''A no san fesi e sori, ati e tyari'' (Not what is shown on the face, is what the heart carries)

I have chosen this saying because it resembles that the way we look or act doesn't define who we as people are. It takes more to actually get to know a person to know the pureness of their soul.

From mother to kids, grandparents to grandchildren cultural heritage plays a major part in a Surinamese household. As a kid I’ve always been amused by the amazing stories my grandmother told and memories she shared. One of the most important items within our family is Aisa Mama. She has many names but is known, shown and presented as a spiritual being and mother nature. She is connected to the old plantations and protects the ones that respect her. In our house she is displayed as a doll.

For Afro-Surinamese women, the way of dressing was bound by rules both during slavery and afterwards. Legal rules had been established about how slaves should dress. Before the abolition of slavery in 1863, slave girls' clothing consisted of a flannel, a breastplate, a short skirt and a bag-shaped dress. This bag-shaped dress, designed to give the slave a "deformed" appearance, is said to have been designed out of jealousy by the slave owners' husbands, because they felt that their husbands paid too much attention to the young slave girls.

After the abolition of slavery, women wore a jacket, a wide skirt and a headscarf. The koto (skirt and blouse) and the angisa (headscarf) belong to the traditional costume that originated in Suriname during the slavery period. Over time, different koto styles developed, adapted to different occasions. The angisa, which can be tied in various ways, was intended to cover the hair. It soon became an instrument for communicating messages to others and reflecting the mood of the Creole woman. A well-known angisa binding style is 'Let them Talk', but other sayings (odos), life wisdoms, messages and warnings were also passed on with a certain binding style.

Aisa Mama is a culture heritage that is being shared many years and further on to remind me how powerful our history and clothing was. How it impacted the Surinamese culture and the importance of it.

The second item displayed in my heritage archive is a sek seki, also known as a maraca. The maraca is a musical instrument from tribes of the South and Central American origin. To be exact this instrument is of Native American origin and is often used for ritual purposes. In our cultural and family it was used for those exact reasons, but my grandmother also shared it as a rattle or toy for little kids or babies. I remember taking it out of my grandmother's bedroom, shaking and running along the house to my own beats.