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Here in 2004 is a young shepherd with his sheep photographed as he walks along beside the train. We can imagine his life, lived close to the land in a tight-knit rural community. Although lacking in many of the benefits of modern technology, people here have been able to escape the grinding poverty of Cairo.
There is great diversity within India, but it can nevertheless be characterized as a country of farmers. Although Rajasthan is one of India's more prosperous states, you can see from the photo that life in rural areas is relatively primitive. Even with many government initiatives to combat it, rural poverty - along with indebtedness and suicide - remains a problem.
These photos, taken in 2007, show the primitive but effective way this farmer is irrigating his fields. You can see the stream which is the source of water just below the water wheel. Because of its dry climate, Rajasthan agriculture must depend on irrigation.
This young girl, photographed from the train in India in 2007, would likely be typical of many rural children raised in poverty in that country. The 2001 census reported a rural population of 740 million out of a total population of 1.17 billion. Although fertilizers and irrigation have improved the productivity of the soil, most of India's rural population remain poor, and many are deeply in debt to the extent that suicide is a major problem. Because the debt passes from father to son, their situation appears hopeless. Experts estimated, for example, that there were approximately 17,500 farmer suicides each year between 2002 and 2006. Recently, the government has initiated a program of debt relief for farmers. Though it will no doubt help, it is unlikely to solve such a huge problem.
UNIVERSITY
My father completed Grade 12 and was accepted into the Engineering Faculty at the University of Alberta. Based on his birthdate, March, 26, 1912, this would likely have been in the autumn of 1929, with graduation in the spring of 1934.To pay for his tuition, he earned money every summer by selling magazines to farmers. His method was to go out into the country with a Model A Ford, a tent, and magazines. He sold these to farmers and took chickens and eggs in payment. He would camp out for a few nights and return to Edmonton, hoping that the chickens in the back of his Model A were still alive. At the market in Edmonton, he would sell the remaining chickens and eggs, pay for the magazines, retain a bit of money towards his university costs, and then repeat the cycle.
When as a child I first heard about this entrepreneurial streak of my father's, I didn't know what to make of it. I now find it quite typical of him - oblivious to hardship, stubborn, determined to show what he could achieve through hard work, and having a strong faith in Canada as the country of opportunity. As a child, of course, I didn't understand any of this. From the way people reacted when the story was told, I could see that in some way it was remarkable, making my father seem unusual compared with other parents - not something that would necessarily bring advantages to oneself where status at school was concerned.
Because I loved my father, it left me with a feeling of not quite fitting in. Unlike the kids at school who proudly wore green on St. Patrick's Day, I had neither knowledge nor pride in my heritage. My Dad believed that people who left Europe for Canada should leave their customs behind and embrace the new country where all were equal. Instilling a pride in our ancestry was not consistent with that approach.
Only later, when I was an adult myself and had lived in England for a couple of years, was I able to put all of this into a different context. When I met several people there who shared his values, I could see him for what he really was, feel admiration for him, and be proud that he was my father. I only wish he had taught me to speak French!
The pictures from top to bottom are: 1) Looking out from the house in Calder with the Model A covered in snow 2) my father in what looks to be the uniform of a cadet 3) my father camping out probably with his Model A and chickens 4) my father's university graduation photo and 5) father camping out.
KINUSO, LESSER SLAVE LAKE
My grandmother was very unhappy in Kinuso. She didn't like her sister-in-law and was unhappy about the growing debt the family owed at the general store. She thought my grandfather was capable of working in an office, but he didn't have confidence in his English which he had learned in Belgium (the family spoke French).
In 1919, when the children were five, six and seven years old, the parents were forced to take work at a lumber mill in Chisholm, northwest of Athabasca. My grandfather worked as a bookkeeper and my grandmother, a cook. Because the mill had no facilities for families, the children were taken to a convent in Grouard. My father never mentioned the convent. My aunt Jacqueline, however, has said it was quite horrific, obviously because of the separation from their parents, but also because of the unkind treatment they received from the nuns.
We don't know how long this period lasted. Finally, my grandmother decided to leave on her own or possibly with the children. She went to Lacombe near Red Deer to work as a maid. Fortunately, my grandfather went after her and agreed to move to Edmonton where he got a job as a writer for a small French language newspaper called La Survivance. I estimate that the move took place between 1922 and 1925.
In 1914, English was the fourth most common language in Edmonton, after French, Cree and Gaelic. Copies of La Survivance were digitized at the University of Alberta because of their importance as historical documents.
Pictured in the photos are my father in the front row bottom right with his Grade 8 Class; with friends at Moose Lake, his sister, Jacqueline, on the right; a copy of La Survivance; my father, his brother Albert and their dog.
HOMESTEADING IN FORT SASKATCHEWAN
Homesteading turned out to be a financially disastrous venture. Because they knew nothing about farming, the family hired people to do the work. According to my mother, they also enjoyed lengthy visits at Edmonton hotels and regarded themselves as the Canadian version of landed gentry. The result was that they soon ran out of money. In 1909, my great-grandfather became ill and with two of his children and their spouses returned to Belgium. My grandparents remained in Canada, and were poor - very poor at first until their situation gradually improved.
After my great-grandfather's return to Belgium, my grandfather and his sister with their spouses moved to Kinuso on Lesser Slave Lake. I'm not sure how long they remained in northern Alberta before moving to Edmonton. My guess from dated photos is that it would be around 1926. During that time, farming efforts remained unsuccessful and there was increasing indebtedness. There is no doubt they suffered hardship: two of their children died, their first son, Jean, as an infant; and their daughter Jeanne from what sounds like pneumonia at the age of ten. On the other hand, their daughter, Jacqueline, became a school teacher, their sons John and Albert both became engineers. They had ten healthy grandchildren, and, most important of all, their three children who survived to be adults were all very fine people.
My grandfather is on the left in the photo. It was taken in the Belgian Congo some time between 1906 and 1908.
EMIGRATION TO CANADA
Details about the family's emigration to Canada were provided by my aunt Jacqueline and my mother. My great-grandfather, Jean Gaspard III Darimont, pictured in the photo, was the first family member to come to North America. As a Brussels businessman who was importing Waverley bicycles and hardware from America, he visited that country early in the 20th Century. He was impressed by how easy it was to acquire land for farming there compared with Europe. Consequently, in 1905, he and three of his married children and their spouses left Belgium for Canada where they settled on a homestead at Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta near Edmonton.
The first photo is of Jean Gaspard Darimont II, my great great grandfather. The second photo is an advertisement for Waverley bicycles, and the third is of my great grandfather, Jean Garspard Darimont III.
