As the bus chugged in and out of busy traffic I was certainly getting irritated with the length of time it was taking to arrive at my destination.But soon I had to take into consideration that with the efforts Government was making to get the new East Bank Demerara Highway into operation; it was quite natural for the pace of traffic to lessen considerably. Well at least there was order and really no vehicular chaos on the road and there was police presence in the areas where the works seemed to have intensified lately.

So I busied myself with enjoying the scenery while the bus crawled along. The driver fumed under his breath about the traffic delay, mouthing obscenities, as he voiced his opinion over the issue of the unfinished highway.
I was headed to Diamond Village on the East Bank of Demerara, located just over six miles from Georgetown. This very lush and colourful village is located quite nicely between the villages of Prospect to the east and the more developed Golden Grove to the west.
As indicated by villagers this village is divided into two parts, namely Little Diamond which houses quite a few commercial businesses and a squatting area, and residential houses and Greater Diamond made popular for its numerous commercial banks, a distillery, gas station and fast food outlets. This area is also the home to the relatively new Diamond Housing Scheme, which is quite an attractive feature and is said to be one of the largest schemes in Guyana.
The housing scheme caters to high-income, middle-income and low-income persons from all over Guyana.
The two areas combined is said to have over 3,000 residents, according to reliable sources and has the potential in eventually evolving into another township.

Beauty
In many years gone by Diamond was mostly a fusion of sprawling pastures, vast, lush, green canfields and colourful houses that made quite an interesting spectacle.
Today this location is being transformed into a social landscape incorporating people from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The housing scheme for example is made up of a mixture of ethnicities from all walks of Guyana and they are still in the process of getting better acquainted. Nonetheless, they all reside there in a rich harmonious bond that makes them appear to be one big happy family.
Well I landed at Little Diamond just around 14:00 hours and I must admit I was enthralled with its quiet beauty.
Despite the fact that the main road was abuzz with traffic, the honking of horns and outbursts of impatient drivers, the area was quite soothing with the honed chatter of neighbours as they conversed in the sandy streets.
I truly enjoyed trekking through the sandy dams, mingling with the people and listening to their many colourful tales. I truly admired that enticing manner in which the little colourful houses were nestled close to each other as residents swung in hammocks, lingered by the dams or limed by small makeshift shops.
Each yard was accentuated so nicely with such striking flower plant and fruit species that I just marvelled at the dashing tropical ambience. Small garden overflowed with vegetables and fruit tress all burdened with the ripened species and well fattened dogs yelped and ran about, chasing after each other in gleeful animal frenzy.

Interacting With Residents

I stopped to chat with the very peppy and spirited 69-year-old Emelda Culpepper who has been living in the area since the early 1990s. Though she has desired to be located elsewhere, she noted that she had grown to love the area because of the developments that are made possible there through governmental efforts.
However, she complained bitterly about the state of the only main dam in the Junior Staff Squatting Area which she said was impossible to traverse during the rainy season.
“Ow bai.. Meh know dis supposed to be Govament prapathy but until we can locate yu mean nobady nah guh even look afta dis dam fuh we. How we nah even get street lights hea and de place does be very dark night time. Awe dese nah get no prapa wata fuh drink hea and we only get a few standpipes and dem hardly wukking. We gat tuh fetch de wate from great distances when dem pipe dem stap wuk and it really heart rending”
That aside the woman was almost in tears as she detailed a story of paying almost ten thousand dollars to the Guyana Power and Light entity months as light bill even though she hardly had electrical appliances in her home. She said she queried the bills many times and was only told that her bill is correct with no proper explanation as to why the bills were so high, even though her home was lacking major electrical appliances.
Motie Hemraj described Diamond as a very productive and developing area, but lamented on the state of the road where he resided. However he was of high praise for the fact that the Government had made possible the striking Diamond Housing Scheme, and also that they were in the process of providing a new and spanking eastern highway.
Living there for the several years with his wife and kids he described it as the best place in Guyana and said he wouldn’t trade living there for anything. He was particularly happy that the area now has three commercial banks, a Royal Castle Fast Food location, state of the art gas station, Diamond Diagnostic Hospital, school and other facilities. He said that this has taken away the stress of getting to the city to conduct certain types of business transactions.
“We have our own market, commercial banks, schools, a Courts furniture outlet, gas station; we even have our own hospital. I am indeed grateful that the Government has look into these areas of our welfare. And the police presence here is good so we hardly have any criminal elements in the area these days.”
We stopped to chat briefly with Julius Jones and he was happy of the transformation the village has taken on over the years.
“In years gone by this village had a ‘country look’ to it, but with all the development that has occurred here now, we are looking quite nice and development is slow but sure. We now have our own supermarket and so much more and the Demerara Distillers entity and other business are surely helping out with providing employment for villagers. However, something needs to be done with the state of the Diamond Distillery which is very old and certainly needs refurbishing. And people on the Diamond Dam are still being affected from time to time with the acrid fumes that emit from this facility during their operation.”
The main occupation of the inhabitants is cash crop farming, although some of the residents have over time began erecting small shops in the village to sell groceries and a few household items. There are some masons and carpenters there too, but the majority are employed at the Demerara Distilleries Ltd. (DDL)-one of Guyana’s beverage giants), Courts Furniture outlet, Royal Castle, DSL Cash and Carry Supermarket, and a few at the commercial banks there. Some sell in the weekend roadside market or work in business in nearby Golden Grove, or some in the city.
Others have managed to take up temporary positions with the contractors who are spearheading road works in the village.

