By Michel Outridge
NADIA Bissoondial is a housewife, but she has a part-time job as a seamstress, which she does from the verandah of her house in Blairmont.

This resident moved to Blairmont 24 years ago when she got married and settled in the community where she developed her sewing skill.

That skill has proven to be very useful and it is an additional income to her household and she has a wide customer base, even people from surrounding villages would visit to utilise her expertise.

“Life in Blairmont is okay, but life is how you live it; it can be hard or it can be easy, that depends on you,” she said.

The 48-year-old told the team that she doesn’t waste time and is always doing something to occupy her time.

“I have been sewing for about 10 years after I inherited a sewing machine, the old-time Singer brand, the pedal one and it was on that one I started to sew and to date, I am still using this old-fashioned sewing machine,” she said.

Bissoondial related that if you take care of things they last and she is keen on taking care of her sewing machine, which she is certain will last years to come.

Bissoondial told the team that her husband is a sugar worker at the Blairmont Sugar Estate.

The mother of one reported that she is originally from Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara and has adopted the quiet life in Blairmont and she had to make little or no change at all.
“This sewing work is not steady work because it depends on the pockets of people and when they don’t have money things are at a standstill; and then some people prefer to purchase ready-made clothes,” she said.

Bissoondial told the Pepperpot Magazine that she would get more alteration jobs than actual sewing.

This resident said having a part-time job is based on time management and she would complete her chores early, after which she would prepare breakfast and lunch in one cooking session then late in the afternoon she would cook something for dinner.
The team also met Sandy Dalana, an elderly resident, who retired from the Blairmont Sugar Estate after many years of being a boiler operator.

This friendly man stated that he is from Number One Settlement, Blairmont and was on his way home on his motorcycle from the masjid.

The father of four added that he started to work with Guysuco since the days of Booker Tate and after the sugar industry was nationalised and taken over by the government, they were given house lots.

He was one of the early settlers when Guysuco gave out house lots to sugar workers and he was happy to grab the opportunity to construct a house for his family.
“I used to operate the boiler which was used to generate steam for sugar production and it did that for 40 years, after which I took early retirement and I am now enjoying my golden years,” he said.

Dalana however, is advocating better roads for his community; it was observed that the main access road is teeming with potholes and the main wooden bridge has deteriorated and needs some repairs.

“We don’t mind if we get some street lights too, because it’s dark in the night and my wife usually quarrel on me not to ride my motorcycle when it gets late, because of the state of the road,” he said.

Dalana added, however, that Blairmont is indeed a good place to raise a family.