Barbados is not only a most lovely country but it is also extremely diverse for its size.
Wherever we go we can see the contrasts among the different parishes and neighbourhoods. We can also see the idyllic beauty of an agricultural society and can then be easily overwhelmed by the neon lights that can be found in New York or Paris.
This rich diversity is also manifest in the area of development. In fewer than the 50 years that we will soon be celebrating we have shown the strong development of a thriving middle class. Such development is an open signal that this is a successful nation.
I had the stirring realisation of all that is Barbados as a developing successful country when I drove along the street from Flow (BET, Cable and Wireless) to the bottom at the junction by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. I called it Collymore Rock knowing that at some point it merged into the extended Wildey community.
From top to bottom, it proved to be the quintessential description of my island, from technology giants, medical care, to fast food outlets to law offices and banks; there are credit unions and major insurance companies; there are gas stations and supermarkets, the one door shop and liquefied power provider. In each of these facilities, the diversity is extended with them giving more than their names suggest.
To be found along this street are diverse education facilities inclusive of private and public schools as well as a tertiary training facility. This more so than anything else touched me as the true essence of my country. We just do not accept what comes our way; we plan through education and re-education. As such, we are prepared for the challenges of the future.
It is also impossible to miss the inviting smell of the bakery and the car dealerships. These lend a special touch to a street that also hosts the many homes and apartments. Everyday Bajan life is defined by the wooden chattel houses and the brick residences that make the link between the past and our contemporary lifestyle.
There is a special negative to this street that speaks to a shifting of priorities within different sectors of our island. We see the shells of a once thriving brewery which I explain away as development in practice. That distinctly Bajan company had outgrown the location and sought a more expansive home.
There were once three cricket teams of significant quality utilising facilities along this street.
Unfortunately, the home of Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall and George Brathwaite has closed its gates to players in white and the leather red cricket ball. Saturdays under the trees are now a thing of the past.
There is now no team representing the hospital and that is very sad assuaged only by the fact that schoolboys try hard to fill the void. The playground of Courtney Browne, Llewellyn Tull and Livy Coppin, with persons from all sectors of our society sitting on the grass enjoying the offerings from one vendor or the other, is now a virtual ghost town. Not even the late August school game that attracted thousands is played there anymore.
I cringe when I recall the exploits of Jeffrey Wiggins, Orlando Greene and Mark Redman that have now been condemned to the history books. This street is diverse for what it has but also for what it has lost that now gives it a different definition. Middle class development does have consequences.
Jeff Broomes is an experienced educator, principal and community organiser, who also served as a vice president of the BCA and director of the WICB. Email: [email protected]