Simon G. Wilson

My name is Simon Wilson. I was born in Saba in 1953. I went to school here. And the school, the old school, used to be in The Bottom.

Living here and growing up as a kid, you know, we had a fun time. Ten, 11 years of age — school first, and after school we come home, you get something to eat, and you put on your short pants, big shirts, and you go to the mountain, Mount Scenery.

My father had a plantation. So my father, we weren't rich people, but we were rich by the grace of god, because he was able to provide for ten children. We used to cut grass, bring the grass home, we had a cow in the yard. He used to milk the cow every morning, and we used to take the milk and carry it into The Bottom to be sold. My mother was a nice lady. She used to bake bread. And we used to bring the bread over to the Windwardside here by my aunt, and sell the bread.

I left the island at the age of 12. In those years we didn't have secondary school like you have it now, we just had primary school. So when you reached a certain age, sixth or seventh grade, you had to leave the island to go to either Curacao or Aruba for further education.

We were sent to Aruba. And then after secondary school, ready to go to university, I was able to go to a school in Trinidad and Tobago called Mount Saint Benedict — a theological school. So I did seven years of theology. I became a Roman Catholic priest. Up to today, I'm still a Catholic priest on retirement — semi-retired, but enjoying life here on Saba. I love being a communicator, being able to communicate with kids, youth, grownups, and seniors. So this is me after 70 years of life experience.

I have a brother here, Franklin Wilson, who was a teacher, and now he's forming teachers to become teachers. And my sister's the head of the post office in Sint Maarten. My brothers, they became engineers in Sint Maarten and also in Saba, and I have two sisters in Holland, in nursing. Having a humble background, we're able to become something positive. And little Saba, just five square miles, but we are proud of that.

I'm proud to be a Saban. I'm proud that I was born here. I'm proud to be a son of the soil. And I was able to give back to Saba some time of my ministry, some time for my livelihood. So I'm happy to be here. If you've never been to Saba, do come and visit. It's called the unspoiled queen.