Why I moved back to Jamaica

Sunday, 07 February 2010 12:46 Basil Waine Kong
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I lived in the USA for fifty years and visited 100 countries but having spent my youth in St. Bess, my heart yearned for the charms of Jamaica. In the twilight of my years, I still get into the mood when it rains on my zinc roof. I grow older but feel younger. I enjoy new experiences and linger over my memories.

My heart will never grow old as long as I wake up with my wife beside me, play a round of golf with friends and jump from my seat at Sabina Park when we lick a six. If it wasn't for ackee and salt fish, yam and boiled bananas with mackerel, I could eat cornpone every morning. "Hell a top, hell a bottom, Halleluja in the middle." I delight in a swim in the Sea, play dominoes by the road and watch the natural talents of our people unfold. Yu mek mi proud Usain!

These experiences are my inspiration and define me as the Jamaican man I am. With a nod to T.S. Elliott, after all my roaming, I have arrived where I started and am getting to know the place for the first time. Time and distance claimed no victory over my affection because the songs of my people wash over me. Now that I am home, I can sit down happy. My heart glows. I am at peace.

 

For more of Dr. Kong's writings and stories from his life experiences, please visit his blog site at: http://www.jamaicachapter.blogspot.com

 

 

 

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Comments  

 
0 #6 carl a. williams 2010-03-06 03:11 Good and wonderful story. It surely brings back many memories, however there is no mention of community involvement, mentoring of our young people, visiting or caring for those less fortunate. Insert that part and your essay would be a shining example that returning home is not only about playing a round of golf, which I think you have earned. Quote
 
 
0 #5 Danny 2010-02-20 04:14 Elana, stop making excuses for those people in Jamaica that chooses to do wrong, believe it or not, there are opportunities in Jamaica for all, or at least most. I live in the USA now, however I used to go fishing and sold fish for a pocket change. I also used to sell peanut to earn money, sell grater cake, drops, many business men in Jamaica will tell you they too started there. I now run a successful online business in the U.S. and is getting ready to move back to my country to live on the beautiful beach front.

If I did not come to the U.S., I would still have made it, because I too believe in working hard and enjoying the good life. Jamaica provides those at the bottom of the barrel more opportunity to earn a dollar, even more so than the great U.S.A. Where in the U.S. could you buy a bushel of peanut, take it to a party - and sell it to pay your light bill?

I say those that have absolutely nothing in Jamaica are those that chose to do nothing and wait for someone to offer them always. I could go on and on. Quote
 
 
0 #4 zenman 2010-02-18 05:29 Eliana, we already know the many problems of Jamaica and the world. Do not just be sorry for folks that are in a certain situation, as the saying goes \"sorry cannot buy soldier larry\". Reach out a helping hand and motivate others to do that too. That is the help we need right now. Quote
 
 
0 #3 Eliana 2010-02-15 08:16 Not blaming you, just keeping it real for those who have no voice. Everybody wants to enjoy the good life. But in Jamaica what is missing are those who would speak on behalf of those who have no voice. You may be doing that, so I pass no judgement. Just want to make folks aware of the other side that exists, and prompt them to speak up before it\'s too late. I notice the Air Jamaica sympathizers want to march, and wonder why they haven\'t marched for anything else but what concerns them and the sentimentality of \"a little piece of Jamaica that flies\". Children are being killed but they don\'t speak out until they feel the heat getting close to their middle class world. This is the selishness that exists in that country. Quote
 
 
0 #2 Basil Kong 2010-02-13 15:50 Dear Eliana: I readily confess that I am blessed. I was fortunate to enjoy a childhood full of adventure, fun and games. I was raised by an entire village who love me to this day. I have been able to bring new housing as well as support for our school and churches.

My motivation to return to Jamaica upon my retirement: First, my wife and I want to give something back. Second, we want to selfishly enjoy all the sweet fruits of Jamaica; and thirdly, to serve as a “canary in the coalmine” for expats who may be contemplating coming back. I am not blinded to our woes. The failure of our educational system to eliminate illiteracy continues to fuel high unemployment. The life you painted is an accurate picture for too many. However, I don’t believe life is any better for people with a visa and no education.

I will continue to advocate for all of us to stop looking outside for our salvation and turn inward and develop what we have. Won’t you join me?
—
Basil Waine Kong Quote
 
 
-2 #1 Eliana 2010-02-11 05:46 I am sorry for Jamaicans who, unlike this patriot, cannot play a round of golf with friends or jump up from their seat at Sabina Park when we lick a six, or afford ackee and saltfish. For them, life in Jamaica is sheer hell, and they stand to lose their lives if they venture into the wrong neighborhood, so many of the kids cannot attend school.

Their natural talent is to forage, some of them in the city dump for any delectables thrown out from the homes of the well-to-do, or learn to clean and load a gun by the time they are six. And because there is no proper sanitation, they feel they have no choice but to dispose of their body waste in plastic bags and throw them over the fence into the neighbor\'s yard or in the nearest gully.

These are those in Jamaica\'s hell, dying to get a visa and escape… Quote
 

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