result is charcoal.

Attachment 34184

Peace and Guidance

The charcoal, for the most part, takes care of itself so a lot more time is available to do other farming tasks. We had 5 goats that need tending. Four are she goats and one is a ram goat. Two of the she goats were pregnant when I arrived and both delivered right around Christmas so the new total is 7. Now, a ram goat is a good commodity to have as you can rent him for stud and he is the main ingredient in Mannish Water and Curry Goat. A typical she goat (once weened) can fetch $20k Jamaican on the market.
Tending the goats.
Attachment 34187
There are other crops to look after as well. Two in particular are Sorrel and Yams. Sorrel ripens around Christmas so it is a traditional Christmas drink. We strip the buds off the sorrel and put them out to dry in the sun. Once dry, they store quite well and can be put into boiling water whenever you want to use them. The yams are of various species; we have Renta Yams, Yellow Yams, Lucy Yams as well as two wild growing yams called Bitter Gashie and Imba Yams.
Growing Sorrell
Attachment 34185

Growing Yellow Yams
Attachment 34186

Peace and Guidance

Definitely enjoying this... keep it coming, please. :)

Looking forward to more! Very interesting.

Just before midday, most of the farmers come out of the bush to grab some food or work at other tasks before returning to the bush at the end of the day. On this day, my neighbor Rani “Boss” Genas came by to mix some rendering concrete mix used to make the smooth finish on the outside of concrete houses.
Boss mixing rendering concrete.
Attachment 34188
Once the mixture is just right, Marshall hauls it by bucket up to a scaffold made from old lumber and cut poles where another neighbor spreads it on the wall.
Marshall hauling the mixture.
Attachment 34189
We would do this work when funds and weather permitted. When I left in mid-January, only two ceilings inside the house were as of yet finished but a phone call yesterday updated me that all the surfaces have now been rendered. The only thing left to do is the painting inside and out and the tiling of the floors.
Attachment 34190
Attachment 34191
Peace and Guidance

It was time for a late breakfast so Marshall went to the kitchen to cook us a meal. Marshall is a Garveyite-Rastafarian so we eat no meat. In fact, we eat what is referred to as “earth food” (things the we or neighbors grow) and river fish for protein.

This particular morning we had a meal of Yellow Yam, callaloo, broadbeans, okra,tomatoes, onions and a small piece of saltfish all cooked together in coconut oil.
Breakfast is ready!
Attachment 34192
While Marshall was cooking, I went work on stripping the sorrel off the bush to get ready for drying.
Attachment 34193
Later in the day, we went to the market to get some vegetables for the week. This vendor had some pumpkin, dasheen, cabbage, Irish, coconuts, green peppers and various yams.
Attachment 34194
See asked, “Makin pumpkin soup?” “How about some Gungo Peas?”
Attachment 34195

Peace and Guidance

Bush Tea has supplanted all other forms of beverages. I look forward to a cup of tea each morning and at night just before going to bed. Marshall brings out different herbs for tea each morning. He often makes different blends on different occasions like; John Charles, Vervine, Noni, Moringa, Jack’na Bush, Bas Cedar, Fence Stake and Leaf of Life. A personal favorite is a blend of Strongback and Ginger.
Strongback and Ginger
Attachment 34196
Also, a casually thrown Gungo Pea spawned a health bush just off the verandah that supplied us with Gungo Peas for the last couple of months of my stay. Some people find them to have a bitter taste like the Susumba Bean but I like the flavor.
Gungo Pea Bush
Attachment 34197
Water is very important in Accompong and, for that fact, all over Jamaica but there is no piped water in Accompong Town so we have to rely on rainwater for everything. Sometimes during the drought times, a water truck will come around and sell water at about $3J a gallon or you can ask a taxi driver to stop at Dry River near Maggotty to fill a few 5 gallon used vegetable oil containers from the standpipe.
Plenty of water now!
Attachment 34198
Peace and Guidance

This is very interesting, loving this post.

At least twice a week (weather and health permitting), I liked to take a walk about a mile long to the Computer Center in the town library next to the Community Center. Even though the Computer Center opened at 10am, I liked to leave around 9am so I would have time to stop a few times to rest and to chat with my neighbors.
One place in particular I loved to stop was to chat with Rubber.
Rubber
Attachment 34199
Rubber’s store.
Attachment 34200
Rubber is an old and dear friend whom I have known for nearly 25 years. He grows coffee and cocoa and I can always count on a freshly brewed cup of coffee or a hot cup of real cocoa.

