People, places…
– where people are all heart
QUOTE: ‘Mahdia is a little world by itself, but we have most of the other things that a busy place like Georgetown has’ – Trecia Marc-Hubbard

ON VISITING Mahdia, one can expect to be greeted with the hospitality that Guyana is widely known for.

Hardworking, these men set to the task of advancement.

Extending these greetings are an easygoing bunch of folks who believe that one works, provides for one’s family, and takes time to enjoy life.

The people of Mahdia recognise the importance of family, and so, in recognition of this, take time out to enjoy them, but maintain that balance where they also work hard to provide for their families.

Because of this outlook of theirs on life, Mahdia has kept up with the times, despite being away from the centre of things.

This woman shows off her world, her children.

Last year, Mahdia Town Day was one of the main attractions in the community, which went all out for the occasion, to as far as crowning one of its pretty lasses, Melissa Adams, as Miss Mahdia.

One of the community members, Ms. Trecia Marc-Hubbard who is also the Ward Sister of the local hospital, explained that though the community is mainly centred on mining as well as other business ventures, its primary focus is on advancement.

“Mahdia is a little world by itself, but we have most of the other things that a busy place like Georgetown has,” she said, noting that besides the regular shops for servicing the mining establishments in the area, the community also boasts several boutiques, the latest in fashion, and its own peculiar brand of night life among other social activities, thanks in no small measure to advances in communications technology and their having access to the associated services.

Even this little one shows off the community’s pride in being hospitable.

“The enhanced communication facilitated by Digicel and the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GT&T) has pushed things along nicely,” Marc-Hubbard said, adding that the hospitals and police stations and other public organisations located there also played an integral role in the community’s enhancement.

She, however, said that while the community may be developing, residents are not allowing themselves to lose sight of what is most important to them, namely family and fun. “Here, family is important, and the community people look out for each other,” she said.

She agreed with other community members that Mahdia is a combination of hospitality, easygoing but hardworking and family-oriented people, and a community that is headed in the right direction.

Taking a rest, these people remind us that all work and no play makes for a very dull existence.

“Mahdia is in the heart of Guyana, and is filled with people who have hearts that match the size of our beautiful country,” Marc-Hubbard said, adding: “Mining is a hard task, and the people do it well. But when is time to relax, they relax.”
As clichéd as her observation may seem, it is true, as, despite having visited the locality only once, I cannot help but agree with her.

While we agree that there are challenges, which is a given in almost any scenario, yet the atmosphere in Mahdia conveys an air of simplicity, even in the advent of a challenge.

The reigning Miss Mahdia, Melissa Adams. (Photos by Vanessa Narine)

Guyana’s hospitality is much touted and constitutes one of the bases on which our tourism sector is advanced.
The people of Mahdia, for whatever reason, have been consistent with what for them is the ‘norm’: Hospitality.

Their propensity for friendliness; making the most apprehensive of persons — understandably if it is one’s first visit — comfortable; and stimulating their visitors, are traits that not everyone is blessed with.

Yet, in the heart of our grand country, the people of Mahdia are making it seem like a walk in the park, in the true spirit of what it means to be Guyanese.