All ah we is one by Rhonda Celaire

The Caribbean is greatly family-oriented as one will usually hear “ it takes a village to raise a child”, and that a proper child could be distinguished by their relationship with God and the education attained. Unit Seven “Religion, Education, and Caribbean Family Life: the Foundation of ‘Respectable’ Caribbean Society” Christian Marriage and “Respectability” describes how the society saw marriage as a means of being valid and a respectable member of society. However, the marriage of non-Europeans was not deemed valid and deemed respectable throughout the nineteenth century. ( pg 5) The religious and educational aspect of society is usually intertwined as the initial institutions were brought in by the missionaries with the Convent High School in Dominica being the perfect example. Formally opened February 2, 1858, by Bishop Vesque, the first female secondary school for girls which still excels today in prestige, religion and education. ( History of the Convent High School) Session 2 of Unit 9 Caribbean Civilisation course Caribbean Sexuality and Gender Relations: from the Victorians to Viagra details the issues of gender in the society and the patterns of gender relationships in the communities of that era. Detailing that women jobs were to be the nurturers of the children, subordinate, hucksters and domestics (genteel skills). Also, inserting that the enslaved women were involved in the resistance like Nanny and the Ashanti rising in Jamaica. ( pgs 6-10)
In local terms, there are really two divisions in life town/ city and country/rural life. Country life is known to be the ‘free’ way of life, where villagers are a lot more friendly, people have farms, there are standpipes and a few land features that alert islanders that they are entering a rural community are little to no street lights, crossing over a river and of course the forever opened rum shops, the architecture of houses and spaces between buildings is also quite different. Whereas the city is bustling with traffic; the people and the car type, with many buildings tightly packed. The job opportunities are more diversified than the country as many of the opportunities are in the town.
Family life in the Caribbean comes in many dynamics; nuclear, reconstituted, extended and single (especially matrifocal). The ‘yard’ was an African setting of the family where they lived on one plot of land within voice range which is still apparent in the society today.
Reconstituted family is a family that is joined by a new marital contract and each member has a child or children from their previous union. This family dynamic is one that produces conflict, as stepchildren find an issue in addressing their step-parent, mother or father and what happens is that another name is assigned either aunty or uncle and in some cases, their surname is used.
Extended families are common in every Caribbean island where there is a presence of grandparents, cousins, or any other generational relative in one household. This family organization is highly beneficial to all involved as it could be a way to mitigate financial costs, also, care for either the elders or the young of the family. This dynamic is more prevalent in rural areas.
Matrifocal families are families headed by the female parent Mustafa stated “ the case in many Caribbean societies where there is a predominance of the matrifocal (female headed) households. This type of family structure has raised questions about the universality of the nuclear family. The traditional family may be under threat of dissolution. Single-parent families may originate through divorce, separation, desertion, abandonment or from the death of a spouse. In some instances, they are due to the tendency among some women today to be career-oriented.” (Mustafa pg 131) The matrifocal family is a single-parent family and is on the rise in the Caribbean, however, this family has been around since the plantation slavery days. Unit 4 Beyond the Rivers of Babylon: Enslavement and Freedom of West Africans in the Caribbean we are exposed to the chattel slavery, the brutal measures that Africans were placed under, the floggings, beatings, death, hunting and sale of male slaves which contributed to the separation of the males from their families.