The celebration of Christmas in Kort-beraad, East Bank Berbice might be considered by some to be a bit old-fashioned; there is not much exchanging of presents and there is no extravagant spending on decorations or fancy items.
But one thing’s for sure, love and joy and lots of food are shared to anyone who stops by. Parents would also give their children toys either during the festive season or on Christmas morning.
They would certainly ensure that delicious meals are prepared, because for them, Christmas is also about eating, drinking and having a good time.
Residents recycle their old decorations and even if they wanted to splurge on the new ones which are available in the New Amsterdam stores every year, their limited budgets would not permit it.
When this newspaper visited the area three weeks ago, cleaning up was in full swing and in some of the yards, artificial flowers, ceramic ornaments and teddy bears had been washed and put out to dry.
Over at the home of Odessa Baron, 20, several bunches of artificial flowers made a colourful splash on her fence. She had helped her mother to wash them and as they dried she proceeded to clean up the house. But even though the cleaning would finish in a few days, the washed curtains and decorations would not go up until one week before Christmas.
They were also planning to use a few more artificial flowers they had put away to enhance the festive look. Live plants were also going to be used as part of the decor.
Two houses away, teddy bears, flowers and ceramic ornaments decked the yard of Eieon Sampson. His mother had washed them before going out. He was planning to have a good Christmas and also be part of the “cook-out” with the other youths.
Lovern Durant said everyone in the village looks forward to the holidays. At this time, she said, although presents are not shared and fancy items are not bought the spirit of Christmas is nevertheless in the air.
She said too that persons would visit the homes of others and be offered good food. But the time she looks forward to most is Christmas Eve night when the youths host a “big cook” and everyone is welcome to partake. As far as she is concerned, “Kortberaad would have the best Christmas. Indians and Blacks would come together and sing and dance…” The celebration, she said, would go on until morning and then everyone would go home and prepare their Christmas dishes and entertain guests.
In the afternoon the youths would gather again to continue the celebration. They would also walk around the village “beating bottles and buckets” and singing carols at some persons’ homes. They would be offered whatever goodies have been prepared.
Her mother, Stella Durant, 73, told this newspaper that she would not normally cook on Christmas Day because her children who live nearby would bring fancy dishes for her.
Stella who has five other daughters and a son would make a “big bucket” of mauby which she serves to her children, grandchildren and anyone else who visits her. On Boxing Day there would be lots of leftovers and she would still not have to cook then too.
Sadly though, the family was not planning to be a part of the Christmas celebration this year because they were mourning the loss of Stella’s grandson, 17-year-old Stefforn Bacchus, who was murdered. Two days after this newspaper’s visit, the family suffered further distress when Stella’s husband succumbed to natural causes.
For Junior Fraser, “Christmas is just normal; I don’t do anything special.” He operates a shop and would stock a few small Christmas items which would “take time to sell.”
Some residents prefer to shop for bigger items when they go to New Amsterdam on business.
However, he noted that “everyone depends on the estate” and with their tight budgets, “they don’t do much Christmas shopping.”
Muriel De Velde, 58, said she spends her Christmas “cool with my children and seven grandchildren; they would come and visit.”
Phillip Kesney, 37 also described Christmas as a “normal day” and said the most his family would do is cook delicious food and visit relatives. He recalled that “when I was small persons used to go around on horse carts and sing carols, but you don’t get that now.”
He had recently restored a mud oven in his yard that can accommodate up to 10 pounds of cake or bread. His wife, Quebenna was planning to do her baking in it for the holidays. She had already tested out the oven by baking bread for their three children and said that would be a regular weekend activity. The couple had also reared a few chickens that were supposed to be part of the menu for today.
Phillip’s mother, Pauline Durant, 73, said she was fed-up with “fried rice and chicken and so” and said that on Christmas Day she was looking forward to eating a nice “duck curry.”
