Manmay LaKay Magazine Issue 2 April 2018 | Page 46

Manmay LaKay
Claudette Ubekha
Charles
BY MONICA VICTOR
O
n any given day growing up in
St. Lucia, you’d find Ubekha
 either playing in the yard or 
going on – school adventures like the
Sulphur Springs and country trips that
involved river baths and climbing trees.
Visiting the market, M&C, J. Q. Charles
Ltd., or Valmont. Or eating tamarind jam,
mango in sauce, freshly baked bread,
cassava and squash.
On special feast days you'd find her going
to festivals like Assou Square and LaRose
and carnival. Her story time
involved characters like gajés and ti bolom.
There were sunny days and rainy days,
beach parties and Vigie beach.
“All this, in a tropical bliss,”
she remembers.
But at the age of 10, Ubekha left St. Lucia to
join her parents who had left a year earlier
to pursue economic opportunities in New
York.
Albeit very young, the memories of her
island home St. Lucia, never faded.
Ubekha grew up and had kids of her own.
Remembering her rich culture,