WE rolled into this quaint little village, and I was totally enthralled with its quiet, scenic beauty, fused with the residents’ seemingly contented smiles that oozed a somewhat dreamy solace and quietness to the village.All around, everyone was quietly going about their chores with a serious look of concentration on their faces, as if their lives depended on the tasks in which they were involved.

The tailor was sewing quietly, humming his favourite lullabies; and the fishermen were plying their trade, all ready to pitch in a few extras to keep their customers. Food vendors were doing their best to keep their customers satisfied, and the shop and boutique owners were all cheerful and welcoming, with a sweet undercurrent to their actions.

There is something very beautiful about the early morning in this beautiful West Coast Demerara village of approximately 2,000. Here, the cool of the night lingers in the dawn’s early shadows, as the birds compete in song before the air is filled with man’s noise and the roads are taken over by smoky trucks and speeding buses.

We began our work in the middle of this intriguing village, which is located about eight and one-half miles from Vreed-en-Hoop, has an estimated terrain elevation of two metres above sea level, and with Latitude readings of 6°51’0″, and Longitude readings of 58°16’59.98″
There were just a few people out in the streets when we started our work, and according to most residents, Anna Catherina is a quiet place and, above all, harmonious. It is divided into two parts, the housing scheme, and the squatting area, popularly known as ‘Sea View.’ The latter, as its name might suggest, provides an avenue of entertainment for the farming community, with sandy space, a spot for a fireside meal or bush cook, and plenty of cool, salty breeze blowing in from the Atlantic.

Most people in the village, the majority of whom are of Indian descent, earn their living as sugar workers, farmers or fishermen.
The housing scheme residents have access to electricity and landline phones, and have good roads and drainage. The squatting area residents, though, may not enjoy those luxuries of life, but they seemed ready to cope with travails with the hope that they will soon have a comfortable life like their neighbours on the roadside.

One may be tempted to enquire how the village got its name, and even though the very elderly Telochnie Persaud could not shed much light on its history, she informed us that the village was named after the famed Anna Catherina, the daughter of a famous Dutch colonial estate owner who had bought a part of Guyana and named two areas after his daughters. This Dutch family had resided in Guyana during the days when it was a colony. Hence today we are quite acquainted with Anna Catherina and Anna Regina, which are said to be historic villages.

The Annas of old
Under the sub-head of ‘Spanish,’ the names Santa Rosa, El Dorado, Anna Catherina and Anna Regina are cited. The last two are both plantation names, and Anna Regina specifically is in Essequibo, a county which is the subject of a spurious claim by Venezuela.

Anna Catherina is a Dutch name (‘Anna’ is a fairly common female name in both the Latin-based and Germanic languages), while the ‘Regina’ in Anna Regina is the Latin word for ‘queen’. This village was the first on the West Coast of Demerara to have housed a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. The famous Monarch Cinema of olden times was also erected in this historic village.

Chatting with residents
We stopped at a nearby food stall to chat with the cheery and bubbly ‘Tejram’, who was elated to have captured the media’s attention. While he was very happy with the dividends he was receiving from selling water coconuts, channa, polouri, egg balls and puri, he was very angry that vendors at the nearby Lenora Secondary School were locking the gates to prevent students from buying his items, which he said he keeps fresh and hot for the happy kids.

“Look, dem people does really get me mad! When de school ovah at 11:45 hours, dem canteen vendah ah get dem teacha fuh lack de gate and keep dem pickney inside till bout 12:15 hours, fuh ensure dem students buy frum de canteen. Dis ah cause me fuh get little sales, because de children prefer to buy frum me. Me get me gas stove right heasuh, and me a keep them snacks fresh and hat fuh de children. Dem ah de school deh ah carry in dem stuff since before seven in de marning, and ah sell de cold food tuh dem pickney.”

This man and his wife reportedly get up at 03:00 hours to prepare the snacks, and they would sell sometimes until 18:00 hours in the evening. This family undergoes hardship to make a living.

Our next stop was to converse with a tailor, 55-year-old Ganesh Persaud, who has been living in the village for over 40 years. As he pedalled away on his very outdated sewing machine, he narrated a tale that reflected his sufferings in his line of trade as a result of the many stores which have popped up in the village selling ready-made clothing.

“Bass, life stiff as ever, and meh really ah suffa since them plenty store start sell ready-made clothes. The competition is terrible, and nowadays people prefer to buy ready-made items than fuh wait a few days fuh me sew wha dem want.

“Me get this ole pedal machine fuh many years now, and me can’t afford fuh buy ah electric wan fuh speed up things, because de wuk nah come in.”