Across the street is another favorite store for incidentals that you might need but not want to go all the way into Santa Cruz to purchase.
Attachment 34201
Down near Cudjoe’s Monument, I arrive at the Community Center with the Library and Computer Center next door. I am usually a likkle early so I stop at the Community Center to chat with whoever is on duty. Here is a picture of the mural on the wall.
Attachment 34202
Attachment 34203

Peace and Guidance.

It’s 10am sharp and here comes my friend Beth down the road to open the Computer Center. Now, I have an “Edge Speed” (think that means 2G) at my house but the speed is so limiting that the 200megs of bandwidth they give me per month only allows me to check the mail about a dozen times a month. I save that for when the weather is bad or I am just too lazy to walk.
I find my regular seat at the #2 Computer and wait until Beth boots up the system. I asked her for a picture and here she is.
Beth.
Attachment 34204
The computers and the broadband connection were donated by a group out of Minnesota. There are no telephones except Cell Phones in Accompong Town so this connection is a beamed in signal from Mandeville. Here are a couple of pictures from the Computer Center.

It only takes me about an hour to get all the things done that are on my list of things to do. I have a laptop at the house and a couple of thumbdrives so I can store what I need to send and then just cut, paste and download the information. Often I will get done with a few minutes to spare. Some enterprising youth wait until I am getting done and ask for the minutes that I have left out of what I paid for. The computer time on the Internet runs $2J per minute and I always give them $100J for the 50 minutes.
Attachment 34205
Attachment 34206
I think I hear a friend’s vehicle coming up the steep hill so I go outside to see if I can get a ride back to the house. Towards the end of my stay, I was feeling much stronger and walked back every time even in the rain.
Attachment 34207

Peace and Guidance

Very interesting. Love your pics and stories.

.. reminds me of our yard near dromlily..edge of cockpits.....i love the rural country life....simple, hard, rewarding...more pics and report please

So enjoying this post and pics! Keep them coming........:)

Very nice :)

Nice style... LOVING this!

This is wonderful, thanks for sharing your story and pictures;;

Those who know me the best understand that I am all about helping wherever I can and Accompong Town offers so many ways to help that don’t require a lot of money. Mystic Bowie, Reggae Singer-Songwriter, is from Accompong Town and he has made it his mission to improve the school system

He formed the Mystic Bowie Cultural Center http://mysticbowieculturalcenter.com/ to raise the collective consciousness of both the citizens of Accompong Town and the world in general on what is needed and how to accomplish it at the same time. Mystic Bowie travels all across the United States giving concerts and most times half of what people pay to attend the concert goes directly to funding the Mystic Bowie Accompong Library
http://youtu.be/wqICecHbaZs
As with any library endeavors, books are needed to fill the shelves. Nicholas Da Silva from www.dreadandalive.com and some of his friends and supporters sent down some books which I was proud and honored to deliver myself to the school’s principal, Mr. Garfield Rowe.
Mr. Garfield Rowe.
Attachment 34216
Another project was dubbed “Project Accompong” http://www.dreadandalive.com/causes/project-accompong/ where funds were raised to feed the 35-60 students a nourishing hot breakfast three days a week. Again, I was honored to deliver a month’s worth of funds for this worthy cause.
The Breakfast Program
Attachment 34217
Mr. Da Silva, a graphic artist-entrepreneur, also donated a silkscreen which the children along with Tayshan Wright screened enough donated tee shirts to give each child who participated in the program a free tee shirt in commemorate the January 6th Celebration of 2014.
The kids with their tee shirts.
Attachment 34218
Attachment 34219

Peace and Guidance

Very nice!

Of course, no trip report would be complete without acknowledging some friends who make my living in Accompong Town a special experience. First of all, I would like to thank my good friend and driver “Peckish”. He is always there when I need to go somewhere and he never seems to complain when things take longer than expected. He has been a good and special friend for more than 15 years now.
Peckish.
Attachment 34248
George Huggins is the person I have known the longest (outside of Marshall) in Accompong Town. George is the builder of the square Gombe drum and a winner of the Lady Musgrave Award and considered a cultural treasure. I met George at Apple Valley Park in 1989 and he and I have been the closest of friends ever since.
George Huggins
Attachment 34249
“Flashy” is my next door neighbor and a close friend. If I need anything done, I just have to ask him and if he can’t do it, he knows someone who can. We seem to talk every day at least twice during my stay as he farms a plot of land in the bush a few chains from my house and passes by coming and going.
Flashy
Attachment 34250
Finally, there is Tayshan Wright. A Rasta youth whose knowledge and understanding of Maroon History and Culture is well beyond his years. We often have spirited discussions and enlightenment sessions that leave me wanting to know more. He has supplied me with books, papers and pictures dating back nearly 100 years to satisfy my curiosity and quest for knowledge.
Tayshan Wright
Attachment 34251
Peace and Guidance

Fascinating. Can't wait to see more. Thank for sharing.

thanks for sharing. definitely gives some much needed perspective (For me anyway) about rural Jamaica.

