By Michel Outridge

Cleon Ferrier is one of the oldest residents of Kuru Kuru Village and has been residing there since 1973.

The 84-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that most of the elders she met living in the village have since passed away many years ago.

When she relocated from the city to that community there were a handful of people already residing there and the place was very bushy.

The mother of eight related that today, she has more than 30 grandchildren and a similar number of great-grandchildren.

“In 1973 when we moved here the house was already built but it was sparsely populated and without light or water but then my husband was in politics and used to work with the now-late President Linden Forbes Burnham so his desire was to move up here,” she said.

Ferrier stated that she used to live in Albouystown and then Lodge after which they relocated to Kuru Kuru which became her home.

“Our house, a flat-concrete building which is still standing but in some state of disrepair was built in 1972 and a year after we moved here,” she said.

The elderly resident reported that she used to work in the army as a civilian charwoman for many years before she retired and was attached to Camp Jaguar, Long Creek and Timehri bases.

Nowadays she depends on her monthly pension and her children would also support her financially.

Her wish is to rebuild the kitchen area of her house which fell apart and her daughter has secured the cement and blocks to make that possible.

Ferrier stated that her husband, Nathaniel Moscatel, passed away in 1991 but by then the children were grown and able to assist her.

Her son-in-law and two grandchildren reside with her as company but she does her own cooking and daily chores.

When the Pepperpot Magazine caught up with Ferrier she was washing dishes at her stand up pipe area in the yard.

“Life is what you make it so if you want it easy or hard you have to decide that and work towards it,” she said.

She disclosed that Kuru Kuru is a quiet, peaceful place where people don’t interfere with each other so they live in harmony.

Ferrier is in good health apart from her fading eyesight going bad and intense pains in her knees.

The teachers of Kuru Kuru
Meanwhile, the Pepperpot Magazine met another resident, Phillip Gordon, a teacher attached to Dora Secondary School.

His wife is also a teacher at the Yarrowkabra Primary School and they have a lovely home and three children.

Coincidentally, the Gordons were celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary that day and were busy preparing food and drinks to entertain a few villagers and friends.

Gordon, better known as ‘Sir Terry’, said he is a local of Kuru Kuru and is an only child. His father is from Region One (Barima-Waini) and his mother is from Essequibo.

He added that even though they are separated they both live in the village.

In his home, he has a corner which he calls the ‘academic corner’ which has many trophies and other tokens of achievement that he, his wife and children would have garnered over the years for various academic and other accomplishments.

Gordon stated that the academic corner is there as a reminder for the children to continue to excel in school.

However, since the closure of schools countrywide, the teacher had to seek a part-time job as security personnel since they are not doing any virtual learning programme with students.

“I am successful as a respected teacher both at school and in the village because I am a disciplinarian and I moulded myself after my role model, a teacher, George Daniels, who taught at McKenzie High School and I wanted to be just like him,” he said.

Gordon explained that Sir Daniels is a one of a kind teacher in the sense that he has a way where he grasped the attention of his students and was always up to date with current affairs which he shared with the class.

“He instilled discipline in us and for that, I am thankful because it made me a well-rounded person and I also deliver my classroom sessions just like him and it has proven to be successful,” he said.

Gordon stated that Sir Daniels made class work interesting and everybody wanted to learn and he has adopted a similar teaching method and it is working well.

“For me, discipline starts at home and my children are intact when it comes to that so I don’t have to worry when they go out- their attitude will portray such,” he said.

He reported that life in Kuru Kuru is quiet and it is a good place to live because they have the space for fresh air and freedom without the ‘hustle and bustle’ of a city lifestyle.

Gordon stated that within recent times some Spanish people have moved in the village to work with residents on farms but mostly the villagers know each other.

“We need an ICT hub for the youths and better roads because to get in and out of the village by taxi is very costly and it is a burden to villagers,” he said.

Gordon added that his marriage is good all thanks to his wife, an Adventist, who is religious and a very praying woman, who has kept the family together.