Yet he still has a few faithful customers, who are mostly the elderly; but even though he is single and lives alone, it’s very difficult to make ends meet as a result of the competition.
Fishmonger Saitram Prashad was a merry, contented soul, despite the fact that his trade of selling bush fish can be a gruelling one at times. “Bass, dis wuk wah me does do is really hard wuk, but it ah keep me head above wata.

“Most times, early marning me does get up when cack ah crow, and guh down in de backdam wid me cast net fuh catch bush fish in dem drains and trench. Sometimes me gat fuh feel in de drains fuh catch dem hassa, and many times meh does pull up snake. But dis is how me does mek me living, suh wha me guh she? Me does enjay it most times.”

Unemployment crisis and livelihood
Several very young residents lamented that, despite the calm and quiet of the village, unemployment is seeping its horrid head into their environs. Carpenter Looknauth Singh put down his hammer and nails for a while to talk about this.

“Things really quiet and peaceful in this village,” he said, “but my problem is that there is an unemployment problem that is creeping up on us. Many young boys are out of school and unable to find jobs because our village is still developing. So at times many of them could be seen liming at the street corners, with just about nothing to do.

“This is very dangerous, since idle minds can very well be lured into doing unsavoury acts in society”.

That aside, a large majority of the villagers are employed at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate as cane cutters and labourers, while a few occupy the administrative offices.

Some complained that it’s very expensive to work outside of the village, because transportation expenses take a large slice out of their small salaries and wages.

There are a few who are employed in the schools outside the village, and a small number tend to their farms in the backland areas of the village. Others have taken up the thriving trade of making concrete blocks, which brings in a quick dollar.

A few misgivings
A few concerned housewives are lamenting the fact that the Anna Catherina Government School has come close to almost collapsing, forcing the students to be relocated at Den Amstel Centre Ground. Among them was single-parent and fish vendor Babita Tulsieram, who cried out at the constraints it puts on her pocket.
“Me ah wan single-parent and things really hard pon me without a fada in de home. Me gat three pickney fuh look afta, and now that dis school nah good nuh moh, me now gat fuh struggle fuh send two ah dem till ah Den Amstel. It really hard pon me, man! Every day me a wanda whey dem ah guh reparir dah ole thing wha dem gat deh fuh school or build wan new wan”.

Some housewives expressed the need for a proper playfield and entertainment facilities in the village to gainfully occupy the youths, who are often seen idle around the village, especially during the evenings.

Entertainment at its best
Anna Catherina is certainly not lacking in the field of entertainment, despite the fact that it only has one major entertainment hub.

Villagers converge in large numbers, especially on weekends, at the Caribbean Temptation Night Club, Restaurant and Bar for nights of wild revelling and festive abandon. This joint offers varying party concepts to satisfy the whims and fantasies of all concerned.

That aside, villagers welcome their customary weddings, birthday parties, and anniversaries, which serve as more than enough entertainment for them.

Villagers have also grown accustomed to their roadside drinking, and gathering at a few roadside rum shops to ‘tek a drink’, or ‘a lil tups’, as they prefer to say.

Dismal tidings
In the midst of the almost serene allure of this village, Bhagwattie Singh still gets goose pimples as she relates the tales of a villager whose body was found floating at the seawall this very month.
While a post-mortem examination conducted on the remains of Abdool Nazir Hack, whose body was recently found floating face-down at the Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara seawall. An autopsy conducted on his remains revealed that he died from asphyxiation due to drowning. The woman was hinting that since criminal elements from outside the village sometimes target the village, Mr. Hack’s death could have been a circumstance of ‘foul play.’

The 48-year-old man, popularly known as ‘Dara’, had resided at 35 Gas Station Street, Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara with his 82-year-old mother, Zabeeda. He was, however, said to be an alcoholic.
It is believed that the man was drinking alcohol during the course of the fateful night, and wandered to the waterway, where he fell and eventually drowned. A female resident who went out to the seawall to pray had discovered Hack’s body floating in the water. She raised an alarm, and it prompted other villagers to rush to the scene. Family members who turned up were able to identify Hack from a scar at the back of his head, which he had sustained from an accident some years ago.

Conclusion
Its peaceful streets lend an air of solace and comfort. Its dusty dunes and beaches reflect serene tropical beauty. Its peaceful people wear smiles of contentment and exude great camaraderie amidst even pain and sorrow.
The solitude, peace and quiet allure of Anna Catherina will take you on a journey that would play havoc with the blissful side of your senses. Why not stop in for a visit and soak up the calm and simplicity of this village?
I would be more than happy to join you there.

See you next Sunday when we bring you the tale of another village that will ignite your adventurous whims and fantasies.
Written By Alex Wayne