Micah B Rubin

Bajan Beautifiers

Barbados’s paradise isn’t coincidental. “Bajan Beautifiers” documents and celebrates the landscapers and gardeners who travel by bicycle to jobs sculpting Barbados’s natural beauty.

BIM’s landscapers and gardeners work hard. They are often self-employed entrepreneurs hungry for work, always hustling for new clients and jobs.

They travel the island on bicycles laden with whackers, rakes, and blowers – even lawn mowers. One landscaper bicycles more than 35km each way from Christ Church to a job near the former St. Lucy Arawak Cement factory.

Their talent and determination craft Barbados’s natural features into the perfect yards, hedges and gardens.

My photos celebrate their grit and perseverance and shine a light on this invisible (or overlooked) section of the Barbadian economy and workforce.

Without their abilities, Barbados would still be beautiful, but the landscapers transform it into the Bajan paradise we love.

Rashad Knight with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Rashad Knight, 26, lives in St. Phillip. His landscaping career began with a need to feed the animals he raises. He started cutting grass for himself then others and uses the cuttings to feed his animals. He works full time for a landscaping company and also works for personal clients as a side hustle.
David Phillips with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
David Phillips, 60, takes the prize for longest distance traveled for work – 38km. David lives in Christ Church and works as a landscaper full time for the American University of Barbados, School of Medicine. His farthest personal client though is located near St. Lucy’s Arawak Cement factory. For years David did construction work. The work was hard and he disliked leaving and returning home in the dark. In 2007 when a construction project completed, the newly-opened hotel offered him a job. He requested and was given a landscaping role. Two-years later, he was laid off and has earned enough as an independent gardener to save his full-time salary for retirement. He loves biking for the fitness and says it keeps him young. He also has backup whackers and a lawnmower which he’s been known to strap onto his bike as jobs warrant.
Kevin Davis with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Kevin Davis, 42, lives in St. Phillip but is originally from Guyana where he also did landscaping work. “I love to see something that you plant and the way that it come up,” he says. “Nature is just beautiful.” Kevin likes working around engines and services his own equipment for the mostly one-off jobs he gets around St. Phillip and Grantley International Airport. His life is driven by faith and Kevin has been religious since he was young. He loves writing and singing gospel music and plays keyboard and guitar at church crusades. “Life is not an easy thing,” he says. “If you want to achieve, you have to have a goal you are focusing on.” “Nothing comes easy unless the lord wants to bless you,” he says. “Just keep working very hard and focus on your goals.”
Mitchell Dawe with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Mitchell Dawe, 51 has worked as a full-time landscaper for 25-years. He usually works four-days a week. While most of his jobs are in St. James, he travels from Bridgetown to clients as far as Durants, Chris Church. He lives in St. Michael with two of his three daughters.
Earl “Early B” Bennett with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Earl “Early B” Bennett, 52, grew up and lives in St. John. He works full-time for the Barbados Agricultural Management Company Ltd. (BAMC) and also picks cotton during the harvest season. For Earl, landscaping is a side hustle. Earl also farms multiple plots of organic fruits and vegetables near his home. “Seems me strong, I live long,” he says. The land is in his blood and generations of Earl’s family have farmed Barbadian soil.
Leroy Benn with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Leroy Benn, 54, lives in St. Phillip. When he was 14-years old, he saw a neighbor landscaping and thus began his landscaping career. Leroy biked for years and eventually purchased a vehicle which he now uses to get to jobs. He’s never advertised and finds work through word of mouth. Leroy does landscaping, lawn work, tree trimming and usually works Monday through Friday, but sometimes Saturdays. He has two children: one studying in the United States and the other works with him in his landscaping business.
Mario Johnson with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Mario Johnson, 34 lives in Christ Church and has been a landscaper for 10-years. He worked for multiple landscaping companies – including the company that landscaped Coverly – until venturing out on his own in 2018. He landscapes on the weekends and has clients in St. John, St. Joseph, St. Andrew, St. Thomas and nearby Christ Church and St. Phillip. During the week, Mario repairs air conditioning machinery but finds peace gardening and landscaping. “I love it,” he says. “It takes you somewhere, only you’s been there. You can clear your mind.” Mario’s dream is to become a professional tattoo artist. His 14-tattoos include the names of his four siblings from his mom’s side and would love to get more. One of his tattoos he gave himself.
