MRS. NAOMI Smith, the oldest surviving female pioneer in the development of Mabaruma (Region One) recently turned 90, joining the ranks of Guyana’s celebrated nonagenarians, though not for one moment looking her age.
The lone daughter born to Marie Small of the North West District, in March 1927, by March 4, this year, had chalked up 1,080 months or 32,850 days. She is the proud matriarch of a pedigree of 11 children; (one deceased); 50 grandchildren; 69 great-grand children and eight great-great grandchildren.

Elegantly seated amidst family members and guests at a ‘90th birthday party held in her honour at the home of her late daughter, Eileen Peters nee Smith, at Lamaha Springs, Georgetown looked dapper. It turned out to be a pleasant evening of reflection, appreciation and literally a journey down memory lane, as many of the younger folk, who are from Mabaruma, were hearing these bits of their history for the first time.

However, Mother Smith, as she is fondly called, has never regretted having settled in Mabaruma and lived through the diverse fortunes of the colonial era preceding 1966. It is said, ‘the race is not for the swift, but for those who can endure…,’ and endure she did, and today she’s reaping the rewards of her labour. For difficult though it has been, bringing up eleven children, since the death of her husband, she has worked really hard and today can proudly measure their accomplishments.

Among them are Yvonne Hercules – a lifetime teacher, who was the only female Regional Executive Officer (REO) for the North West Region and Henry Smith – the first Mayor of Mabaruma, which has progressed from a ‘Township’ to a ‘Municipal Town’.

Pioneers in development
In retrospect, some of the elders recalled, the period between the 50s and early 60s, was a rather bumpy road to development, and characterised by the lack of certain basic essential services. But defying the odds, Mother Smith and other like-minded residents of pioneering spirit, teamed up to overcome the challenges and make life comfortable for their families.
And these pioneers were invariably housewives, since the jobs available to most husbands in those days, took them to other parts of the region, then known as North West District, with scheduled week-ends off to be with their families.

The latter half of the 1950’s towards the early 1960s – when families were beginning to expand and a great majority of the children in the neighbourhood were beginning to mature – those were seen as the defining days. It was then that the lack of certain essential services such as potable water; electricity, a good all-weather road; an air strip and community centre began to bite hard.

But memories of the water woes facing the community will be etched indelibly on the minds of the first residents of Mabaruma, whose only reliable source of water was from the rain – collected in a huge underground concrete reservoir at the back of their homes. Water had to be hand-pumped from the reservoir into a 45-gallon drum, which was the day’s quota for each household – regardless of how much laundering had to be done.
In dry weather it was grief, but yet out of hearts of love, residents were always ready to help another family having run out of water, with a few buckets and the Roman Catholic nuns were always willing to help out with water from a huge vat in the school yard.

But generally, it was a community where love abounded and where it took a community to bring up a child, so that it was allowed for an elder to upbraid or scold any child seen misbehaving. It was through those days, that Naomi made her mark, as a mother with eleven children, subject to intense water woes.

Water break through
It is said that ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’, and this holds true for that community. A few residents began a desperate search for an additional source of water and one day, matriarch Iona Allen, whose labourers were weeding in preparation for starting a farm on the hillside behind her house, had a pleasant surprise. About half a mile behind the housing scheme, she stumbled upon an almost choked fresh-water stream.

Excited, she hastened to her friend Naomi and broke the good news. The following day, she instructed the men to cut a path from the stream to the top of the hill to allow for public access. It was a welcome move and in dry weather, parents would have their children fetch water uphill by the buckets and fill up water drums. If kids didn’t do it before school in the morning, they would have to descend into the valley at lunchtime and fill up before returning to school.

Later residents dug a pond alongside the stream to make way for community laundering. In time Mrs. Smith pitched in her lot and weeders developed upon the first track cut, so as to accommodate a greater flow of users. Others involved in this initiative included: Iona Allen; Theresa Gibbs; Christina Persaud; Alice Paton and Letitae Williams.
Eventually the Water Works Unit visited the site, surveyed and excavated, then being assured of a continuous flow, initially ran water mains up hill, bringing temporary relief to the residents. Within a few years a pump house was constructed and an extensive water supply programme embarked upon, taking water into every household and public place.

As for electricity, even though it was not until in the 70s that the housing scheme of Mabaruma Township was powered by the Guyana Electricity Corporation, residents of the housing scheme benefitted as early as the 1950s, from electric power generated by the Chan-a-Sues’ a thriving business concern, with the only private generator. The lights were switched off around 9:00 p.m. each night.

Mother Smith, for her part, had a reputation for many firsts in the scheme:
• First in the village to establish a dairy farm, starting with two cows: Blanka and Pedigree, Pedigree, which indeed yielded her a ‘Pedigree’.
• The first to market delicious homemade ice-cream, which she hand-churned and walked around the village selling – and for which there was always a demand.
• The first village-baker to make and virtually ‘sell out’ at a flash, fresh tasty brown bread and hot salara (red cake) to the delight of all the children of the neighbourhood.
• First butcher – butchering cows at Christmastime for the preparation of hot and tasty pepper pot, which ideally complemented the fresh, brown bread (in those days referred to as ‘sal’ bread’.
• She was also the longest serving Parish Lay Assistant (PLA) at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, vice Mrs. Iona Allen (now deceased).

Mother Smith, the pride of Mabaruma has seen the community progress from what was known for years, as ‘Mabaruma Township’ to ‘Mabaruma Municipal Town’ with her son Henry Smith as first Mayor and a grandson as one of the first Cuban-trained doctors in the region.
Mrs. Naomi Smith, who unfortunately lost her vision a few years ago, has expressed gratitude to God for granting her health and strength and for permitting her to see a ripe old age of 90.