Smiling at the Future and Thinking about the Past

Cergia González García was born on February 2, 1939 in Punta Gorda. She was the third of five children born to Ebencio González, a farmer, and Everista García. She was raised by her grandmother, Guillerma. “I remember plenty of things,” says Mrs. Cergia about her youth. “I remember waking up at 5 a.m. to pick up cohune [nuts].” She was five, and already working to help the family make ends meet. A boat from French Harbour comes to pick up the nuts every 15 days.

Helping the family came at a cost.

Helping the family came at a cost. As a child, Mrs. Cergia never had a chance to go to school. Only when Mrs. Cergia was in her thirties did she had a chance to go to school. She learned how to read and write in an educational program for adults that is given at a school in Punta Gorda. For 19 years, she worked as a domestic worker in Jonesville. She had three children, then married, and had another eight.

Since she turned 65, Mrs. Cergia began selling small food items from a small wooden table on the side of the street in Punta Gorda. Her son manages a bar right behind her stand.

She has a confident gaze, and an air of comfort about her. “I don’t regret nothing (sic!),” says Mrs. Cergia. She feels right at home in the middle of Punta Gorda’s street.

The Overlooked Beauty of South-Mid Shore of Roatan

There are vertical rock formations, chimney like cliffs and abundant forests stretching from the island’s top ridge to the shore.

The long established and loved resorts like Fantasy Island, Coco View and Media Luna are there. The last undeveloped bight, never stain Bight, is here as well. A few have tried; none have succeeded in developing this gorgeous bight surrounded by forests.

There are kilometers of iron shore, mangroves and half a dozen little beaches. The south side of Roatan does have beaches and they are like little jewels scattered on the lush green of the island’s tapestry.

The eastern current keeps the water clean, Sea life more abundant and visibility is better here than many other places around the island. Snails cling on to the jagged Iron shore rock, the flying fish jumping front of passing boats. There are visiting whale sharks in early spring, and regular patrols by tarpon and sunfish.

In the distance local fishermen in wooden dories drop their lines looking for snapper and barracuda. Snowy egrets rest over pools waiting at an opportunity to snatch passing fish. As the day ends, the sun sets over the hills of Roatan. Its mid island blues.