Omar Pander with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Omar Pander, 50, lives in Christ Church and is a part-time landscaper who enjoys entrepreneurship. “I like to hustle,” he says, describing his schedule working seven-days a week. Omar’s introduction to work was painting cars when he was 16. Today his main income comes from painting – mostly cupboards and cars. Omar dives for fish and sea cat (octopus). He also removes bee swarms and is passionate about bees and honey.
Sweet Boy with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Photographing Sweet Boy was the project’s biggest challenge. For months, I unsuccessfully tried flagging him from my car while he was riding to and from jobs. I later learned Sweet Boy is hard of hearing and communicating with proved challenging. This photograph was taken while he was working in Lower Carters Gap, in his home parish of Christ Church.
Alvin Boden with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Alvin Boden, 50, lives in Long Bay, St. Phillip. A friend introduced him to landscaping when he was 18 years old, and he began working as a landscaper for a big house in Sandy Lane, arguably Barbados’s most luxurious community. He left that job after four years and worked for different hotels, adding maintenance and pool management to his responsibilities. “Stress work,” he calls it. He concurrently did construction work, including building Barbados’s wind turbine project. He also grows and sells produce to hotels and individuals, something he learned from his father. In his free time, Alvin plays cricket and likes to watch horse racing. On his birthday a few years back, he won $150 on a trifecta, his biggest jackpot.
Kyle “Spider” Harewood with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Kyle “Spider” Harewood, 34, is from Maxwell, Christ Church and has been a landscaper since helping out his friends in December 2022. Prior to that, he worked in hospitality as a waiter and bartender. When the pandemic hit, another friend taught him to pick coconuts. He climbs the trees without safety equipment and sells coconut water, sometimes delivering the jugs. The tallest tree he’s climbed was six stories. His tricycle was a gift from a family member. It can hold two bunches, around 20 coconuts at a time.
Kent Bovell with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Kent Bovell, 46, lives in Dash Valley, St. George, and started landscaping when he was 14 or 15 years old, with a pause to be a cook, his true passion. He was getting in trouble, rebelling against having a mom who worked as an overseas nanny in Antigua, the USA, England and Australia, and was raised by his aunts and uncles. His father was never in the picture. The landscaper who introduced him to the trade gave him work and planted this career seed. He owns two whackers and sometimes brings his daughter to work when he’s watching her. Kent is passionate about cooking and worked at Turtle Beach Hotel for seven years without a vacation. When he asked his head chef, and then HR, for a vacation, they laid him off. The Labor Office got him his back pay but not his job back. Since then, he’s struggled to get cooking jobs. He reconnected with the man who introduced him to landscaping years later and resumed his old trade. The man, who died in 2020, would get the jobs and Kent would do the work. He has around 10 clients and finds new work through word of mouth. Having a bicycle loaded with equipment also attracts new clients. Landscaping is a risky profession. Kent has been hit by a car, which resulted in long-term back problems, and he was assaulted by a client over money in August 2022. The person hit him with a stick, breaking his radius and requiring surgery and pin installation, leaving Kent out of work for five months. Eventually he cut part of his cast off to resume working. He loves riding to jobs. “If I ride, I see the beauty,” he says, but ultimately, “My goal is to get from Barbados and open my own restaurant.”
Anderson Baker with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Anderson Baker, 48, has been a gardener for more than 25 years. He started working for a lady who gave him a job, although he no longer works for her. Monday through Friday, he works for the NCC (National Conservation Commission), using his weedwhacker to clean roadsides. Anderson, who is a twin, was in prison for 14 days for cutting someone with a machete after the person hit him in the back of the head with a bottle. He also used to raise and fight cocks.
Carlos “Wonie” Simpson with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Carlos “Wonie” Simpson, 50, is a college-educated gardener who lives on Society Hill, St. John, near Codrington College. He works seven days a week and, due to a disability, rides with his tools on his shoulders. His goal is to become a manager and delegate work to others, as the physical requirements of gardening take a toll on his body. He tried for nine months to get assistance from the government without any luck. He’s also a farmer and hopes to get help preparing the land and gaining farming knowledge. In May 2017, four days before his birthday, Carlos was picking breadfruit in a tree near his home when he was grievously electrocuted and fell to the ground from a 16-foot-high branch. The voltage entered his hand, raced down his body and exited his leg and foot, leaving 3rd and 4th degree burns. Fourth degree burns scorch the body from the inside out. Over subsequent months, Carlos spent three months, and then another two months, in the hospital undergoing 13 surgeries. He endured 10 skin grafts, including three grafts on his left hand alone. He lost his right arm and part of his left foot. His body is covered in scars and burns. His remaining hand is completely scarred.
