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River stories

Rio Minho brings bad memories, but is a good resource for residents

Published:Monday | February 1, 2021 | 12:17 AMOlivia Brown/Gleaner Writer
Crystal Christian is seen washing in the Rio Minho and placing her clothes on stones to dry.
Crystal Christian is seen washing in the Rio Minho and placing her clothes on stones to dry.
Two children play in the Rio Minho in Clarendon.
Two children play in the Rio Minho in Clarendon.
Rosetta Taylor, a resident of Rock River, shares tales of the Oaks and Rio Minho rivers in Clarendon.
Rosetta Taylor, a resident of Rock River, shares tales of the Oaks and Rio Minho rivers in Clarendon.
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For Whitewood Hole resident Nevardo Hudson, the Rio Minho is a source of food and, recreation, and ideal for domestic purposes.

But like the streams of the river, bad memories run for the now 28-year-old, whose father drowned in the river near their home some 10 years ago.

According to Hudson, his father, who he said was a farmer and a very good swimmer, was tending to his animal when he is suspected to have fallen in and was swept away.

“Him come from work and say him a go move him donkey fe go church, and him go round the river. Way in the night, we find out say him nuh come back and we went to look and find him drown. Him did trouble with fits, so me think a it cause him fe drown still.”

“Him could a swim, dive, everything . Him mother live across the road, so we say a over him mother him deh, but a when we a see after seven, we say something wrong,” he shared.

Speaking with The Gleaner, Hudson recounted another drowning incident of a woman some four months earlier.

“She come ‘bout after six off a taxi with a little boy. She go in the river and she a call the little boy fe come, and the little boy say him waa go home. So she end up leave the little boy. Nobody never really a pay her mind, ‘cause everybody a bathe and wash them car fe go home before curfew time.”

“Long after we nuh see her, so we start search the river fe her and couldn’t find her; so we carry the little boy to the (police) station and them find out where them come from, and so forth. When we come back, we see her drown right at the front here so,” he said.

Noel Needham, who is from the neighbouring Pennants community, was attending to his laundry at the Rio Minho when The Gleaner stopped by.

He cited the river as a saving grace, referencing lack of access to running water in his northern Clarendon community.

“We don’t have a flowing water system, and if it wasn’t for the Rio Minho weh we grow up and know, we nuh know wah could a gwaan. Right now, for the past how many years now, we can’t get a good water source in Pennants. Me nuh know if a true the bigger heads know the river deh here, them nuh really put out that great effort,” he said.

“This river is our livelihood - domestic-wise, everything. This is a main help to everybody, animal and human being.”

According to Needham, the Rio Minho, a common spot for hosting parties and baptismal services, has enhanced living in the rural area.

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