SHE looks younger than her age and although she is accustomed to hard work, her young appearance could be due to her effervescent personality.

June Sharpe is 61 years old and is the mother of 11 children.

Today, she is blooming in her golden years and has many grandchildren from the children she nurtured over the years.

She worked most of her youthful days at the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB) guesthouse, where she was considered an all-rounder.

There she cooked, did the house-keeping and basically ran the place; she acquired culinary skills which she passed down to her children.

Sharpe has seven daughters and four sons, some of whom are barbers, wash bay operators, small-business owners, soldiers and others reside overseas.

History of humble beginnings
She related that she grew up in Georgetown and later relocated to Wismar, Linden, where she bore five children.

Sharpe recalled she was single-handedly taking care of five children and that proved to be quite a task for her.

It was based on her mother’s pleading that she journeyed with her five children to Limlair Village, a place where she admits she feels comfortable.

Once in the village, she was supported by her parents and as a single mother, she tried her hands at many jobs.

“My mom said to come to Limlair because the children will not go hungry, since there is always something to eat from the garden and we had a stable life here,” she said.

Sharpe recalled that it was after some time when she met a young man who would later become her husband; she is still with him today.

The 61-year-old related that she had six more children with her husband over the years, making it a total of 11.

“Both I and my husband are from town, but we are here and it is still our home today; and it is a nice place to reside,” she said.

It has been 24 years since she and her husband are together and it is a fulfilling union. Now, all her children are grown and have their own families.

“I like this village but… my children are my closest friends,” she said. “As the years went by, life got better and we built a life, as we watched the children grow up and lead their own lives.”

Sharpe added that she did have everything, but she was contented with whatever they have and it’s a quality she instilled in the children and they are also leading contented lives.

“I live this long because I have faith in God and I don’t allow nothing to bother me; and people does want to know how I get by, but it is contentment [that] made it possible,” she said.

Sharpe explained that with 11 children she used to cook two pints of rice with something to go with it, be it stew or curry and still there would be leftovers, because the children weren’t big eaters.

She stated that whatever they had they made do and never complained and they are still that way today.

“When the children were small and of school age, when they came home from school for lunch and if they saw the outdoor fireside didn’t have smoke, the elder boy would climb the coconut tree and let the others drink the coconut water and ate the jelly and would go back to school, just like the rest of children,” she said.

She added that no one knew whether they had or didn’t have anything and that’s how they grew into adults and continue to live.

Sharpe noted then her husband didn’t have a stable job and things weren’t easy, so he used to dry paddy on the road and sell and at weekends they would get money.

Sharpe revealed that of her 11 children, two daughters reside in the US; a son lives in Barbados and another in Trinidad and two daughters are in the army; one was in the Miss Big Deal Pageant and the other is a medic

“I feel the same way about all my children. I love everyone equally and I treat them that way, there are no favourites and they are aware of this,” she said.

Making fabric face masks
Sharpe added that she is a seamstress and is making fabric face masks for sale at a reasonable price of just $200 per mask.

“I made some for the children and when people come to the wash bay they wanted to buy, so I started to make fabric face masks to sell,” she said.

Sharpe reported it is her small business from home and sometimes she would make about 25 masks per day; she would sanitise it and place it in a sealed plastic bag before selling.

She related that making face masks from scratch is a hobby and she would do it when she gets the time during the day, because they are in demand from by locals.