How faith and perseverance brought her this far

At a young age, Stella Williams-Tyndall lost her parents, making her very vulnerable without parental guidance but she fell into luck when an elderly woman took her in and provided the much-needed love, care and advice which has moulded her into a strong, Godly woman.

Her father passed away when she was just seven years old and her mother when she was 12.
It was not easy for her, she was alone and without much and many days she went hungry, but according to ‘Granny Stella’- now 77 years old- singing was her food.

“The next-door neighbour knew I had nothing much to eat and she would hear me singing and invited me over for lunch and I was grateful. I remember the days so vividly and with tears in my eyes, I recall how difficult it was to understand why I was alone but with the teachings of the Bible from my parents, especially my father I knew I had to put my faith in God to find a way out of the misery,” she said.

Today she is a resident of Ulverston, Lower Corentyne, Berbice and is enjoying her golden years, reading the Bible and singing hymns at church and going to services.
Granny Stella is the matriarch of the village and is highly regarded as an elder in the community, whose door is always open to others, for advice or just for a chat.
Stella Williams-Tyndall is the mother of 12 children -11 of whom are still alive. Collectively, she has more than 70 grandchildren and great-grandchildren and will soon welcome great-great-grandchildren in the family tree.

Entry into the village
In a sit-down with Granny Stella, she narrated her journey to the village of Ulverston.

She related that it was when she was living with the elderly woman who took her in, that she met the man who would become her husband.

It was in Diamond, East Bank Demerara and she had already had a daughter for a man, whom she claimed took advantage of her naiveté.

“I used to call her Granny because she was wise and took me in her house to live. Her house was big so she had tenants and there I met a young man, who fooled me with lies, he was a ‘ladies’ man’ too and after I got my daughter I realised he had conned me but it was done and I couldn’t undo it,” she said.

“My child father was around but his intentions were of no good but I didn’t hate him and I ended the relationship because it was going nowhere,’’ she said.
Granny Stella explained that she wised-up and kept to herself because she was unmarried and had a child, something she knew her parents would have been upset about.
She realised she had failed them and made a mistake but she was determined to get her life together and provide for her daughter.

Granny Stella added that as time progressed she settled in and one day when Granny was out, a young man came with his bicycle, an individual whom she knew by seeing. He enquired about Granny’s whereabouts and she told him that Granny was out, in the city.
However, the young man took the opportunity to engage her in a conversation and told her he was very interested in her because he knew she did not walk about and was decent.

“He made sure he was going nowhere and inserted himself in my life and refused to give up even after I told him I wasn’t interested in him and after time I was told by Granny to give him a chance because of his persistence,” she said.
That young man would later be her husband, with whom she bore 11 more children.
Granny Stella told the Pepperpot Magazine that he was working at Plantation Diamond and would leave his bicycle at Granny’s place he visited daily.

With Granny’s advice, she was told that he was of good character and responsible and she should marry him since she was of age and it was a good prospect to start a family life.
“Back then you had a lot of respect for elders and you used to listen to them because they were mature and had experience and could point you in the right way, she said.

She thought about it and decided to marry him when he showed up with a tiny box which contained a ring in 1964. She pointed out that Granny, who was a seamstress, told her to hand over 25 cents and she sewed the wedding gown from scratch, as a gift because according to the old woman, only dead people would get a free wedding dress
After the wedding, she made her entry into Ulverston Village, her husband’s village. She started her married life which she described as ‘hard’ at first but she didn’t give up.

Hard work
“I worked hard doing many things with my hands. I planted rice, used a grass knife to cut rice, throw rice into the fields by hand, all the old-fashioned way. I wasn’t academically inclined because I went to school up to nine years old but I was sensible and listened to old people for their guidance. I knew I couldn’t get an office job so I set my mind to work hard, no matter what. I mind cows, pigs and sheep that my husband had and made a life for the children, ’’ she said.

Granny Stella explained that she never forgot her roots and it is the way one carries themselves that speaks a lot of who you really are and to date, she doesn’t walk about but would sit in her verandah and lookout.
It was in the verandah the Pepperpot Magazine found Granny Stella during a walkabout in the village.

Most residents told the team to talk to Granny Stella, who has a wealth of knowledge and survived many generations.
“Growing up without parents was difficult because I had no food nor clothes and I cried a lot but I never give up and believed that my life would change one day,” she said.
The 77-year-old said it is good to have parents because they provide for you, take care of your welfare and ensure you have a good life

I still miss him
Clement Hubert Tyndall was Granny Stella’s husband, who passed away 11 years ago. She said that she still misses him dearly and her eyes would light up and she would smile when she spoke of him.

Granny Stella recalls spending three months in the New Amsterdam Hospital, where I ate nothing but had a quarter cup of plain water each day.
“When I left the hospital I was bare skin clinging to bones and before that I was full-figured and a doctor who favoured me encouraged me to pray and keep the faith. I was healed one day even though the health professionals found no medical reasons.

I took ill just so and no one knew what was wrong with me. I stopped my family from coming to see me in the hospital but I always prayed to regain my strength and good health and it happened because of God. It goes to show one should never waiver their faith and trust in God,” Granny Stella said.

She described Ulverston as a place of hard-working people except for the youths of today, who are idle and don’t want to work.
Granny Stella is supported by her children and she gets by with her pension.
“I does do all my chores and everything and the only place I go is to church every Sunday but with the Coronavirus, services have been put on hold until further notice,” she said.

Granny Stella doesn’t step out only for church because she grew up like that. Her grandchildren would go to the shop and do errands for her.
“My parents instilled good discipline and morals in me so I put that into use in my life,” she said.