By Michel Outridge
THIS week the Pepperpot Magazine visited the small farming community of Boerasirie, East Bank Essequibo, a village near the large housing scheme of Tuschen. Boerasirie is bordered by De Kinderen village and has fewer than 50 houses; it is home to about 100 residents who work in offices, do farming, while others are self-employed.
The Pepperpot Magazine went on a walkabout in the village and interacted with residents, who spoke of their way of life.
The team met a landscaper, Rakesh Sijorie, better known as the “Weeder Man,” who is not a resident of Boerasirie but frequents the village almost daily to weed, thereby providing a reliable service to villagers.
Sijorie resides in the neighbouring village of Tuschen, also on the East Bank of Essequibo and starts his day at dawn and doesn’t finish until dusk.
The Pepperpot Magazine caught up with him while he was plying his trade in Boerasirie and was about to go “do a work” for a customer, who had requested his service.
The father of one related that the job is not a “big money wuk,” but he does it anyway and it is his only source of income, since it is better than doing nothing.
Sijorie explained that he had some savings and invested it in a Stihl weeding machine; he chose self-employment, he said, because he works at his own pace. He has been doing it for a number of years and has grown accustomed to the hard work and the intense sunshine one has to endure, with Guyana being a tropical country.
“I does do my lil weeding wuk you know, to provide for my family and despite the weather of hot sun I have to be out there and this job is not easy facing the sun, but I have to do it anyway,” he said.
Luckily, for Sijorie, he has distributed his cellphone number to his customers, so he is called whenever his service is required and that suits him just fine.
“I does work in Tuschen and the nearby villages because it is not too far away from my house; and I go on my bicycle, which is convenient,” he said.
Sijorie stated that he tries to get his weeding done in the early-morning period before the sun gets really hot and if the customer approves an early time, he appreciates that.
He noted that most weeding jobs are requested on weekends when people are at home and sometimes he is asked to rake up and pick up the grass after weeding; that service comes at an additional cost.
The 37-year-old reported that being a “weeder man” is not degrading, it is an honest job and it provides an income, however small; every profession, he said, should be respected once it is honest work.
Sijorie explained that there are many “weeder men” in Tuschen and when it rains, jobs become scarce. However, he has a few customers who would call him because he provides a good service without inflating his price.
“This is hard work and you have to like it to do it, and I do it because I am a family man who has to work,” he said.
Even though Sijorie is a “weeder man,” he is often referred to as a landscaper, which entails modification to an area of land; this includes living elements such as flora and fauna, or what is commonly called gardening, the art and craft of growing plants to create within the landscape.