Richard Lashley with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Richard Lashley, 58, grew up in Passes Garden, St. Michael, but now lives with his wife in St. Christopher, Christ Church. They’ve been together since 1990 and have two children. He began landscaping in 2020 during COVID and also runs a car valet business. Before becoming a landscaper, Richard was a professional truck and taxi operator. He delivered groceries for Kelsi’s Supermarket from 1990 until 1996, then became a taxi driver. Driving “was my love,” he says. He could return to taxi driving but prefers landscaping. It’s “much easier,” he says, and there’s “no owner to pay but myself.” It was hard work to become an entrepreneur, Richard says, but he likes a challenge: “I’m the gorilla. I can fight in any ring.”
Peter Myers with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Peter Myers, 58, grew up and lives on Enterprise Coast Road in Christ Church. He began landscaping in 2019 and also does plumbing, painting, haircuts and bicycle repair. “As a Bajan [life here] is hard. Work is hard to find. Things are expensive,” he says. Prior to working as a landscaper, he worked for the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) for seven years until he was severely injured on the job. While working near Westbury Cemetery, the jackhammer he was operating fell on his leg, causing significant damage and leaving him in chronic pain with bad arthritis. He now walks with a makeshift cane and cannot fully extend his leg. The BWA claimed it was an old injury, despite having no previously documented injury. Peter has been fighting to receive unemployment and reimbursement for his medical bills since the accident and feels discarded by his former employer. In 2021, his home was destroyed by Hurricane Elsa. Former opposition leader Ralph Thorne offered to assist him with his home and compensation for his injury but didn’t. Peter enjoys riding his bike to Miami Beach and Enterprise Cliff. He used to fish but it’s too painful due to his injury. “Barbados is a hustling place,” Peter says. “We as Bajans have to hustle to get what we need.”
Junior “Woody” Franklin with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Junior “Woody” Franklin, 62, grew up and has lived in Venture, St. John, his entire life. He began landscaping in 2021 when work for his nearly 40-year career as a mason dried up. He currently works for the government managing the roadsides around Four Roads and Easy Hall, St. John. Working is in his blood, Junior says, and when not working, he enjoys drinking rum or beer. He used to own and ride a motorcycle but sold it to fund building his house. Asked what advice he would give his younger self, Junior says, “Look for work and be happy. Be independent for yourself.”
Karl Herbert with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Karl Herbert, 67, lives in Black Rock, St. Michael, and has landscaped full time for 15 years. “I like being out there cutting the grass, trimming trees. I like helping people,” he says. “It makes the place look tidy. It looks like Christmas.” Karl’s been an avid bicyclist for years, like his grandfather, and even built his own bike. It has especially strong rims to withstand the equipment’s weight and a solar-powered front light. Karl’s previous employment includes careers in security and working on a chicken delivery truck. The repetitive exposure to warm and cold led to the development of arthritis in both of his hands. Karl’s home is fully energy independent, with a solar system and backup batteries. He learned to set up the system by watching YouTube videos, chatting with people online and getting assistance from his neighbor, whose home is also off the grid. The batteries are retired cells from the Atlantis Submarine.
Hunter Toppin with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Hunter Toppin, 57, lives in Church Hill, Christ Church and grew up near the airport. He’s been gardening and landscaping for 29 years. Hunter started out employed by another landscaping company, then went out on his own in 2018. He usually works three to four days a week and goes as far as St. Philip. He has a son and daughter, but his name is not on his son's birth certificate. When Hunter was younger, he injured his back while doing concrete work and still wears a back brace.
Emerson Lynch with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Emerson Lynch, 51, has lived his entire life in Venture, St. John. He started landscaping full time around 2015 and currently maintains the roads around Easy Hall, Mt. Tabor and Venture. He also does labor work, painting and some plumbing. Prior to landscaping, Emerson was a technician repairing and cleaning stoves, ovens and washing machines. He’s an entrepreneur at heart and wants to be his own boss. “I know it would be hard but I would be ready to fight,” he says. He’s applied to get government agricultural land and is waiting for approval to grow crops and chickens. “Got to go through so much to get things happen … or you got to know somebody. Got to scratch somebody’s back,” he says. His father was never around growing up, despite living a few streets away. They have a relationship today because Emerson let go of all the frustration toward his father, he says. “All I can do is show my respect.” He’s passionate about sports and assists coaching a football team. “Keep clean and have a pure heart, you be good.”
