FOR many of you who may not know, I am a Berbician. I grew up in the smallest town of Guyana, Rose Hall. Urbanisation is present in my town, with persons from neighbouring villages moving to Rose Hall Town for a better life.

However, that is not the point of me writing on this topic. Urbanisation is an increase in the population in cities and towns versus the rural areas. As populated as Berbice may be, compared to Georgetown, many parts of Berbice are rural areas.

Georgetown is 68 kilometres away from Berbice; the drive is approximately 90 minutes. Yet, upon entering the capital city, it feels as if one is entering a neighbouring and new country. The two counties (Berbice and Demerara, preferably the capital Georgetown) are not separated by borders or by brick walls and heavy security camps but by a difference in development, opportunities as well as culture. Berbice is home to me and that will never change. However, the urge to seek betterment and to breathe freely away from the stifling setbacks that home has to offer, leaves an impression in my mind that one day I would have to pack my bags and start over. Start over and turn over a new leaf, just as countless Berbicians have in the past, and there’s no doubt that the internal migration would not continue.

Lingering in my mind is the story of when I was writing the National Grade Nine Assessment at the New Amsterdam Multilateral. One of our Social Studies topics was based on ‘A tourist destination closest to where you live.’ Believe it or not, more than half of the students wrote about the obvious, The # 63 Beach. Note, the word ‘closest’ and the fact that my high school is located in New Amsterdam-The beach is 61 kilometres away. Maybe, we were all clichés in high school or maybe, there’s not much to see and do up here. I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Many will argue that we have much more to offer and I would agree. Nonetheless, there are many ways in which the youth in Berbice are faced with disadvantages. The lack of jobs, limited educational programmes as well as youth clubs, recreational facilities, lack of inclusion with activities being held in Georgetown and many more, can be added onto that list. Twenty-eight per cent of the total population lives in urban communities; that leaves a staggering per cent of 72, on the downside.

If you are from Georgetown and you are reading this feel no sympathy, but rather, empathy.
How would it make you feel if you had to leave behind your childhood home, friends and family, moving to another county, just to find a job? Or to excel in a career choice that is deadlocked in your hometown? What’s the point in having a university closest to you and yet still, you have to move because your major is not offered there? It is very disheartening.

It is not a fact that Berbicians are not willing and able to achieve and do things, No! Many of the young people who live here, like me, are willing to do so much but how can we with little to no resources? No wonder there is a lacklustre approach amongst our mindsets. No resources, inclusion and opportunity is equal to motivation.

Asif Khan, a fellow Berbician friend of mine, moved to Georgetown a few years back, with the hope of seeking better educational opportunities. Here’s his story: “Many people love to visit the capital city of Georgetown. Whether it’s business or just a pleasure trip, there is always much to see and do.
But for many others it’s also a place for a new start, for furthering your studies or a new job with the hope of improving your life. As a native Berbician, I can attest to these being just a few of the many reasons Berbicians move to Georgetown.

I personally moved to further my studies because the University of Guyana’s Berbice Campus did not offer the courses I was interested in pursuing. As such, I had to relocate to Georgetown for that opportunity, but I have also had many friends and family who moved up for the same reason, hoping to find a better job or any job for that matter.

They had no luck landing a job that could actually sustain them financially back home.
Without the security of home or a place of your own to stay, most Berbicians turn to renting houses or apartments as their place of dwelling; coupled with whatever bills they might have and their own personal expenses – it can be a challenge.

More so, is the fact that there is so much more to do here as compared to Berbice.
From the malls, to the movie theatres, the many diverse restaurants, the historical and cultural sites spread all over, the gardens and zoo, and so much more, there is always something to be done when one has a little free time and money to spend, as opposed to Berbice, where many find it lacking so many basic recreational, cultural and educational stimulants to entice visitors and its residents to stay.

Before I had moved, I would find any excuse to make a visit to Georgetown just to enjoy the experience (mostly the night life) because where I am from in Berbice, I could not stay out late as transportation was hard to come by after certain hours, which is not the case here.

Maybe I, and along with many of my fellow Berbicians would have stayed if there had been more to offer in Berbice. For example: making the courses that are not offered at the Berbice Campus available, sprucing up the parks and cultural sites we already have, providing better and more worthwhile jobs for workers and students who are new to the field of work, investing in our youth, getting more clubs or organisations for them to be more involved in what’s going on in their communities and the country at large, or providing opportunities for them to be exposed to their areas of interest.

Berbice as we know it is the ancient county. In my defence, not only in infrastructure but also in some ways through our mental capacity and culture, some by choice, others by the suffocating lack of opportunities. With the help of our policymakers and recognition of the given issues, I do hope together, we can all work together to make Berbice a better place for us to call home. The idea is not to degrade my county but to shine light on the darker, ‘not so talked about’ sides of it.