Diamond In Times Gone By

Today Diamond is quite modern in appearance, but certainly is not lacking in infrastructural features and the sophisticated factors of life. This village was certainly a ‘hit number’ on our ‘Village Focus calendar.’
Bursting with curiosity as to what the village was like unto before its present modern aura I was directed to an elderly farmer, Rupert Simpson who smilingly reminisced on his days in the village as a young boy.
“In my time this village was just like lots of waste land. The few people that lived here would allow their many cows and sheep in the wide open pastures and let them graze their fill. There were many cane fields and lots of trenches over grown with weeds and not so many houses. On the Diamond Dam it was all mud and thatched roof houses and neighbours who were always on fire and ready to war.
There were not many shops here, or stores and boutiques like some villages, and the village was quite muddy and watery in several areas. At that time the people attached to the Diamond Distillery or to the sugar estates were hosed in some of the very colonial houses you here today that are now falling to pieces.”
“Most of the houses were thatched and shingle roof structures and the only road in reasonable condition was the one that ran through the village. As I grew older things changed a bit and more houses began to pop up. Persons built and leveled their lands to avoid flooding, and things are what you see here today.”
A distinct old world aura still clings mystically to this village and coupled with the deep tranquility in certain areas Diamond continues to hold a strange mysterious intrigue, which I found quite soothing.

A Comfortable Life After Hardship

Very often we meet people who are enjoying the luxuries of life and marvel at their success or turn green without envy, without even pausing to think of their prior suffering.
The story of well established businessman, ‘Jonathan’ should be a lesson to all that great success is always assured after hard work, suffering and sacrifices.
“Boss today I am enjoying a very comfortable way of life but I had to work really hard and endure a lot before I get to this level. As a young boy, and coming from a family of seven, things were really hard since my family were poor. I can remember days when we had to eat salt and rice and a little oil when there was nothing to cook. Many times we missed school because there was no money for transportation, and when we did attend there was no an extra penny to purchase a snack like other kids. Some of us went to school in rubber slippers or no footwear at all. Yes, we were ashamed and were taunted by students that were better off, but my mother always encouraged us with tears in her eyes as she did her best to give us food with the help of my father who was a farmer also. My father taught us to save every spare penny since it grows in time and that was a good lesson learnt. Myself and my older brother began working in our early teens to help out in the home and saved our earnings as mother directed. Soon we extended the home and things started to get better.
As the years went by we saved in a commercial bank in the city then later transferred to one of the commercial banks here to avoid travelling to and from the city with large amounts of cash on our person. Soon we were able to build a lavish home and enjoy comfortable living as we are doing today. Nothing good comes without disappointments and suffering.”

Religion and Culture

The ethnic cultures at Diamond is a sizzling melting pot of diversity that is welcomed and celebrated openly by almost everyone. There are no segregation with the festivities of Phagwah, Christmas, Diwali and other festivals, and this for sure ushers in the present aura of harmony and bonding amongst residents.
Today there are Christians, Hindus and Muslims and they all worship in harmony respecting each other’s culture.

Conclusion

This village is certainly a ‘must visit’ location and I strongly urge you to get there and soak up its beauty and great hospitality of the people. Join us next week when we take you all the way to Port Mourant, Berbice when we mingle with folks there and bring you the mysteries of the location.

(By Alex Wayne)