Manmay LaKay Magazine Issue 2 April 2018 | Page 47

she endeavored to share with her children literary accounts but couldn’t find culturally relevant books. It was then that Ubekha decided that she’d write a series of books to document her childhood experiences on the island. After 20 years, Ubekha finally put pen to paper and produced the Wyetta series – literary accounts of her childhood – about a very annafè little girl named Wyetta. A series that's bound to be fun and exciting for children and nostalgic for adults all over the Caribbean. Thank you Bekha for sharing your work with Manmay LaKay magazine and the world. I must admit I was very excited to see characters that look like me and you and little St. Lucian and Caribbean children. Hats off to you on fulfilling that need. What inspired you to write the Wyetta series? While in high school, I met a fellow St. Lucian who, at 16 years old and had been living in the United States for only two years, claimed she had forgotten how to respond to me in the most basic greeting of our French Patois, “Sa ka fet?” Here is a person who denied her culture as a part of herself and was rapidly losing an important part of her identity. This encounter caused me to show my St. Lucian pride even more and to be sure that everyone knew that I was from a magic kingdom called St. Lucia. My second motivation for Wyetta was in my role as a parent. It was important for me to share my beautiful culture and heritage with my two children about the magical place that I spent my first 10 years. But unfortunately, I was not able to find any children’s books highlighting our  culture, neither in New York nor in St. Lucia.