Memories in Suriname, South America

“The first thing that I noticed was that it was very humid. This is just north of the Amazon River basin and the jungle and there was a lot of jungle there and it was very hot and very humid. We lived in the town of Paramaribo, which is the capital city. My dad worked for the company Sur-Alco which is Suriname aluminum company. They were working in conjunction with our Alcoa. To produce aluminum and to get the bauxite and get it smelted. The people at Alcoa knew that the only the way that they can get the men to come down to bring their expertise to help with this, if they could get the wives to come down, and the only way they can get the wives to come down is if they had housing and if they had schools that were appropriate for families. They had built a whole little town community, a housing settlement for the American families and they also had built a school. They brought a principal and her name was, Thelma Bacon and she was the principal and they had a school and I don't know if it was the upper grades. But I know it was the elementary grades. And that is where my brother Keith and I went to school. Now my brother Craig was in uh, he and Kevin were in a preschool. I remember that it was a little Dutch preschool. Craig was learning Dutch. Now my dad had served a mission in the Netherlands, so he spoke Dutch many years before and the most common language there was in Suriname was Dutch because it used to be a Dutch crown colony and it gained its independence, so the main language was Dutch. They also have a lot of Indonesian people, a lot of people from the rain forest, from the Brazilian areas, and in areas from they have native Indians, native peoples from the jungle, they have lot of people from Africa, so it's really kind of a melting pot of all kinds of different people.

A couple of things that I remember about Suriname, I remember that we had a maid for the first time, it was something that was totally unheard of for us, but it was something very common to have a maid there who would help with the cleaning, help with a little bit of the food preparation, and maybe little bit with watching the kids, but mostly her job was to be help working on cleaning, with the type of environment that was so hot and humid and germs would grow like crazy. We remember just loving the fruit because it was so plentiful that you could just have bananas, and oranges, and grapefruit and lemons, and limes, and papaya, all kinds of wonderful fruit, pineapples it was just wonderful. Our maid’s name was Doris and she was just wonderful, and she was an older lady and kind and sweet, she just loved my sister Suzanne, and thought she was just the cutest little thing this reddish gold hair and eight-month-old little girl.”

Lisa recalls, “It was not easy to have a mom teaching her child, my mom was an excellent pianist and she had a bunch of piano books, I would work through them. I remember that it was something that I enjoy doing, I liked playing the piano and I was good at it and it was something that I connected with, something that I was good at. I was able to figure out quickly how to read music and so I was improving while I was there in Suriname.”

“Suriname gets a lot of rain there's a Big rainy season and there's a Little rainy season. And it rains a lot. You just get used to it. It just rains. It was kind of fun sometimes we like it when it rained a lot, and the streets would kind of flood we  would have these big buses that came through the subdivision where we lived and would stand there and wait for the bus to stop and pick somebody up and we wait till the bus would take off -- we would jump into the street right on the little bit of current  and float down the street that the bus had made by going through the water. When it wasn't raining, we like to go play with friends - lots of American kids were there to play with. 

My mom had gotten a bike because she wanted some exercise so she had a little seat on the front that she would put Suzanne in and another seat on the back of the bike that she would put Kevin in, then Craig and Keith and I would all ride our bikes and so in the evenings when is pleasant we would all get on our bikes and ride around and that was fun up and down the streets. 

Bills Family Christmas Newsletter 1967

Christmas letter from Bills Family to their friend and relatives:

Season Greetings from Suriname South America

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

    Surprise!  Those of you who have already received the news of our latest move will wonder what in the world we are doing here!  We spent last year in Lebanon, Pennsylvania where Jay helped construct a new rolling mill for Alcoa.  The end of July and the first part of August we vacationed in the west.  August 11 flew to New York City, stayed overnight and then on to South America, stopping at Barbados and Trinidad.  This flight on a big airplane was a first for all except Jay, who by now is a seasoned traveler on jets.  Surinam was called Dutch Guiana; we live in de capital city, Paramaribo 5° above the equator.

