Episode 3 - A Close-knit Community

When a new year begins, we look hopefully to the future and plan the changes that we could make in our lives to make it a beautiful year. We think of what good habits from the past we wish to pursue and which we will leave behind, in a quest for a better life for ourselves, and even sometimes for our community. Which elements of the past of St.Martin could we wish to bring back?

In this episode, Ginette and Mercedes Fleming, Alicia Weinum, Etina and Jeanine Arnell, Frantz and Fabien Gumbs, Olga and Rosette Gumbs reminisce about their childhood in their close knitted community, the respect everyone had for one another, being raised by their village and the sanctions that came with deviating from the social norms*.

May we find in these stories some elements that we would like to implement in our lives moving forward, if not in the name of nostalgia, at least in the name of hope.

1:03 - Mercedes and Ginette Fleming miss the respect that used to be so common back then

1:50 - Alicia Weinum also appreciated the camaraderie between children

3:07 - Etina Arnell speaks about growing up in French Quarter where there was a real togertherness, especially among the community of the yard where she lived.

4:49 - Alicia Weinum speaks about being chastised by anyone in the community who saw her doing something wrong

5:06 - Etina Arnell mentions how someone from the community would look over the children if their parents went to Marigot

5:54 - Mercedes Fleming talks about the commissions that she had to carry for her parents, and getting back something in exchange

6:20 - Frantz Gumbs explains how people would give to their neighbors whatever they had extra

6:41 - Etina and Jeanine Arnell remember going to their grandmother's friend, Miss Gat, to bring the bread she baked, and how they were always given a fruit on their way back

7:53 - Mercedes Fleming explains that people would reciprocate, and that would avoid lacking. Ginette Fleming also agrees that sharing is important and she still practices these habits. She recalls that there was more love. Also, she explains that she was expected to greet the adults that she met, or there would be repercussions.

10:25 - Mercedes Fleming remembers that a blind relative told her mother that she did not tell him Good morning

11:14 - Olga Gumbs has a similar story about her aunt who could not see well but who said that she saw her from down the road

13:45 - Ginette Fleming sees how this education shaped who she is today

14:26 - Mercedes and Ginette Fleming explain that it's also about representing well their family and not letting them down

15:20 - Olga and Rosette Gumbs remember that their mother was very strict and friends with all their teachers

15:45 - Olga and Rosette Gumbs describe their relationship with the adults as nice but that they would answer if disrespected

16:25 - Olga and Rosette Gumbs remember getting licks after any of their wrongdoings

18:29 - Fabien and Frantz Gumbs don't remember being hit as much as their sisters. His sister chimes in on the reason why

19:29 - Fabien Gumbs remembers something wrong he did and why he escaped the sanction

20:33 - Fabien Gumbs prefers his education back then than the state of the world now. His brother Frantz especially remembers the safety that reigned on the island

22:06 - Mercedes and Ginette Fleming hope that hearing about the lifestyle back then would influence positively how we live today

*Nansi's Office does not support hitting children as a form of educational tool and encourages gentler methods