This is wonderful. Love seeing pictures of your friends and your home and all the goings on. Thank you so much

Nice.......The basics of life......

And finally, no trip report about Accompong Town would be complete without mentioning the January 6th Celebration. My likkle town of well less than 1000 people becomes the host to 7,000 – 8,000 visitors from all around Jamaica and the world. Planning starts around the first week of December on what entertainment, security (as if any were actually needed) and a general cleaning and painting of the town’s structures and grounds.
Attachment 34252
Many residents are employed to cut stakes and poles that are used to construct the 10 X 10’ stalls for the vendors. Everyone gets into a festive mood knowing that the holidays of Christmas, Boxing Day and the Celebration bring extra income into the town where there are virtually no jobs except farmers and shopkeepers.
On January 6th, I make my way over to the main street and stop to visit with my fellow citizens to see if I can be of any help like making a sign or setting up displays. I usually skip the formal ceremonies now as I have seen them and participated in them for well over a decade. Instead, I just try to help where help is needed.
Attachment 34253
I am not one to take a lot of pictures of people (though you see a number of them in this thread) so I am just showing a few that I took from a vantage point of Tayshan’s jewelry stall. When the night came, I made my way over to a pen where my next door neighbor was putting on a show. He had Sound Trooper with Ricky Trooper and Red Heat sound system at a bargain price of $300 Jamaican.
Attachment 34254
We partied until the sun came up. Two days later, this rainbow appeared. I have been a wanderer and a seeker of fortune all my life but here, I have truly found my “Pot ‘o Gold”.
Attachment 34255

That’s all.
Peace and Guidance

Beautiful report. How did you happened to find yourself there so long ago?

Awesome report! I learned alot...and that rainbow..beautiful!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Thatswhatshesaid

Beautiful report. How did you happened to find yourself there so long ago?

---

The link in my signature is to the many stories of my travels http://www.negril.com/discus/message...tml?1290352358
That story in particular can be found at this thread http://www.negril.com/discus/message...tml?1281835874

Peace and Guidance

Love all the colourful clothing and that rainbow is amazing. Thanks again, really enjoyed this

Sweet!

Hate that I missed that rainbow!

Very nice read. You have truly found your happy place..

wow.... thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us. - k

Just lovely

Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

I love the country side as much if not more than the resort towns and the great times I have there partying away. Thanks for opening up and sharing your way of life. Respect.....

Okay, not quite all. I forgot to mention a project that might interest the organic farmers among us. It seems that nearly 20 years ago a teacher in Accompong Town and a former Colonel; Harris “Teacher” Cawley, used to have a farming program where students were taught how to farm and raise poultry and goats. Just bare remnants of that program have survived to this day. Like most things, progress only seems to move forward when there is someone with a hand on the rudder to steer.
Attachment 34260
Once Teacher retired from teaching, there wasn’t anyone to provide direction and now the land is being used but the students are no longer involved. We are planning to change that. Just before leaving I met with some parents and community activists along with a representative from http://www.projects-abroad.org/volun...nteer-jamaica/ who want to revive this program.

As I have said before, there are virtually no jobs for young people in Accompong Town except farming and some of these youths don’t have the benefit of having an adult in their life who knows how to farm properly and effectively. Also, yield has increased with the use of “ferti” (fertilizer) but one of the unfortunate byproducts has been some discoloration of the yam’s meat which is directly related to the use. Organic farming is gaining traction all over Jamaica and it should be practiced in Accompong Town as well.

All changes take time and this project won’t get off the ground until later this year or early next. Perhaps if you are an Organic Farmer or know Organic Farming techniques and would like to spend part of your visit to Jamaica in a rural community helping make a difference, watch for more on this project when it happens or go to the Projects Abroad link above and volunteer for their program.

Peace and Guidance

This is awesome insight to life in jamaica that doesn't involve the sea. Thanks for sharing. I have a quick question. One of your friends, Tayshan, is a rasta that you say eats river fish. Is there a difference in their, meaning rasta, eyes between river fish or fish front the sea or is this just an availability issue. Also I've heard/seen that rasta practices/ beliefs are to only eat veg. Are there differences just like there are different groups of Christian beliefs, For example catholic. Thanks for sharing.