David Goodrich with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
David Goodrich, 59, has lived in his Gall Hill, Christ Church home his entire life. He’s been landscaping for 35 years and began after his aunt had a friend in St. Thomas who needed some gardening done. He had recently lost his job, and the friend, Enid Wolcott, taught him everything she knew. He has continued to maintain the home years after she and later her son died. Its current resident is Enid’s grandson. Years ago, David owned a car but sold it to save money. He has been biking for around 20 years. Both bikes in the photo are his. He rides as far east as Six Roads and as far west as Government Hill. Sometimes he works seven days a week. “I got the freedom to be my own boss, no one to make me miserable,” he says.
Rodney Burrows with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Rodney Burrows, 55, has always lived and worked in Christ Church. He’s been landscaping for 10 years and likes making his own money. He also does painting and sheetrock work and works seven days a week if he can. He has children and wants them to have “pretty jobs” and not work like him. He has been bitten by centipedes multiple times while working but is not allergic to their venom. His current bike is a gift as his original bicycle was stolen in March 2022. The police never found it.
James Cox with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
James Cox, 65, is an identical twin and one-minute older than his brother John. The brothers live within eyeshot of each other in Ball’s Land, Christ Church and always work together. James worked for a now-closed fruit and vegetable distributor before becoming a landscaper. “It bring money and we’re accustomed to working hard,” he says. The brothers had a hard and hungry childhood and are one of two sets of twins in their family. They have 14 brothers and sisters. Growing up, their father worked at the nearby plantation, bringing home what food he could, but the boys were often hungry. On their way to school, they would grab sugar cane from the nearby field for breakfast. They did not have electricity or a stove, and their mother cooked by fire. They were also literally naked as children and received their first pair of trousers when they attended polytechnic. James went to school barefoot and rarely had books to study. There was also no one at home to help them study, and they did not attend high school. Their father attended church but the boys could not because they did not have the proper clothes. “We don’t fight, we don’t fuss, we live properly,” James said. Their cousin, Hunter Toppin, is also a landscaper photographed for this project.
John Cox with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
John Cox, 65, is an identical twin and his his brother James is one minute younger. The brothers live near each other in Ball’s Land, Christ Church and always work together. The brothers had a hard and hungry childhood and are one of two sets of twins in their family. They have 14 brothers and sisters. Growing up, their father worked at the nearby plantation, bringing home what food he could, but the boys were often hungry. On their way to school, they would grab sugar cane from the nearby field for breakfast. They did not have electricity or a stove, and their mother cooked by fire. They were also literally naked as children and received their first pair of trousers when they attended the polytechnic. They went to school barefoot and rarely had books to study. There was also no one at home to help them study, and they did not attend high school. Their father attended church but the boys could not because they did not have the proper clothes. Their cousin, Hunter Toppin, is also a landscaper photographed for this project.
John and James Cox with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
John and James Cox, both 65, identical twin brothers who always work together and live near each other in Ball’s Land, Christ Church.
Maurice Ashby with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Maurice Ashby, 46, has been landscaping for 15 years and rides from Christ Church as far as Westmoreland. He mostly grew up with his father, Ronald Ashby, who is also photographed for this project, in Church Hill. His mother lives in Canada. In addition to landscaping, Maurice does gardening and power washing, and considers himself a “Renaissance man” who enjoys hands-on learning. He enjoys fixing machines and repairs his own weedwhacker, including destroying a few while learning. Growing up, Maurice had a “hard ear” and found trouble. When he was 15, a romantic relationship with his art teacher led to her pregnancy and her moving to Canada to raise his twin children. He has never met them in person, but they video chat regularly. He resided at the Barbados Industrial School for nine months and later spent more than a year in jail for drugs. His father only found out Maurice was in prison after he got out. “Trouble, you get in trouble with yourself. You got to get your way out,” he said.
