By Michel Outridge

SHELLON Sancho was the first roadside food vendor at Middle Street, Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara. Her cook-up-rice and fried rice were in demand by patrons of the Guinness Bar at the location, every Friday night.

Sancho is a native of Pouderoyen. Realising that she has a natural talent for cooking and that she likes to be in the kitchen preparing delicious foods, she started the small roadside food-vending business.

She recalled that back then she used to sell more than 100 boxes of food every Friday night when there was a party and roadside lime at the Guinness Bar. After about 10 years, she quit and did other things for a living, pointing out that there are now 17 roadside vendors at the location.

Sancho got married two years ago and left her village to settle with her husband and children at Boerasirie. Today, she is the friendly face behind the counter at Compton and Shellon’s Delight West Side Fish Shop Restaurant and Bar, located on the Boerasirie Public Road. Fish and chips apart, Sancho also prepares cook-up rice with baked chicken, fried rice and fried chicken, among other dishes.

The mother of three related that the transition to that village has been difficult, with only one friend in the neighbourhood, but she is coping. A stay-at-home mom, Sancho told the Pepperpot Magazine that she was forced to close her boutique at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.

Sancho, a stay-at-home mom, told the Pepperpot Magazine that after she was forced to close her boutique at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara, she had nothing to do; after consulting with her husband, they opened the business in April this year.

She added that the business is closed on Sundays, but is opened from 08:00hrs to up until 20:30hrs, depending on how customers flow. Sancho said she manages the business alone because she recently started and cannot afford to employ workers, but as the business grows, she will employ people at some point.

The multi-talented home-maker told the Pepperpot Magazine that she is not a ‘sit-down’ kind of person; as such, she would find things to do. She added that she can sew and makes her own curtains, such as the one she has in her restaurant; she can also make floral arrangements to go with the curtains and is a hair and wig designer also. By next week she said, she will start taking orders for floral arrangements.

“I am originally from Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, a ‘bright’ and ‘lively’ village unlike the dismal Boerasirie community, but I am adjusting to the quiet country life,” she said.

The 45-year-old reported that being in the kitchen is her favourite pastime and she would spend many hours preparing meals and decided to open her own business.

“This business is my husband’s; it’s a joint venture though and he is at work as a contractor and I am here to run this food business,” she said.

The business entails taking a lot of time to prepare foods and her day would start as early as 05:00hrs every day.