By Michel Outridge

THIS week the Pepperpot Magazine journeyed to the East Bank corridor and visited the small, close-knit village of Pearl.

Pearl, East Bank Demerara, is home to former President David Granger and former Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, who live among residents of all ethnicities co-existing in peace and harmony.

It has four streets with a few cross streets, several dams and canals with a large backlands area, but it is a peaceful countryside community that is located miles away from the city.

It is tucked away between Sarah Johanna and Caledonia villages and it has about 300 residents, some of whom work in both the private and public sectors with a few small business owners.

Pearl has a nursery school which children from the neighbouring villages attend. The village has two churches, a playschool and aftercare facility that is privately owned, a few shops and a bar.

According to local stories, before Pearl existed, the area belonged to the Dutch. There is evidence of it at a Koker in the village which was built by the Dutch. The village folk reported that it was then a sugar plantation under the supervision of “Carter” and then “Bagwandin” (only names given).

The sugar cane, once harvested, was sent to a processing plant but after the venture became unprofitable the plantation was sold.

It is believed that there were once two Dutch sisters named Sarah Johanna and Pearl, who each inherited for themselves a piece of land, and that’s how the two villages got their names.

Pearl Village has the basic infrastructure of electricity, potable water supply, landline phone, internet services, cable, drainage and all-weather roads that were paved two years ago which replaced potholed streets.
There is a ballfield in this village, but there is a need for it to be developed and it is in an overgrown condition, as is.
Almost everybody in the village know each other, especially those who have lived there all their lives – but there are a few newcomers, as well.
The Village matriarch

Meanwhile, the Pepperpot Magazine encountered a group of residents at a shop in the village; among the group is the oldest resident, Edith Lynch, a respected elder.
As customary, she would take a stroll a few doors away from her home and sit and chat with the villagers, most of whom grew up before her and they fondly call her “Mrs Lynch.”
She is well-known for her role as a fundraiser, who was instrumental in the construction of the Pearl Nursery School, which still stands today.
The 84-year-old is a very jovial, sprightly person, who is easy to talk to and doesn’t take credit for her contribution to the community as a result of her humble attitude.
She is a Jamaican who migrated to Guyana and has been a resident of Pearl Village for the past 47 years.

Lynch and her late husband, Eric, who passed away two years ago, are among the early settlers of Pearl.
The couple moved to the community when it had just two houses in the 1970s and the place was then mostly made up of canefields but was very busy.
She told the Pepperpot Magazine that she worked at the Guyana Broadcasting Service (GBS) as a record-keeping librarian, but quit the job to be a full-time mother of four.
Her husband worked with ‘Telecoms’ in those days, so they were the only residents in Pearl to have a landline telephone service back then.
Lynch contributed greatly towards the construction of the Pearl Nursery School and was the major fundraiser, who saw the project through from start to finish.
“We didn’t have a nursery school in the village and there was a need for one and I did what I could and nine months later, a brand new school was built and the children of this village as well as nearby communities benefitted and others up to date,” she said.

The elderly villager related that life in Pearl is good and peaceful, because the people are united and they do not have any issues brewing and they enjoy each other’s company daily.
“I would visit the shop in my street every day after completing chores and have a chat with the people and I do enjoy it, because it is good to talk to your fellow villagers,” she said.