Ena’s Story

Further Info

This story was made by members of the Malcolm X Elders Forum (based at the Malcolm X centre in St Pauls) working with staff from the Museum of Bristol and Watershed.

The participants, many of whom had moved from Jamaica to Britain in the 1950s, wrote the stories of their younger lives, which were recorded, and edited into short films by Paddy Uglow, using participants’ photos and other photographs (used under Creative Commons license).

Other project workers were Ruth Jacobs, Sarwat Siddiqui, Jackie Winchester and Aikaterini Gegisian. The project was supported by Bristol’s Museums, Galleries & Archives.

Transcript

My name is Ena. I came to Bristol, England in November, 1962. I thought it was good, because I saw all of the chimney pots and I thought they were factories and there would be lots of jobs. Then we could go back home to Jamaica after 5 years. I left 3 children in Jamaica, it was heartbreaking, but we wanted better lives. Then I fell pregnant with my 4th child, and my son was born in Bristol in 1964.

My first job here was in Ham Green Hospital. I worked there for 4 years, I was a domestic and I had to scrub floors, it wasn’t nice but it was a job. We realised we wouldn’t be able to go back to Jamaica after 5 years so we sent for the other 3 children in 1967.

I left Ham Green Hospital in 1968 and in the next year I got a job in an elderly peoples home, which was much better. I loved it so much I did this work for over 30 years, then I retired. There was a lovely bunch of staff who I worked with and we still see each other sometimes. The residents I worked with were lovely too. I worked all over – in Meadowsweet, which isn’t there any more, and then in Wainbrook Elderly Persons Home in Barton Hill. I’m a carer, and I love the elderly people. They can be fun sometimes and I enjoyed my time with them.

Credits

Buckets picture created by Runder, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

Buildings picture created by Sarwat Siddiqui, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

Factory picture created by Abulic Monkey, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

Jamaica picture created by gailf548, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

Old people picture created by DerickT, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

Old people picture created by Sheilaz413, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

Ship picture created by NickSS, used under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 licence.

All media not otherwise credited created by the story author, or permission obtained, used under copyright licence.