Ma William and her circle of friends and our social interaction

Ma William and her circle of friends.

You enter a popular village shop. Behind the counter, is the shopkeeper, a woman in her mid fifties, her head tied with a head tie or mouchwè and an old apron that had seen better days, loosely tied around her waist.

As you look around the shop you see the usual…the same gang that you’ve seen before. The same faces that you see in that shop almost every night. Some are seated in the window, some on stools, some standing with their backs against the walls and another set seated closely together around the area where the booze is sold with a few glasses on the counter top. Every now and then a shopper enters and engages the shopkeeper or one or two of the men in a discussion…sometimes her own partner who’s not been home for a few hours.

Does this sound familiar? Or is this a make believe story?

If you stick around for a while you’ll be amazed that this may not be only a shop but in some respects, a community meeting place. This is just one of the many in the community. In the village that I grew up, I can identify a few without being specific—one or two Up The Morne, about three on Main Street and one or two in Autrobando.

Almost anything that happens within the community seems to find its way into the discussion within the shop—whether the alcohol has a part to play with it, or because the shopkeeper befriends everyone who comes into the shop and shares the bef—the gossip/hot news of the village—it does not matter.

So, “Ma William and Her Circle of Friends,” though fictional, is an attempt to recreate a culture that has somewhat been lost over the years. I guess that could be attributed to numerous factors: invasion by foreign cultural habits—television especially, less people on the streets at night, migration, fewer people in the communities for whatever reason, and to some extent technology-- computers, cell phones and the like, so everyone stays home. In a way, stifling social interaction.

Many of the men thus feel they have no need to sit around in the shop when they can sit home and watch TV programs beamed from America and the women can watch soaps as much as they want throughout the day, even forsaking certain activities to watch these programs.

Still, Ma William was part of a culture - or may still be in some parts of the country which may not be as affluent as others, and so I believe Ma William still has a strong presence in those communities.

There are still many Bamboos, and our students continue to go overseas in search of better education like Shirley did, not to Cuba only, but Venezuela and Russia and China. Our villagers continue to migrate as families, based overseas, make way for their parents and siblings to come to the “land of milk and honey.”

But whatever, “Ma William and Her Circle of Friends,” takes us on a journey— not too long ago, when life in communities was simpler, more decent and there was more of that community spirit.

I am not sure if we can still say that today. Some may agree, others not, but I hope that the story takes us back in time—just for a while—and helps us appreciate that which we had and allows those who did not, to get a glimpse into the life of “Ma William and Her circle of Friends.”

What are your thoughts? I invite you to leave a comment.

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Ma William and Her Circle of Friends.

Described as one of Dominica’s finest writers,

Giftus R John has been writing for over forty years.

Visit his blog and follow the full virtual book tour at www.giftus.wordpress.com