On Tuesday 3rd March, 2009, I fulfilled a promise I had made sometime earlier – that the Social Security Board would donate a portrait of Mr. James Ronald Webster to the Tender Loving Care Home Facility in The Valley. The framed photograph was reproduced by Ivor Hodge from among those he took on March 2nd, 2006 at Mr. Webster’s 80th Birthday Celebrations. Those celebrations had been organized by the Social Security Board at Ronald Webster’s Park to celebrate the birthday milestone of the island’s revolutionary leader and the pioneer of the Social Security System. The Board had subsequently donated portraits to the island’s primary and secondary schools, and when the Tender Loving Care Facility’s owner, Nurse Brenda Hodge, learned of this, she paid me a visit. She explained how the residents spoke constantly of Mr. Webster, expressing their love and admiration for him, and she made a watertight case for a similar donation to her facility for them.
Somewhat by chance, the presentation was made on the day after Mr. Webster’s 83rd birthday in what was an unforgettable hour with the 21 residents and 3-day care clients of the home. When I arrived at the Facility with Nat Hodge of The Anguillian, I expected to make a quick presentation to Nurse Brenda, take a few photos and then leave. But I was in for an unexpected treat as the residents shared with me their excitement at having the portrait of their hero in their home. I noticed a portrait of President Obama hanging on the wall and asked if anyone knew who he was. Someone responded, matter-of-factly, “a leader”. When I walked with Mr. Webster’s portrait around the room, where they were all seated, and asked if they knew who he was, there were excited outbursts as most of them recognized their hero. I guess the prize for the most excitement must go to William ‘Boom’ Connor who was quite well-known as ‘The Bup’ years ago at every political meeting Mr. Webster held. I remembered ‘The Bup’. 25 years hadn’t changed him much. He sang, shouted and sang some more. Now 95, he and his sister Lindora Connor (94) who sat next to him said: “God bless him,” a sentiment I heard many times that afternoon.
Clarence ‘Hodgey’ Hodge, Edith Brooks, Olive Adams, Belcita Richardson, Bernadine Supersaud, Olive ‘Nenee’ Brooks and Aremour Fleming were among the others who seemed most excited. Someone called Mr. Webster “a father to us,” another said “when that old dirty fellow (Premier Bradshaw) said he would make us into a desert, if it wasn’t for him (Webster) we would have been a desert.” Other phrases heard across the room were: “We would have died”; “he (Webster)put back Anguilla how it was supposed to be”; “Bradshaw messed it up, Ronald cleared it up”. Aremour Fleming (74) said “I heard Bradshaw say that he would turn it into a desert. Kittitians used to call us Bubba Johnnies, Webster made the Bubba Johnnies proud”. Olive Adams (82) called Webster “our father” and said if he got one vote it was hers as “he deserved it more than anybody else because of what he did for Anguilla. He made Anguilla what it is, he did everything he could”. Louise ‘Miss Joe’ Buchanan (88) said he was “the man who made Anguilla what it is. It was St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla. Anguilla was the last and had nothing but peas, corn and potatoes – everything had to come from outside”. Many of the residents asked when was Mr. Webster coming to visit them. I made a mental promise to return, with him, soon.
But Nurse Brenda saved the best for last. Quite theatrically, she said “now let’s go see the 104 year-old”. I thought she was teasing, but she led me to the room where Victoria Charles was lying in bed. She immediately got out of bed, stood on her feet and for the next twenty minutes, or so, regaled us with stories, song and dance. I can unreservedly say that she was the most energetic of the residents, all the others ten years or more her junior. When she saw Mr. Webster’s portrait, she exclaimed: “Fine and dandy, sweet all over.” When I asked her how she was feeling, she replied, “taking it like how God sends it. God is good, without Him, nothing doing.” When asked how she knew Anguilla, when she first came here many years ago from her birth-place Dominica, she said: “Bush. Anguilla was nothing but bush, no light, only now Anguilla is something. In the night, a lamp in a tree, a lamp and a box of matches. When anybody died, no car, no road, one person in front, one behind and the dead in the middle held up by a pole supporting the coffin in a hammock. When you were going to church, you took off your shoes, walk with them in your hands, and when you reach the church you dust off your feet and then put on the shoes. You had to draw water from a well. In the night, you better not sleep but go draw water because in the morning so many people lined up to get water from the well. Praise God, Mr. Webster changed all that.” This bundle of energy chatted on her feet for the entire conversation, danced, and when I tested her memory of the Patois of her native Dominica by saying “bamwe on ti bon”, she responded with a kiss and some Patois of her own. Then, taking one last look at Mr. Webster’s portrait, she repeated “Fine and dandy, sweet all over!”
As I drove away, I thought about what a wonderful job Nurse Brenda and her staff are doing caring for those of our senior citizens entrusted to the Tender Loving Care Home Facility. Nurse Brenda knew exactly how to work individually with them to get them to express their feelings. She was the embodiment of tender loving care. She seemed to know all their ages, full names, everything about them. And she cared enough about them to approach me, a perfect stranger, not to ask for something for the home, but for this portrait of their hero, for them, because it would make them happy. I thought what if the love shown to our elders by Nurse Brenda was replicated across this island and particularly among our young people? Then I reflected on how differently the afternoon had turned out to what I had expected. I had thought I would just be performing one more task in what is becoming an increasingly stressful job as the Social Security System faces increasingly challenging times. Instead, I shared in an explosion of excitement and hero worship. I was refreshed. Once again I was reminded that I am doing God’s work. I was reminded of the tremendous difference Mr. Ronald Webster has made to this country, and in the lives of its people. From the Anguilla Revolution of 1967, to the Social Security System he pioneered in 1982, he has made an indelible impression, socially, politically, and economically. I join with my elders and say: “Thank God for Mr. Webster”. I wish him a happy 83rd birthday. May he live as long as Victoria Charles. May he be as energetic at 104 as she is. May our young people appreciate what sacrifices our elders have made so that we can live in Anguilla today. May we be worthy of our rich heritage. God bless our forebears. God bless Anguilla!
Timothy Hodge, Director of Social Security
2009
