LOCATED on the Essequibo Coast is the village of Charity. It links the Upper and Lower Pomeroon River and provides a gateway to some parts of the interior within Guyana.
Charity speaks to a sense of life and beauty. Its relatively quiet nature is overpowered by its residents’ businesslike approach to life and living in the country. There is that feeling of hope and expectancy around; a taking-it-easy style, while displaying a resolute course towards success.
At the same time, the people of the Pomeroon are as gritty in their own ‘calm and collective’ manner to life. Most of them work hard, very hard. They love the land; cultivate it with a high level of respect and sensibility. At the same time, they expect and get yields, which produce many benefits for families, communities and the country as a whole. Their morals are high.
‘THE BREADBASKET OF THE CARIBBEAN’
When one sees food in the abundance – variety and amount that can be seen within these areas, then it can hardly be difficult to come to accept the saying that: ‘Guyana is the breadbasket of the Caribbean’. It might not be so as yet, but it can definitely be.
Whether you are up or down the Pomeroon River, on the Charity township or even in the Mainstay areas, you see the existence of optimism. Maybe this is because most of the people believe in ‘putting their shoulders to the wheels’ and grinding with progressive work that is set before them.
The Pomeroon is the name that was given to a former Dutch Plantation colony on that river after much struggles between the planters and slaves who resisted them. Reports are that the planters could have hardly resisted the temptation of planting the land, which until this day show tremendous potential for receptive farming and abundant harvest.
Bountiful in fruits and vegetables, coconuts and coconut products, there is also plantain and banana farming, added to ground provision of every sort within the Pomeroon River environs, Charity, the Mainstay areas and beyond.
The fruits not only come in the different types but also in the different species. Coconut is a big thing within this area and while many get great satisfaction from coconut water and coconut jelly, there is a whole lot being gained by the making of other coconut products.
CASSAVA, THE ‘BIG MAN’
Cassava is another ‘big man’ within the community. If it is not bitter, then it is sweet. But both of them deliver a great amount of satisfaction to the people of the communities. The bitter cassava is especially famous for a number of treats that people enjoy in and out of season.
Some of the by-products of the bitter cassava are bitter cassava bread, a crispy, biscuit-like product which traditionally goes along well with pepperpot, gravies, fried or stewed fish, or other meat products; bitter cassava cassareep is one of the most sought-after condiments in the making of the ‘pepperpot’ dish; kadaruka, an Indigenous word meaning ‘gravy’; cassava starch – the white sediment which settles at the bottom of the (toxic) juice extracted from the grated cassava and used in laundering to keep otherwise soft and soggy materials stiff, and to make pronounced seams in cotton or denim garments; cassava flour; farine – an Indigenous cereal, as well as other beverages, which can make one intoxicated.
The sweet cassava is, on the other hand, a good source in the making of many foods, other than just being boiled and used as a meal all by itself.
THE MARKETPLACE
Charity is the place where one of the main markets is located on the Essequibo Coast. There are days when the traffic to the market is heavy by both road and river. Farmers travel from far and near, by boat, car or van to make sure that their produce is sold to those who purchase wholesale, as well as retail. In fact, farmers use this strategic location in order to get them into other areas on the Essequibo such as Anna Regina and Parika. The produce also makes its way to as far as Vreed-en-Hoop and Georgetown.
TRAVERSING THE POMEROON RIVER
Though strange to many people who do not live in those parts of Guyana and are not accustomed to travelling by boat to move from one place to another within the Pomeroon River communities, there seem to be that sense of peace and relaxation at what is being seen as you go along, and also about what is in the air of expectancy.
While Charity seems to have an obviously lively day and nightlife, it is not so easy to judge what takes place in the Pomeroon River areas – mainly because there is much more seclusion within the communities. Homes and businesses, for example, are not exactly right to the front of the river, and unless each place is visited it may be an ‘invention’ to say what is there.
LIVING THE ‘GOOD LIFE’
On the other hand, many of the people who live in areas of the Pomeroon River work hard and thus live the ‘good life’. Both men and women see themselves as having an obligation to till the soil within their immediate surroundings, as well as farmlands, which they would have acquired over time.
The women work as hard as the men. They farm the land, harvest and sell the produce, get involved in agro-processing to a large extent, and they have no difficulty rowing the boats – sometimes through long and menacing waters. But this is not a complaint from the women, who because of culture, may not even see any hardship in such activities.
Nonetheless, as one resident stated, “We would not exchange here for any other part of Guyana right now. Here is where we are accustomed to living and we love here. Life here is good, only that you have to work hard sometimes; but that is quite alright because we see the rewards and can then relax and enjoy the best of life in the Pomeroon.” (mercilinburke2017@gmail.com)