Rikeino Maynard with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Rikeino Maynard, 27, lives in Time Bottom, Christ Church, near Grantley International Airport. He built a home on land left to him by his grandmother and has been a landscaper since 2021. Previously, he worked as a security guard at a bank for around three years before an incident led to him losing his job in 2021. He had also been a military cadet, but the incident ended that career path as well. Rikeino began gardening shortly after losing his job to support his partner and two “sweet boys.” He hustles for work, regularly asking people if he can cut their grass. He has a business partner named Gregory for big jobs, and he also shares his bike with him. Growing up, he only met his biological father, a successful doctor who made bad decisions, twice. It hurt Rikeino very much growing up without a relationship with his father. At age seven, he witnessed his cousin, whom he calls his aunt, being chopped up in front of him by another cousin near his house. “When I work for myself, I feel good about myself,” Rikeino says. He is positive and believes positive energy keeps you moving forward. “Eventually the good will step over evil.”
Ken Roberts with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Ken Roberts, 37, has been gardening for nine years and lives in The Pine, St. Michael. He mostly works as an independent contractor for a company with little job stability and no fixed schedule. They call him the day or night before a job the following day. He provides his own equipment, fuel and transportation. He works for himself as a landscaper, and also does trimming and planting when he has free time. He enjoys working outdoors and along the highways. “Sometime when you do it, you find your own peace. It feels good, positivity,” he says. “Landscaping is a job to beautify the place, not just cutting grass,” Ken says. His goal is to get a van and expand his business. “Just go to try and hopefully you can get there,” he says
Hassan Ali with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Hassan Ali, born Nicholas Moseley, 69, is a Sagittarius who lives in Campions Castle, St. George. He has two bikes, both given to him as payment for jobs when the clients couldn’t give him cash. He enjoys landscaping because, “you just go and do what you have to do.” Most of his clients are Barbadians who have returned to the island after living abroad in England. He also does house maintenance and other handyman jobs, including carpentry, masonry, painting and electrical work. When he finished school, he sold sketches of tourists. Later he worked for Cumberbach Nursery in Sanford, St. Phillip, where he was the hatcher, but left to “make progress” and more money. He also sells plants, grass and plants for hedges. Hassan built his home and has an orchard full of fruit trees, including mangoes and limes. He has a “serious” dog to keep thieves away. Hassan also dives for sea eggs (urchins) and conch shells.
Colvin Green with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Colvin Green, 64, started landscaping in 1980 after leaving a construction job for better pay cutting grass. He works seven days a week and often finds new clients by people flagging him down while he’s riding around with his landscaping equipment. “I want to work for myself. I’m gonna work till I drop dead. I will always be working,” he says. When Colvin was 9 years old, he left his family home in St. George and never looked back. It was a good home, he says, but the country life was too slow for him. Colvin moved into the home of his St. Lucian friend Winston St. Pierre and his four siblings in Bank Hall, Bridgetown. Colvin’s parents never looked for him, and he never looked for his parents. He still lives in the same Bank Hall home with the St. Pierre family. Sadly, his friend Winston was hit by a car and killed while riding a bicycle when he was 24 years old. Growing up, Colvin would go to school in the mornings and work in the afternoons. He has a son in England who is an accountant. They talk regularly, but he has not seen him since he left the island as a young child. Colvin also enjoys building, repairing and collecting bicycles. He owns 13. He prefers BMX bicycles since they have stronger frames. His side hustle is power washing garbage trucks and houses. He tows a bicycle trailer laden with his power washing equipment to get to jobs, although some clients give him rides. Colvin has been a smoker since he was 9 years old. His doctor says his lungs are clear, which he attributes to drinking a cancer-killing bush tea of raw molasses and other herbs.
George Alexander with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
George Alexander, 65, lives in Clifton Hall, St. John, but is originally from Barbace, Guyana. He moved to Barbados in 2007 for work stability and to earn more money, and now has residency. Before settling in Barbados, he lived and worked cutting sugar cane in St. Kitts and now works on a plantation. His first job on the island, which lasted two years, was cutting cane for Clico. He then did general farm labor, including spraying herbicide, cleaning between the cane rows and planting edible crops. The farm closed and he moved to a different plantation where he works during the week. In 2014, he started landscaping in his free time and works on weekends. “I like to keep occupied,” he says. Field work is harder than landscaping.
