“ALWAYS TRY TO be the best you can be”.
Those were the words Augusta Holder kept repeating to her granddaughter Alicia Holder.
And when she started to rebel against discipline and had to serve her punishment at the Summerville correctional facility, those were the words Alicia used to set herself on the right path.
She now boasts of making the best buljol in Barbados
“At Summerville I was able to learn needlework, handicraft, cooking, how to read music and gardening,” she said. “In my time there were only 20 girls and basically I had to cook for everyone. I wouldn’t describe my experience there as bad. I was able to develop as an individual, learn skills and learn from the girls’ experiences.
“I am still grateful for the role it played in helping me to understand I was hurting my grandmother, but it is still a place I wouldn’t want my daughter to go. I was away from my loved ones for a really long time and I wasn’t able to live as freely as I used to.”
Alicia’s parents were drug abusers and she was left in the care of her grandmother. The same year she was sent to Summerville, her mother died and her father left the island.
“My grandmother raised me and I used to do things without her permission. I would go out and not return home because I knew what was waiting for me so I slept in some strange places.
“Being pulled off the streets gives you time to think about the things you do and that was when I realised the pain I was causing. My grandmother never missed a visiting day in the three years I spent at Summerville and when I came home I was a different Alicia.”
Her next step after getting home was enrolling at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic to study landscaping and agriculture.
“I tried really hard not to get into trouble . . . . Not even for me, but for her. I didn’t want to get into any more trouble because I was a better version of myself. When I graduated my gran was so proud of me. She was very happy.”
Alicia worked at several bars and eateries and while at Lime Bar in Limegrove Lifestyle Centre, the Lester Vaughan alumna met influential people who encouraged her to advance her career.
“I moved from there and then I worked at Heavy Sweets, where I was the cook.
Augusta was elated when Alicia told her soon after working there that she was pregnant.
It was not a smooth pregnancy and the mother had to get a C-Section: “The doctors kept telling me the baby’s heart was stopping and starting.”
Alicia regrets that she didn’t get to bond as she would have liked with daughter Lisa as she had to visit the hospital every day for outpatient treatment.
Then she suffered a terrible blow – her grandmother had a stroke.
“Every day I made sure I visited her ward. Lisa’s birthday was in the same month as hers and she did not get to spend quality time with her. That made me sad because I wanted my grandmother to teach my daughter the things she instilled in me.
With tears in her eyes Alicia recalled the painful incident.
“My grandmother was in the kitchen and I told her something and she was mumbling. I told her I couldn’t understand and she mumbled again so I knew something was wrong.
“She stood there staring at me and would not move. I sat her down, gave her water and called my aunt who is a nurse, but by the time she responded it was too late.”
Augusta was 89 when she passed away.
Currently Alicia is the head cook at Taj Barbados and the supervisor at Yardie’s Catering. Through her endeavours with Yardie’s, Alicia has become known for her roasted breadfruit and pickled pigtails. However she can whip up a mean buljol and it has been a hit at Q In The Community.
“At first my boss used to make the buljol but she has passed on the responsibility to me.
“I enjoy working at Q because the people who frequent the event remind me of my grandmother. They like traditional Bajan food and I treat them with the utmost respect in her memory.”
