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In my recent travels to Mauritius, I stopped off at a popular tourist attraction called Aapravasi Ghat, (previously called Coolie Ghat), which is a UNESCO world heritage site. This was the first British colony to receive indentured, or contracted, labour workforce from India. From 1849 to 1923, half a million Indian indentured labourers passed through the Immigration Depot, to be transported to plantations throughout the British Empire.
I had no idea that a place like this would leave me wounded and proud at the same time. There was a tiny staircase which the laborers had to walk up to their new lives. I wondered how scary that must have been to start a brand new life and leave everything you know and hold dear to you. Most of them came with the clothes on their back and a small bag made of cloth with their belongings. After this they were subjected to working in the sugarcane fields from 4am-7pm according to reports and I believe the conditions in SA were the same as well. Their lives must have not been easy and their hard work and resilience give rise to all of our generations.
Fast forward to 2019, Desi people suffer with struggles such as stress, work, family, studies and so much more. You must be wondering where I’m going with this post, but it is to say to Desi kids, you come from a lineage of strong people who never gave up. In your DNA is a gene for resilience and you are and will always have the power to be amazing.
We all fight different battles everyday but if our ancestors could do it, you can. We need to be proud of our roots in Africa and how we got here, many from the lineage indentured laborers have managed to come to the forefront of their perspective industries.
I’d like to promote the idea of Desi Excellence and let you know that you can do anything, we are children of the sugarcane fields and we have the power to do anything.
You are limitless… Kind Regards
@themachofeminist_za
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#indenturedlabourers #desihistory #indianhistory #proudlydesi #mauritius #unescoworldheritagesite #aapravasighat #heritage #portlouis #british #desiexcellence
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