Although I had a degree in English and History and had never particularly excelled in Geography it was one of the subjects I was expected to teach. Not only Geography but CARIBBEAN Geography, a part of the world totally foreign to me. I was given a pamphlet written by a man named Clive Frank, who unfortunately died in a ‘plane crash shortly after my arrival on Bequia. The pamphlet was nice to have but its contents would not give me even a week’s worth of teaching material. That pamphlet was all I had, no other textbooks were on offer.
I discovered that most of my students had never been to the mainland, as a matter of fact many had never been to Paget Farm, Hope or Spring. Sitting in a hot stuffy classroom with no teaching material was not going to be educational. I had no idea where to start and sought help from one of my fellow teachers, Neil Sanders.
Neil and his wife Hilary were from England and had been teaching at the High school for a few years. After all this time I can’t be sure but I think Neil taught wood-working and Hilary math as well as navigation. They had arrived on a yacht and were living ashore with their two small children, Ralph and Rachel. I told Neil that I would like to take the students out of the classroom to show them parts of Bequia they had never seen and he suggested a hike up to Mount Peggy. (“Ma Peggy”)
One fine day Neil and I commandeered the school bus and took the students as far as La Pompe, then we hiked. The class was happy, climbing to Mount Peggy beat being cooped up in school hands down! The hike was rather strenuous for me (and I was young back then!) but Neil and the students bounded up the hills like mountain goats, blazing a trail with machetes. It was hot, and I was dripping and panting by the time we reached the summit.
The view from the top of Mount Peggy was fabulous, well worth the exertion. The students learned what their Island looked like from a different perspective and had enjoyed the fresh air and exercise. Perhaps this wasn’t the way I was supposed to be teaching Geography but I figured it was better than nothing!