My Friend Dicky

SUBJECT: My Friend Dicky
AUTHOR: Carlos Gates, Age 11, lives with his parents, one brother and two sisters, and cousins in the village of Kaikan, Guyana, near the Venezuelan border.
DATE: May 13, 1997

I got to know my friend Dicky when I got to know everybody else. I made friends with him at school. He is one of my best friends. He is 11 and he is in Primary Four, in the same grade with me. He comes from a big family. Lets see how many people are in his family. There are 8 brothers and

My Friend Dicky (left)

sisters and two parents in his family. From the oldest, there is Dickinson, Annie, Suzie, Suzane, Dicky, twins Raico and Marco, and Ronald the youngest.

His father speaks Spanish, English and Akawaio. Dicky speaks Akawaio and English. Some of his relatives live on the Venezuela side of the river and some on the Guyana side. He likes to play soccer and he plays it pretty good. He swims like a fish and he paddles a canoe very well. He is an expert.

One of his favorite foods is cassava bread made by his mother and sisters. One tenth of all the cassava bread they make is taken to church for tithing. When the deacons dedicate the cassava

[Carlos at School]

Carlos, Dicky and friends line-up before school

bread to God along with the other offerings and tithe. I don't know what they do with the cassava bread after that, but I saw some people carrying home some cassava bread after church. They probably sell it to the people and they eat it. Dicky doesn't eat very much, but he eats whatever types of foods he is served. He sleeps with all his family in a one-room house. Sometimes he sleeps on a bed, and sometimes in a hammock. His father says he is obedient, but has to be reminded each time.

Dicky likes to come over to my house sometimes and play the card came UNO. He also likes to play with the small airplanes my daddy brought me. We always like to walk to school together. We have to walk about half a mile to school and we talk as we walk. We also swim together alot.

Your friend Carlos

You may write to Carlos at: gates@andrews.edu

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Last Updated: May 13, 1997