The Tribune

STUDENTS have kept a promise to carry out a restoration of a kitchen in Cat Island as part of a youth project.

The students - all part of the Indaba Project - have been working to restore a detached limestone kitchen that belonged to the late Margaretta Rolle, a native of the island.

Stewards from the Indaba Project were first introduced to Mrs Rolle when they visited Cat Island as part of the scheme’s third summer camp - the Island Stewards Camp (ISC) - and proved to be the start of a lasting relationship with Mrs Rolle and her wider family.

Mrs Rolle died last year, but not before a promise had been made to restore the kitchen and, after securing a $6,000 grant from the International Development Bank (IDB), a team of 16 stewards from CR Walker, TA Thompson, DW Davis, HO Nash and CC Sweeting schools have set to work - with the project expected to last six to eight weeks.

To restore the kitchen, stewards will have to clear out the interior, which was being used as a makeshift storage facility.

They will rebuild the doors and windows, and collect field stones and sand to mix with cement, in order to reconstruct the exterior walls and create an authentic Cat Island finish. They will also have to demolish and rebuild the roof. Another core component of the project is for stewards to document the stories of the family members in the compound and the history of the kitchen.

One of the students taking part, Rose Pierre, is in the ninth grade at TA Thompson. She said: “I was excited about the opportunity to visit Cat Island because I have never been to Cat Island before, and I wanted to learn about the way of life on the island.

“Also, with the kitchen project, I feel proud of myself knowing that our work can help bring a family closer together. The kitchen is on a family compound and when it is finished, the family will be able to use it so they can talk how they used to.”

Stewards will learn the activities that took place in a traditional kitchen, including bush medicine preparation.

The masonry or wooden structures were roughly 120 square feet with a door and few or no windows. They consisted of packed-earth floors with an open ceiling. Roofs were wood-framed with a variety of covers, whereas sheet metal and asphalt shingles are now popular.

Indaba volunteer and media co-ordinator Noelle Nicolls said: “At the Indaba Project, among other things, we constantly create opportunities to develop and reinforce awareness that the material culture of our African ancestors contained significant engineering and scientific technologies that are worth going back for and preserving. The kitchen restoration project allows us to do that along with so much more.”

The team of volunteers includes engineer Thomas “Mtumwa” Cleare, director of the Indaba Project; teacher and community activist Ean Maura; College of The Bahamas researchers Faith Butler-Cleare and Niambi Hall-Campbell, PhD; youth mentor and community advocate Sheena Ytil; stylist and cultural advocate Princess Pratt; and entrepreneurs Aketa Smith and Lavano Ferguson.

Anyone interested in supporting the project can contact theindabaproject@hotmail.com.