    Seeing another America on the streets is the exception here.  There are five groups of people – Creoles – 36% of the population, Hindustani or East Indian 33%, Indonesians 16%, Bushnegro3es and Amerindians 11%, Chinese 2%, Europeans and others 2%. We attend a Hindu religious ceremony which was fascinating.  We left with many questions and a better understanding of their religion.

    Weather is generally warm; we have yet to wear sweaters except in air-conditioned buildings.  During dry season – September and October, afternoons get uncomfortable, but it is raining now – like a faucet turned on.  When it stops the sun dries everything immediately.  The children love to play in the rain and they often do.  Humidity is high but our bodies are now acclimatized.

    When we arrived our refrigerator was filled with food and neighbors arrived to welcome us and to offer their help which was needed.  Shopping takes a lot of time; much different from the department stores and modern supermarkets of the states.  We purchase frozen meat and vegetables, lettuce, celery and ice cream that are shipped from the U.S. and buy locally all fish and the local vegetables and fruits are delicious.  Going to the market is very interesting. Canned food comes from U.S., Holland, Denmark, England, Ireland – a melting pot!  Some prices are comparable to U.S. but most are higher including gasoline – we drive a Volkswagen.

    Dutch is the official language which gives us an advantage since Jay spent two years in Holland on a mission for our Church.  He is teaching us basic words; Shirley can read it fairly well but speaking is another matter.  We feel more at home when we can read even store signs.  English is taught in their schools so most people can understand us.

    Jay is serving as Chief Engineer for the Construction Division of Suralco which the local subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America. Suralco is expanding their operations here in Surinam by adding a fifth refining unit, a dock facility to load alumina on ships, and other related projects.  This is the first refining unit that any of us had seen and therefore is proving to be quite a challenge.  An aluminum refining unit takes bauxite, which is the ore from which aluminum is made, and converts it to a white powder and called alumina.  Most of the alumina produced here will be shipped out through the dock although some of it will be retained for reduction into metallic aluminum in the smelter the company has here.  He plays golf each Saturday and is teaching himself to play the guitar – getting quite good at it.

    Shirley has a part-time maid and is thoroughly enjoying the freedom this gives her.  She takes a ballet/exercise class (measurements are smaller as a result), golf lessons, takes daily bicycle rides with Kevin and Suzanne in Dutch-made sets attached to the bicycle.  She is den mother for Cub Scouts (thank goodness for her assistant) .

    Keith, 9 1/2, is 4’10” tall and continues to grow tall so fast. He is a Cub Scout, has a mechanical mind like his father – very happy taking things apart.  He fulfills the role of “older brother” to a T, especially with Kevin and Suzanne. Anything to do with airplanes, space, trains – purely boy things, he loves.

    Lisa, I, is our young lady.  She is slender, dark blond, takes ballet lessons (only American in the class), loves piano, is a whiz at reading and is learning to sew.  She and Keith attend the American School here in Via Bella, which is the Suralco housing area.

    Craig, 5 1/2 , is tall and more slender than last year; looks just like Jay. He attends a Dutch kindergarten and learning Dutch songs; counts better in Dutch than English.  He is a “first-rate” helper and talks constantly.

    Kevin, 3, talks a streak, looks like Lisa, has a built-in motor (meaning who needs an engine in the house when we have him?) and loves stories read to him.  He is a “mother’s boy” still. The move seemed the hardest on him, as he didn’t want out of his mother’s sight.  Just fine now, though.

    Our newest addition, Suzanne, was born last January 14; looks like Craig and her daddy.  She is dark, fat, happy and about ready to walk.  The entire family dotes on this doll.

    We are the only members of the church here, so hold our own Junior Sunday School and Primary. We are enjoying the experience of teaching our children and are so thankful for the supplies provided by the church.  Our testimony meetings are just beautiful.  We miss associating with other members, but our appreciation for the church and its teaching have grown by leaps and bounds.  Each member of the family except Suzanne takes part in our services.  Each Sunday night we play Zion, a church game, with Keith and Lisa, and are amazed at their grasp of church doctrine.  We are spending much more time with the children than ever before so feel the move here was well worthwhile if only for that reason.

    We are well, enjoying this experience and do hope this Christmas season finds each of you as happy as The Bills Household is. May God’s choicest blessings be yours. 

Christmas 1967