ROBERTO Stuart, 44, is a father of four and resident of Claremont, a village with about 50 people and one of the smallest on the island of Leguan.
Stuart is pastor at the Wesleyan Church at Uniform, the nearby village and is also a cattle and livestock farmer. A jovial man, he told the Guyana Chronicle that he is originally from Wakenaam and started living at Leguan only after he got married.
He related that he met his wife as a pen pal after writing her a letter from the information he saw in one of the newspapers at the time.
Stuart said at first, it was no easy going, since he is of African descent and his wife is East Indian, and at the time they got to know each other, relations between the two ethnic groups were “not all that great.”
“My father-in-law did not like me. Of course, he did not know me. He was a miner and had a perception of Africans based on those of whom he interacted with or worked with. Those in the mines I was told would recklessly spend out their money and did not appear to have a serious approach to life,” he said.
Stuart noted that instead of going overboard to explain that he is not an irresponsible man, he stayed quiet, and let his potential father-in-law observe for himself that he is a different person.
“It took him some time to be convinced that I am a good man before giving his approval for the marriage,” Stuart said, pointing out that he has been happily married for 17 years.
Three of his children are in secondary school and the other recently started kindergarten.
When Stuart is not tending his animals, he spends the time relaxing, “gaffing” with his wife, helping his children with their homework and studying the Bible.
He said since moving to Leguan, life has been beautiful as there are lots of opportunities for farming, and life generally is quiet and easygoing.
But he noted that there is need for higher educational opportunities to be made available on the island, since students who finish secondary school have to move out if they want to pursue tertiary education and skills training.
That aside and a few minor social ills, the pastor told the Guyana Chronicle that life in Leguan is comfortable and enjoyable.
“In Georgetown, people busy, busy with work. Not too much of that here. Also, you watch National Geographic documentaries on TV. Here in Leguan with all dem iguanas, crabs, fish, birds, snakes and bush motorbikes (salipenter), we see National Geographic live, right here,” Stuart said, to much laughter.