The Boarded Hall community in Christ Church came alive with two days of celebrations for Olga Euline Brathwaite, whose 100th birthday was March 11, 2024.
A highlight of the celebrations was a visit on that day by President of Barbados, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason.
One of the centenarian’s daughters, Velda Brathwaite, was quick to note that her mother, while strict and very disciplined, was a “very loving and caring mum”.
“She tried to give us not what we want, but things that you need most of all. You had to get up on mornings; you had to say your prayers; then you had to, well mostly my brothers…do the work outside; the girls would then do the washing,” Mrs. Brathwaite said.
She also noted that her mother made sure that all of the children went to school and when they returned home, they had to complete their homework. They were only allowed to go out afterward “once they behaved well”.
Mrs. Brathwaite added that her mother worked hard at the plantation and “instilled morals”.
She said: “You couldn’t bring home anything that belonged to some person…. If she gave you anything, you would share, but you couldn’t take anything from anybody and bring it home; she was very strict about that.”
Describing her mother as a God-fearing person, she added: “You [had to] go to church on Sunday morning. Then you came back….and then Sunday School, 3 o’clock and then 7 o’clock service; so it was three different times you had to go to church.”
The centenarian was raised in The Valley, St. George and attended the Workmans and St. George Primary Schools. She was a domestic at Hilbury Plantation, Workmans, St. George and a labourer at Jordan’s Plantation until retirement in 1989, at age 65.
She was married to Felix Brathwaite (now deceased) and had 11 children (five deceased). She has 27 grandchildren and 57 great-grandchildren, with one more on the way. In addition to being an avid Pentecostal church goer, two of the centenarian’s favourite pastimes were reading her Bible and watching wrestling.
Mrs. Brathwaite is generally in good health and enjoys listening to the radio, resting, and engaging those around her. She enjoys eating oatflakes, cream of wheat, souse, macaroni pie, and would eat sweet potato and yam, which are not a favourite of hers.
“I use all dem (cassava and some ground provisions) when I was much younger with my little children but now, I ain’t want them,” she remarked.
Dame Sandra presented her with a bouquet of flowers, a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and a personalised card. Upon receiving the flowers, which she loves, she remarked: “Lovely man, lovely, lovely, lovely flowers….when my Pastor comes, he’d bring a bunch of flowers for me too…. Thanks very much.”
In her closing remarks, Her Excellency encouraged family members to document events that occurred in the centenarian’s younger days.
“I have heard so many stories about…the (1937) unrest…and it is only the people who were alive at that time who, in some instances, experienced some of the unrest…. These are the people from whom we should get the true stories. Likewise, she could be able to tell you what life was like on the plantation because she worked there…. So, sit down and write the stories,” she said.
Troy Barker