LIFE ON BARBADOS’ STREETS is not an easy one, just ask any street vendor.

The MIDWEEK NATION did just that, speaking to produce vendors selling on the island’s roadsides, specifically in St Michael and St James.

Clifton Garrett used to work at an air conditioning firm but he said the economic crisis hit him.

“Things got rough so I decided to start selling coconuts in Kendal Hill. That was really good; you could make a living but finding a picker was a problem,” he said.

From there, Garrett decided to get into the produce business and has been selling vegetables along My Lord’s Hill, St Michael, for the past three years.

“I wanted to get into a business where I could get my own things. I dig my own ginger, turmeric, potatoes and yams from plantations.”

Even so, he said, the economic crisis had followed him to his new career.

“[The crisis] have it a li’l down but I can still make ends meet. As a hustler, you don’t give up; you stay put, put God first and everything will come your way.

I am hoping things will turn around soon,” he said.

In Sunset Crest, St James, four women – Mintha Hoyte, Nola Hinds, Marvo Francis and Debro Rice – operate side by side. They have all been there for more than 30 years. Francis told their story.

“We all came here about the same time. I used to sell on the road but was told I couldn’t sell on the lawn. There were more vendors here [then], some used to sell from December to April, then leave, but we [four] used to sell year-round so this shed was built for us,” she said.

As for business, Francis said it was “up and down” but remained thankful for whatever she made.

“In everything give Jehovah praise. When I can buy five pounds [of produce], I buy; ten pounds, I buy, so I try to make ends meet as the only thing going down is rain,” she said.

Vending family

Hoyte first started vending in an effort to raise her children. She said she came from a vending family as her grandparents and parents were also vendors. As for how business is going, she said: “Everything is down; there are more sellers now than buyers. We are not selling as before; the supermarkets got everything.

Still, I have loyal customers although some have died.”

Hinds agreed the public was more interested in going to the supermarkets as “they have everything we sell”. Still, she was thankful for whatever business she received.

Rice agreed with Francis, saying “business is like a scale, up and down”.

She said business was usually good in December but had cooled off due to the high cost of living.

“Everything is up the ladder,” she said.

Francis Joseph has been selling along Hinds Hill, St James, for around 14 years. He said he cleared the land himself after getting permission to sell there.

“It’s going kinda slow but I got to survive. Every day don’t brek de same way but I have my family to support,” he said.

Joseph sells a wide variety of food, from corn, coconut, red figs, to yams, sweet potatoes, onions, red apples and more. He said he got into the work after recovering from a stroke.

“I was a well-digger for 30 years and suffered a stroke while in a well. After I recovered, I had bills backing up so one day I decided to beg the landowner for a spot to sell a little things.”

Joseph said he was not one to accept defeat.

“There is no sense complaining; as long as you get up with strength, never give up. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure my children survive,” he said.

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