By Michel Outridge

YOUNG Nicholas Klass is making use of the opportunity his father has given to him and he is in charge of running the family business, a small but well-stocked and well-kept shop.

The shop is located just off the highway at Kairuni Village, Soesdyke/Linden Highway.

The shop is a wooden cottage-style structure with a verandah which houses a pool table and some tibisiri chairs.

Inside the shop, over the counter, they have a wide range of groceries and beverages on sale.

The little shop has just about everything that is needed in the home.

Klass, 17, who will be celebrating his 18th birth anniversary next month, said he is from Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo and he was left in charge of the shop.

He is assisted by his two female cousins while his father is away in the interior working as a miner.

Klass stays in living quarters that adjoin the shop and in the yard, there are toilet and washroom facilities, a bar-b-que grill and adequate sitting area with tables and chairs under the trees and a hammock too, for relaxation purposes.

The young man told the Pepperpot Magazine that the shop opened a year ago and he has been there ever since.

The small business opens from 06:00hrs to 18:00hrs daily and on weekends, it is the busiest when passers-by and others would stop in for a cold beverage or to make much-needed purchases.

“Being here, I am able to cope because I find it very interesting and I like meeting new people and since most of the residents are my relatives, I feel quite safe and at peace,” he said.

Sometimes on weekends, Klass would return to his Tuschen home, but he likes it at Kairuni because the place is beautiful despite challenges of accessing water and electricity; they have a black tank and a generator in place to make things easier.

The shop is referred to as “The Parkway Shop” and it is a neat little well-constructed edifice that has a welcoming and cosy feel.

Making do in Kairuni Village
Next door to this shop live Nigel Marshal and his extended family.

They have a small wooden house in which they reside and try to cope with the little they have.

The 48-year-old who is of ill health is unable to work and is assisted by his wife and children.

The father of six would often sit by his front door as he was that day, observing what his son and another man were doing.

They were repairing an engine and at the same time engaged in friendly banter to pass the time.

Like almost all of the villagers, he hails from the North West District and left there when he was young and relocated to various villages along the highway before he settled in Kairuni.

“Life hasn’t been kind, but we try and being ill and unable to work is not easy, but life goes on and we have to fetch water from the creek which is a mile away and we use a small solar [panel] to power a light bulb in the night,” he said.

Marshal added that there aren’t jobs in that village, so many people have to go out for work and they would utilise what they have in the community to earn.

Alexis Spencer and her boys

This mother of two will someday open her own small business, a bakery, since she is certified and it is her dream to have her own business.

She is a resident of Kairuni, but her hometown is Malai, Upper Demerara River, a riverine community.

The 23-year-old left her village for high school and after completion of her secondary education, she began to work.

She exited her village at age 11 and would go to her home every now and then, but it is very expensive for the boat ride to get there.

Presently, she is unable to work since she has to take care of two small children and will return to work when the children are old enough.

She was the personal assistant for a businessman who operates a large-scale importing company out of Canal #1.

Spencer currently resides with her extended family of 13 and was relaxing under a shed not far from her home after completing some chores.

“I just came out to get some breeze, since it was a hot day with my boys, Azria, who is two years old and Arizel, who is six months old and it is our usual liming spot,” she said.

The father of her children is away in the hinterland working as a miner and she eagerly awaits his return.