58 MILES, a small village along the Mabura Road in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) was virtually unknown about 10 years ago, but from then to now, it has been developing into a thriving community.The rustic village surrounded by forest is commonly accessed by the dusty Mabura Road, which leads to Lethem (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), a booming community and the gateway to Guyana from Brazil.

58 Miles has been gradually transforming over the years and today boasts of a gas station, a primary school, a playground with pavilion where villagers converge in the afternoon, a church, an eating house, serving sumptuous dishes of wild meat, and a health centre.

On Wednesday, this reporter on a visit to the village which has about 250 residents was greeted with a welcoming smile and warm “hello”.

At the same time a truck carrying lumber roared pass, drowning our voices and leaving an eruption of dust in the background.

When the dust settled, Emily Williams, a mother of five grown children, who was relaxing outside a benab on the road corner, told the Chronicle that the village has changed significantly in the past decade, but there is still some way to go in terms of development.

She said accessing water in the dry season is a challenge as there is only one well in the village, which is utilised by all the residents. The water level in the well is currently low because of dry weather and many residents have now turned to a nearby creek for water.
Williams said going to a creek for water is not really a problem, but in the villagers’ case, it is, noting that the nearest creek is about a mile away from their village.
Some villagers who do not have or cannot afford access to transportation to the creek have been making the journey on foot, fetching water back to the village in buckets.

GENEROUS
The happy mother, who told us that she made the journey to the creek a few times, said the Government officials in the region have been generous to the community.
She said that from time to time, they would meet with the residents and listen to their concerns, and respond to most of them.
They have been apprised of the water problem, she said, and they promised to look into the situation.

WATER TANKS

Williams asked us to mention in our report that the “next time they come, it would be good if they walk with some water tanks” for distribution to villagers.

The water tanks, Williams said, will alleviate their stress in having to fetch water all the way from the creek during the dry season.

At this point, another villager, Jennifer Williams, interjected to say that the primary school in the community has only one teacher, and this is not good enough.
The Guyana Chronicle learnt that the school is a primary top, a school that teaches secondary school content, but does not offer the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
The Mabura Mission Primary School Annex/Secondary has about 50 students, and according to the residents, from talks with regional officials, moves are being made to get the school to offer the CSEC.

TEACHER SHORTAGE
Residents said the promise by regional officials is heartening, but they have to move swiftly to address the teacher shortage, noting that the school requires at least two more teachers to function effectively.

When that time reaches, Williams said, it will be a noted occasion in 58 Miles village. She said about 10 years ago, the village was in a terrible state.

“We didn’t have a grocery store, we didn’t have nothing,” Williams said, pointing out that when the ration of villagers finished, they had to stay without, and in some cases, for a few days.

There was hardly any transportation, she said, disclosing that residents had to travel all the way to Great Falls, which was about 11 miles away. The journey required them travelling by boat and foot, taking some three days to go and return.

Williams said sometimes the villagers were lucky as the time was shorter if they “got a lift” from one of the drivers of the logging trucks passing by.

LIFE IS MUCH BETTER

Life today, Jennifer told the Chronicle, is much easier as residents have access to transportation, and some have their own transportation.
58 Miles residents rely primarily on logging and mining for a living but they also engage in farming, fishing and hunting.

According to the residents, the village is very peaceful, but there are a few cases of drug and alcohol abuse and the culprits are the older folks.
“The older ones are the people who does drink dem lil rum and fight up and thing, but nothing big,” said Williams, who is in her late 50s.
Crime in the village, she said, is almost non-existent, largely because most of the residents are Christians.
“They don’t drink, they follow God,” Williams said.

CLEAR SIGNAL

A few years ago Digicel planted a tower at Mabura and residents are now enjoying clear signal. Some residents who are “hooked up” to the Internet were seen checking their mail and browsing Facebook as they relaxed after a hearty meal at the restaurant in proximity to the GUYOIL gas station.

But the residents say that they are not too pleased with the services at the health centre. They told the Guyana Chronicle that there are no drugs for malaria, thyroid and dengue fever even though a request was made by the community health worker attached to the village about a month ago.
MEDICAL DRUGS
This newspaper was told that requests for medical drugs are made by the health centres, to the region, but the region has been slow in honouring the requests in a timely manner.
The shortcoming is vexing, the residents say, noting that it is one of the problems regional officials have to correct with urgency.
But they thanked the region, which through the Ministry of Health, supplied them will nets to safeguard against the army of mosquitoes in 58 Miles.
Thus far, no political party contesting the May 11 Elections has visited the village, which receives electricity through solar panels distributed by the Government.