My Family Culture

The Scenario

 

A major catastrophe has almost completely devastated the infrastructure of your country. The emergency government has decided that the surviving citizens will be best served if they are evacuated to other countries willing to take refugees. You and your immediate family are among the survivors of this catastrophic event. However, you have absolutely no input into the final destination or in any other evacuation details. You are told that your host country’s culture is completely different from your own, and that you might have to stay there permanently. You are further told that, in addition to one change of clothes, you can only take 3 small items with you. You decide to take three items that you hold dear and that represent your family culture.

                       

                                                 

Our family culture is very sacred to us. Also, there are things that we held dear to our hearts that represent who we are. The three items shown above are what I would take with me after the devastation in my country, which caused me to become a refugee in an unknown country.   These are a Family Album, Jamaican Drum Pendant, and Jamaican Language Book (Jamaican Dialect/Creole, Patios). 

Family's Photo Album

My photo album allows me to preserve very sacred and special memories, not only for myself but for generations to come. Moreover, photo albums contain deeply personal and historical references to my past and, by extension, my family.

Flipping through a photo album brings back a nostalgic experience that has a very special specific personal meaning. Each image presents its own narrative; not only will I be reminded of the past, but each snapshot of my loved ones is priceless. It is said that "a picture is worth more than a thousand words."

Jamaican Language Book

About the Author: Louise Bennett (1919-2006) was born in 1919 in Kingston, Jamaica and died in 2006. She was a folklorist, singer, actress, poet, entertainer and TV personality, and she made poetry popular with Jamaicans. However, she is mainly and fondly remembered today as the poet who showed that dialect or Creole could be a viable medium for poetry. Its appeal was not limited to comic effects or local colour. She chose to work in dialect from a very early age because she recognised an oral tradition that had not been properly recognised and defended. 

I have selected this book because our Jamaican Dialect is very dear to us. My grandmother would sit and tell us "Anansy (spider) and Duppy (ghost)" stories in creole.  The Jamaican Dialect/Creole is much easier and quicker to speak as opposed to the Standard Jamaican English Language. This book contains the oral tradition, with its proverbs, folk songs, short stories and riddles. I can share this language with others of a different culture. The dialect varies depending on your parish or region.  Below are a few examples:

Dialect:  Me glad fi see yuh come back, boy,

Interpretation: I am excited that you came home, son.

Dialect:  Whey yuh deh?

 

Interpretation: Where are you?

The Jamaican Drum Pendant

This is extremely special to my family because my husband plays the hand drum for a living. He is a skilled musician and Drum Instructor who plays the Djembe/jembe, a rope-tuned skin-covered goblet drum played with bare hands, originally from West Africa. As a result, there are two (2) of these pendants in my home. My two-year-old son is also learning to play the drum along with other instruments. Also, he plays the Congo, Dun Dun, Bongo, and Kumina Drums, all at home. In addition, I play the drum for recreation as well. I enjoy dancing to the drums because once you hear them, you cannot keep still. The drums remind us of our history and our Ancestors. 

The One Item That I Would Keep

I would keep my families' photo album if I was allowed to keep just one item because there are so many memories that can be discovered and shared through an album, such as:

 A photo of us dining at the family's table will recount the types of Jamaican foods we consume and the many conversations we have had times and times again. 

A photo of the family at the beach. We lived in the resort town of Negril, where there are seven miles of white sand beaches, which attract international and local tourists to our neck of the woods. 

A photo of my family having a reunion, celebrating a birth or death in the family by dancing to the various drums. Also, dancing to our sweet Jamaican Reggae music. This would ignite my emotions in unimaginable ways. 

A photo would reveal the type of clothes that we wear, our traditional dress.

A photo would show stages of development and changes that occurred over time with my family members.

A photo would remind us of our accomplishments and the accolade we have received over the years. My extended family members place a high value on education. As a result, I could  recount the many graduation ceremonies that we have attended in our family. Furthermore, our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren can understand where they are coming from by looking at the photos inside my album. The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and every picture tells a story!

Reference

https://jis.gov.jm/information/famous-jamaicans/louise-bennett-coverley/