So, the last few days I've been pretty tired and I was kind of on the verge of collapse, when my friend dragged me to Nieuw- Amsterdam. That's our place to just get some air and sit by the river and let it all hang out.
Normally we sit by the river for a while and then go home. But this time we walked the entire stretch and looked around a bit more.
Nieuw- Amsterdam is the capital of the Commewijne district in Suriname and is situated along the confluence of two rivers.
Many important offices such as the district commissariat, the administration, but also the police station and an clinic of the Foundation for Regional Health Services are located here.
There is also a museum, where you can see some things from colonial times.
Along the banks of the rivers, you can still see the large cannons from the Second World War. These were then set up by the Americans to protect against German ships.
We first sat for a while along the river. Although, unlike the last time I was here, there was no dirt thrown everywhere, the benches were still quite dirty.
For a small moment we thought it was going to rain and storm terribly hard. The wind almost blew us over and the clouds looked frightening. But the weather is so unpredictable in Suriname.
Fifteen minutes later the clouds had disappeared and the sun was shining happily again!
We then walked around for a while. We passed the cannons, the many trees and then we discovered an outdoor gym and playground between two slopes.
We decided to take a look and go crazy for a while. Some parents who were there with children laughed at us, but who cares right. 😅
After almost 20 years I went on the slide again. It was nice to be a kid again.
Finally, we walked past the offices. I looked at the railing and had to think back to the times when I studied architecture and had to study these kinds of buildings in depth.
In front of the offices you have a kind of small square where there are flowers and plants.
We were just walking to the car when I quickly walked to the statue of Baba and Mai (father and mother in Hindi).
When slavery was abolished in Suriname in 1863, there was an urgent need for workers.
In 1873, therefore, Hindus, among others, were brought from India to Suriname. They came there as contract workers and were also promised that they could return after their contract was completed. The first Hindus came with the ship "Lallarookh" to Suriname.
These Hindus came to Suriname full of hope, were under the impression that they could earn a lot of money and then return to their homeland.
Nothing was less true. They were treated in a degrading way on the boat and many Hindus died before reaching Suriname. Those who did come to Suriname had to work for very low wages.
I myself am the great-grandchild of one of the little boys who sat on the Lallarookh and came from India to Suriname with his mother.
In this picture you see the statue of Baba and Mai and in the background an imitation of the ship "the Lallarookh".
All in all, we had a fun day. A few hours out did us both good.
