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Chris Aguilar
And Why Site Build it
My name is Chris Aguilar, and now that I am retired with time on my hands, I have started Jamaica-No-Problem.com so that I can share my passion and love for Jamaica and her people with you.
But why do I feel this passion and love?
Jamaica is the land of my birth
I was born on the Ackendown property in Westmoreland ... midway between the towns of Savanna-la-mar and Black River on the south coast of Jamaica ... near a small fishing village named Whitehouse ... and about 26 miles from Negril.
Sometimes it is spelt Auchindown or Auchindoun ... Scottish ... meaning brown pastures.
Whitehouse ... once a small hardly known fishing village ... is still a small fishing village ... but is now firmly on the map of Jamaica due to the construction of the Sandals Whitehouse Resort on the Ackendown property.
An Idyllic Early Childhood
Imagine growing up in the Jamaican countryside ... looking out over the sea ... the country people as your neighbours, friends, playmates, guardians.
Imagine being able to go outside and pick whatever fruit you want, fit and ripe straight off the tree ... mangoes, limes, oranges, ackee, guinepp, guava, avocado, sweetsop, soursop, breadfruit, naseberry, starapple, June plum, jelly coconuts and ... almost anything you wished.
Imagine waking up every morning to the sound of cows mooing, birds singing and cocks crowing.
Imagine being able to go horseback riding every morning. My first, and second to last, fall off a horse was when I was 3 years old. I broke my nose.
Imagine being able to go down to the beach whenever you want to, and having your own canoe.
My sister Sal and myself played Cowboys and Indians daily.
We won the local Golf Club's fancy dress competition as Bride and Groom.
My Dad started teaching us to drive the car and the tractor as soon as we could reach the controls.
Our Mom taught us at home using something called Calvert Home School.
My sister and I used to love getting little red stars when we did well.
But we not only had very special parents to teach us what life was all about ... the meaning of honesty and integrity ... we had a lot of other very special people as well.
Fanny, our nanny ... we adored her.
I remember us taking her to the morgue in the back of our car when I was about age 8.
Then there was Miss Joan ... again we adored her.
My Dad with Clarence "No Nonsense" Lawson, our property Headman, and the only person I can remember ever holding that job.
What a Gentleman!!!
Austin, Zippora, Ivan, Vinette, Joe, Francis, Carlton, Miss B., ... the list could go on endlessly.
Each in his or her own way a part of the family.
And then there was School
I was age 7 when I first went to school ... Mount Olivet, a boarding school near Malvern in St Elizabeth.
And then Munro College at age 9. Also near Malvern.
"In Arce Sitam Quis Occultabit" ... "A City Built on a Hill Cannot Be Hid".
Munro College was situated at the highest point in the Santa Cruz Mountains in St Elizabeth.
There was a cross section of people from all walks of life ... teachers who didn't hesitate to instil discipline ... a sharp rap on the knuckles with their heavy rulers ... a headmaster whose cane was kept very handy ... I felt it many times.
Rough, tough and what an education ... the school, my fellow students, the teachers all fondly etched in my memory.
We used to steal out in the middle of the night and go down to the shops by the school gate to have a "Midnight Feast" ... tinned "Bully Beef" and crackers with Pickapepper sauce.
Where else could a bunch of kids wake up a shopkeeper in the middle of the night, and if the teachers came looking for us he hid us until they had gone.
There was Laddie who used to make our Gigs (Tops) for us, handmade wooden Gigs, and works of art.
How could I not love this island and all of these unique people who helped shape my life.
And since those early days
Wherever I have been in Jamaica, I have always given respect, and have been given the same respect in return ...
from the supposedly worst parts of Kingston to the remotest parts of the Jamaican hills and countryside ... from the East to the West ... from the North to the South ...
by the caddies on our golf courses ... by the hundreds of workers in different businesses I have been involved with ...
by the small farmers all over the island when buying all sorts of agricultural produce ... yam, sweet potato, dasheen, avocado, coconuts, thyme, scotch bonnet, mangoes ...
throughout all the hills and mountains around Balaclava, Christiana, Santa Cruz ... in the Cockpit Country ... and on the Pedro plains ...
in almost every parish of Jamaica ... Trelawny, St Ann, St Mary, St Thomas, St Elizabeth, Manchester, Westmoreland, St James, Hanover ...
regularly buying from the Maroons in Accompong ...
and always carrying a lot of cash to pay for the produce ...
no army, no weapons for protection ... and never once feeling threatened in any way.
