There was a time when children itched to get outdoors to roll around in the grass, climb trees, and just generally engage in whatever they found to amuse themselves with. Today, they have no problem staying indoors with their electronic gadgets engaging in the latest game or “conversing” with friends. This isn’t a Bahamian phenomenon – it’s a worldwide one. But it was just a few decades ago in The Bahamas that it was almost normal to see families, especially those engaged in the straw industry, sitting on porches together engaged in real conversation while grandma, her children, and her grandchildren plaited straw and “worked” bags as they called it to sell to the tourist market. This practice and these kinds of scenes are virtually non-existent now. It’s a dying art that the Ministry of Tourism is looking to resurrect to foster the sustainability of through craft demonstrations at the Junkanoo Summer Festival (JSF).

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian