In my country Guyana this time of the year is associated with kite making and kite flying. It is so traditional in my country that when I first lived away from it I was taken aback that Easter came and there were no kites.

Recently I tried to find out the origins of this tradition. Asking older people only brought vague responses about it being our way of celebrating the resurrection of Christ. When I began researching the history of kites I found out that in both China and India there were long kite traditions. Something clicked. Maybe the Chinese or Indians brought it to Guyana.

As usual there are different claims about where kites originated. In some accounts it is China. Other stories say it began with societies in the South Pacific. The Balinese have a beautiful story on the origin of kites.

Kite flying symbolizes man