Narainjan Dasasan with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Narainjan Dasasan, 70, used to live in Lemon Arbor, St. John. Originally from Diamond, East Bank, Demerara, Guyana, Narainjan moved to Barbados in 1999 after living in Suriname to find steady work. Since moving to Barbados, he has worked in agriculture and landscaping. He worked full time on a St. Phillip plantation in the cane fields and on weekends as a landscaper. He often worked alongside George Alexander. He has four children, including one who lives as a domestic worker in Barbados. He was away from his family for years but spoke to them weekly. Narainjan’s children were raised by his parents in Guyana. He retired in March 2023 and moved back to Guyana, where he owns a home.
Trevor Braithwaite with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Trevor Braithwaite, 69, lives in Enterprise, Christ Church and began working as a landscaper around age 16. He enjoys exercising, swimming and hunting for sea cat, or octopus. He used to swim from Miami Beach to Freights Bay six to seven times a day, but got out of the habit and hopes to resume swimming soon. Both of his parents have passed, but he has both sisters and brothers. He’s also married, but his wife lives in England and has lived there since she was 18.
Ryan Pilgrim with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Ryan Pilgrim, 49, lives in Fair Valley, Christ Church and has been a landscaper for more than 20 years. His first landscaping job was in the luxury development Westmoreland, and he later worked for Inch Marlow Hotel. In 2008, he bought his own weedwhacker and began working with his own clients. He is the first and only Rastafarian in his family.
Anderson Puckerin with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Anderson Puckerin, 54, lives in St. Philip near Three Houses Park, is Rastafarian and an eternal optimist. He's an entrepreneur who hustles and, in addition to being a landscaper, he’s a gardener and does odd jobs. He has also previously worked at a grocery store and as a baggage handler at Grantley Adams International Airport.
George Ferdinand with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
George Ferdinand, 72, was born in St. Lucia and moved to Bridgetown, Barbados when he was 12 years old, following his mother, who had immigrated earlier to find a better life for her family. His sister later moved to Bank Hall, where he still lives, and the family followed. George’s first job was in a noodle factory, but after only half a day in that role, he was transferred to an animal feed manufacturer owned by the same company, where he worked for a few years. He then worked in masonry, managed the scoring at Kensington Oval and started repairing weedwhackers, which he still does. When he left Bridgetown, he could no longer find masonry work and bought two whackers to pursue landscaping full time. George has mentored landscapers on how to cut grass, and clients often pay him more than he requests. He owns two bikes, a smaller one and a full-size bike, and gave away two cars because they were just too expensive. His hobby is making mosaics with the shells he’s harvested from the island. What brings him the most joy in life is giving gifts.
Shaquille Dawn with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Shaquille Dawn, 30, lives in Kendall Hill, Christ Church. Shaquille’s been a landscaper for a few years. He was doing general labor work until the Coronavirus pandemic ended work opportunities, when he took up landscaping. The career keeps him busy, working seven days a week when he can, and out of trouble. He sometimes works with his brother Shaquan Harding (same parents, just different surname). He finds work by approaching people and asking if they need their grass tended. Sometimes, when people don’t have cash, they’ll give him a glass of mauby and a piece of sweet bread. His goal is to open a car detailing business. When not working, he enjoys riding his bicycle with friends until they get tired.
Shaquan Harding with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Shaquan Harding, 28, grew up and lives in Kendall Hill, Christ Church. He lives next door to his brother Shaquille. He started as a landscaper while doing landscaping at a farm, then branched out on his own. He works in St. George, St. Phillip, St. John and Christ Church. The brothers sometimes work together. He is a trained mason and works with his father in his uncle’s construction company. He also has handyman skills, including painting, carpentry and plumbing. He doesn’t own a whacker but uses his brother’s and sometimes his aunt’s whacker. He enjoys riding bikes and drawing tattoos, and has a few of his designs tattooed on his body.
Brothers Shaquille Dawn and Shaquan Harding with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Brothers Shaquille Dawn and Shaquan Harding.
Ronald Ashby with a bicycle and landscaping equipment in Barbados
Ronald Ashby, 69, of Church Hill, Christ Church, lives with his son Maurice, who is also photographed for this project, and has been a gardener for more than 30 years. His mother was working as a maid in Atlantic Shores and got him a job gardening at the home where she worked. Ronald’s interests include reading the news and archaeology. He regularly reads the Bible and finds Elijah a compelling protagonist because “he proves the truth which god you serve.”