JEFFREY, FROM ST PETER IN BARBADOS

At age 17 I pass my drivers test which we had to learn for a year. One day while I was home, two men came into our area in a car. They got stuck in a hill, they couldn't move. So they got out came up to the top of the hill and ask if anyone there could drive, all the boys said "yes, he has his licence, he can drive". So he gave me his keys, told me to go and get his car out for him, which I did. I reverse the car back down the hill, brought it up and gave it to him. When I gave it to him, he ask me if I knew who he was, I said "no sir", he said "well I am your Prime Minister", and he said to me his name was "Grantley Adams" It made me feel very honoured to be able to do something like that, and it is something that I will never forget as long as I live.

MAY, FROM JAMAICA HURRICANE STORY

I had a terrible experience with a Hurricane while I was in Jamaica. Me and my husban' have four children and on the night of the Hurricane we were all in de house and my husban' came home from out de shop and told me to pack up me tings in de house because " Hurricane - Hurricane is coming, it is heading for Jamaica!".

Well I pack up what I could for de baby and for myself and de udder children. And while we was dere waiting, listening, looking, we heard de breeze start blowing, and de rain start falling, and we say "yes, well de Hurricane is here now". And before we know where we are, de zinc start blowing harder and harder until when we realise de house lift up wid us off where de building of de house was, and land us on a tree at de bottom. We didn't know whedder we were in de river gully, or we was up in de yard! But when I look down I see where we were, we were standing on de earth.

We try to move from dere to my brother-in- laws house, but when we get dere,de house was gone, HIS HOUSE WAS GONE, THERE WAS NOBODY! Anyway, we find our way on de main road heading to NOWHERE! But by dat time my husban' gone wid de two biggest children to his cousin not far from where we were. We were waiting, sitting in de road, on de bank and de bank fill wid water, when I look up de road I think I see somebody comin', it was de children dem father.

We saw him coming staggering down de road like a drunken man, de breeze 'ave him from one side of de road to de 'udder. When he come down to us, we 'ave to call him and he say "where is de baby?" (laugh) "just so him say" and him tek de baby an wrap her up inna de mattress she was in. We all huddle together an travel to his cousin shop, and when I get dere, I see de udder children all dry and clothed.

We stay wid our cousin for one week until we manage to get carpenters dat we know to make a building for us to go bank to. We live dere, make a new house after a time and live dere until we moved to England.

ABDUL, born 1933 in the little town of Arima on the island of TRINIDAD.........

Some of the sports we used to play was football, marbles, cricket, and something with stones called "three - A" .

........Some of the food we had those days was provisions such as, the heart of the Palmis tree we used to make curry. We also had cows and goats from which we'd get milk, and with the milk we would make the "Gee" which is sort of a butter. All the food was made local and everything was natural, "yu know" nothing artificial.

YVONNE, born in Manchester on the island of JAMAICA.........

........As I was coming along the road on dis Sunday afternoon, I saw dis pig, but it was different to the ordinary sort of pig, it was long and thin!..... Well, I started to walk, the pig started walking, I started to run, the pig started to run, well it was a wild boar escaped from over Enfield!

The pig started to chase me and it had like tusks! and I start to run, and I run and I run until I reach the gate. I didn't know pig can't make a corner, they can only run straight because they slip don't they? I run into the yard and there was May up inna de top house, and me Mudar and Dor were in de kitchen. De pig was coming and when me Mudar see de pig she just open de kitchen door and dra-agg me in!

De pig terrorised de whole district, Upton had to cum and shoot dat wild pig on dat Sunday, one excitment! it was like a mad ting running around trying to find people to eat......lord of mercy!

BERT, from Manchester in JAMAICA........

.......My story is about me and me Dad. We happen one day to be moving a cow from one property to another one. But on dis occassion de cow had a young calf and my Dad didn't realise dat he had to tie de calf against de Mudar so dat de Mudar could feel de calf was wid her.

.....So my Dad said to me, "boy! lick de cow, lick de cow, de cow won't move", so I keep hitting dis cow, but I feel sorry for dis cow because it had just had de calf. But My Dad said, "boy, yu not licking de cow", and I said "yes Dad I'm licking de cow", "so why de cow not moving?", so I said "I don't know Sar!" So anyway I hit de cow dis time very hard...... and de cow was a horn cow......dis cow went down, run into de back of me Dad, pick him up by his belt wid his horn, and de belt burst! Me Dad dropped, and I was laughing, I couldn't help meself from laughing.

.........Well, I had to keep away from me Dad for about a month after dat, because he reckon he was on de floor and instead of me comin' to help him, I was killing meself with laugh!