These ones are always tough.  This week we bring you another installment in our Girmit series where we continue to expose the harsh truths about this system.  Indentured Labour was slavery reimagined.  Its slight modifications convinced Pacific Island colonizers that they were acting humane enough.  The experience of being a labourer was far from humane.  Close living quarters, unsanitary conditions, and malnutrition and starvation were a regular part of being a Girmitiya.  Mental health was extremely poor which led to dark solutions for those desperate to escape.  By creating these episodes and sharing them with you, we are learning, healing, and ensuring that the legacies of our ancestors are not lost to the world.  They were people and they mattered.  They still matter.

A very special thank you to Dr. Brij Lal and his colleagues for their efforts in researching and publishing our history. http://girmitiya.girmit.org/new/index.php/articles/dr-brij-lal/chalo-jahaji/

Sources:

Text - ‘Chalo Jahaji : on a journey through indenture in Fiji’  Dr Brij V. Lal., 2000

Girmit.org - http://girmitiya.girmit.org/new/index.php/articles/girmit-the-indenture-experience-in-fiji/

News article - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60874042#

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