As a small child in Jamaica, Evadney Campbell loved it when barrels of gifts arrived at Christmastime from her parents in England. She was thrilled to receive the dolls, the English crinoline dresses with ribbons, the pretty white socks and shiny patent shoes.
It was only years later that Campbell realized the deliveries were bittersweet. For scores of children who grew up in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean in the 1950s and 60s, those barrels were the only connection they had with their parents, who had traveled thousands of miles away to Britain in search of better work opportunities.
