Islands in the Sky

David Gates

2013년 9월 · AuthorHouse

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The Falklands, at the time of this story, were a little known group of islands miles away from anywhere that most people hadnt even heard of. Of course, nearly everyone has now heard of them and most even have a good idea where they are. Back in the late 60s and early 70s they were a sleepy spot on the map where nothing much happened. They didnt bother anyone and no-one bothered them. For two hundred years nothing much had changed in that respect and the modern world had only just begun to impinge on the islanders way of life. There was no TV and, of course, no internet. Telephone communications to Home, as the UK was called, were limited to a few minutes per day when a particular satellite passed by and then only from a special room in Port Stanley, its capital. The author was pitched into a way of life that was completely unlike anything most Brits ever experience and this book describes his struggle to adapt to a new way of life at the same time as learning how to teach in extraordinary circumstances. The things that happened to him were unusual, often very funny (in retrospect) and his story gives the reader a unique insight to the Falklands at that time, the place and its people. The islands have, of course, changed dramatically since the war of 1982 and the advent of fishing licences, tourism and, latterly, oil exploration have had a major impact, not to mention the presence of thousands of military personnel. The sovereignty row with Argentina rumbles on and the islanders future has a dark cloud looming over the horizon. It is in the hands of politicians outside of their homeland. This book depicts an altogether more innocent, unspoilt and peaceful time.

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David Gates went to the Falklands at the age of 20 to become a teacher having had no experience or training in that profession. At that time (1968) not many people, including him, had heard of the islands. He had no idea of what awaited him. He spent three years travelling around that remote, windswept archipelago teaching, as he puts it, any children he could round up, teach them for two weeks and then go off somewhere else leaving enough homework to keep them occupied until his next visit. Most of the time he lived with the families of the children he taught. He travelled by horse, boat, floatplane, landrover and on foot. As a result he gained a unique insight into the place and its people. His previous work as a bank clerk in London’s Fleet St., and as a civil servant working at The Ministry of Overseas Development prepared him only insofar as it bored him mindless enough to wish to go anywhere to get out of the rut he was in. Which was why, until he got his travel instructions, he believed he was going to somewhere off the north-west coast of Scotland and hadn’t even bothered to look them up on a map. He says that the time he spent in the Falklands were the equivalent of a university education and National Service rolled into one. The experience, whilst testing, has made a lasting impression on him and his story of that time is a very personal and evocative memoir.