And then there was Melody Ann
Melody Ann was born, and given the names Carole Jean, in one of the poorer parts of downtown Kingston.
A true Jamaican mongrel ... never knowing who her father was.
A passing sailor? A straying Jamaican husband?
Who knows which bull jumped the fence?
She was given up for adoption at age 6 and chose the names Melody Ann.
She was brought up by caring elderly step parents and an uncle whom she adored, and who taught HER the real meaning of honesty.
But she always wanted to know who her real parents were.
So shortly after I first met her we managed to trace her roots back, and we found her real mother.
A lovely person ... but a bitter sweet experience.
I kept asking her to marry me for the next 9 years ... she finally said yes, and a couple of years later we adopted her half brother's son ... now called Alex.
Sadly, she died never being able to find out who her father was. Either her mother didn't know ... or wouldn't tell.
But like most mongrels ... very, very special. An honest, faithful, loving and a truly unique Jamaican.
And then to the UK
We left Jamaica and moved to the UK for family reasons in 1995.
And even now, 15 years later, I receive a regular phone call from Patsy ... who worked for us in Balaclava and became part of our family ... enquiring how Alex and I are keeping.
Where else do you find genuine people like this ... who with all the hardship and economic problems can still value friendship above all else ... and can still smile and say "No Problem Mon".
And so to Jamaica-No-Problem.com
This website is built as a tribute to all these genuine people ... my fellow Jamaicans ... and to Melody Ann who was one of these people.
And if it can in some small way benefit our homeland and its people I will be happy ... and I know she will be too.
And finally "Why Site Build It"
I have been trying to build a website or blog for two to three years without much success. I then stumbled across Sitesell and Site Build It.
But by this time although seeing the quality of their product, I was very wary of ALL marketing hype.
So I spent months reading and studying some of the many excellent and free eBooks Sitesell were offering.
I went through their Action Guide several times ... again yes for free ... Sitesell allowed me try out many parts of their system ... but I could not start using the Site Build It system to build a website until I signed up.
Sitesell gave me their knowledge freely. I could have said "OK I now know enough to do this on my own".
But even to my simple mind it was clear that it would cost me FAR more to acquire all the tools and resources that I needed than it would cost me to purchase an Site Build It subscription.
Thankfully I took the plunge, signed up and here we are.
There is little doubt in my mind that without Site Build It and SBI eLearning I would not have been able to build this site.
Thank you Sitesell ... thank you Dr Ken Evoy ... thank you Terri, my SBI eLearning instructor .... thanks to my fellow SBI eLearning sudents for all your support ... and thank you to the thousands of successful Site Build It enthusiasts who provide support through the many SBI Forums.
Do you want to turn a passion into an online business?
Not only is SBI one of the cheapest and most economical vehicles available ... it is also the best because everything that you need is included in the one model.
But, if you are one of those readers desperately looking for a QUICK way to make money ... STOP ... this vehicle is not for you ... it's not a racing model ... it's top speed is limited by the most basic law of normal business ... that is ... it takes time to build any REAL business.
So if you believe any of the get rich quick garbage you find on the Internet "Don't Click This Link" ... click the back button instead.
I know, because now that I am retired with time on my hands, I have tried a couple of these schemes.
And yep you probably guessed it, I helped some other guy to get rich quick.
Find enough suckers to give you a couple hundred ... or even better a couple thousand ... dollars or pounds, and you probably will get rich quick ... but that is not a business, that's a scam, and it does not last.
So "Give Thanks"
Thanks again Sitesell ... and Ken Evoy ... now ... if it is to be ... it is up to me.
Thanks to my Mom and Dad ... two very special people.
Thanks to my fellow Jamaicans ... I am proud to be a Jamaican.
Thanks to a beautiful island ... Jamaica ... my home.
Thanks to my beautiful wife ... who was ... and always will be ... that very special person in my life.
And, last but not least, thanks to you my visitor for coming to my website ... I only hope that you find it of value in some small way ... and I hope that you will join in, and make your contribution to this site.
Leave me a comment in the box below. Your comments here will appear on Facebook.
This website is in memory of and a tribute to my wife Melody Ann 20 Nov 1958 to 4 Sep 2008 She loved Jamaica She was Jamaican The Best of Jamaica And as we all know If you are The Best of Jamaica You are The Best in the World.
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