– But children still need a school, more security

By Telesha Ramnarine

WITH hardly any alternatives to subsistence farming in the satellite community of Rupertee, it can only be imagined how thrilled the residents there were to start up the ‘Black Giants’ Project, led primarily by eight women from the community.

But those women are not the only ones to benefit; others, including men in the Region Nine rural settlement, are also able to get work when construction and maintenance of the facilities are needed.

The initiative started about two years ago when the women decided to come together and sell meat birds, but things did not really work out because of all the challenges associated with the business, including getting feed from as far as Georgetown.

Relentless as they are, though, they kept the idea in mind, especially since they had already acquired all of the assets needed, and a few weeks ago, they launched the new project after shifting their attention to the black giant chickens.

With assistance from both the government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the group was finally able to kick off the project. Again, though, challenges came in the way with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

“While all of the plans were in progress, the virus came. The plan was to supply the school-feeding programme, and also because of the high eco-tourism we had here in the North Rupununi, we targeted the eco lodges and all the small shops around. We had a very big ambitious target and all of that came to zero after the virus started,” Senior Village Councillor Suresh Andries said.

But the women still did not give up, but they decided to carry through with their plan, only on a smaller scale. “The women said ‘let’s start with a smaller number and see how it will work out.’ They tried with it and the chicken was thriving really good; excellent. Out of all, only two died,” Andries said.

With the black giant chickens, the challenge of acquiring feed was eliminated, because these chickens can feed on almost anything.
The Guyana Livestock Development Authority (GLDA) provided a pen, feed bins, water and 250 of the chickens to help the group start up its operations. “The building the region gave us is an 80×20. It has the capacity to hold 400 black giants and we only have 250, so we are not operating to capacity,” Andries pointed out.

As such, they will be looking to acquire their own incubators so that they can get their own chickens and grow the business. “Especially during this pandemic, people wanted to know how we were still getting along, but sometimes in certain situations we have to use our initiative and be innovative.”

The group is hardly able to meet the demand of Rupertee, much less those from the other villages. Because of their inability to pay a security guard, one of the women has decided to move in at the facility so that she can keep watch.

Schooling and Security

Meanwhile, Andries spoke about some of the challenges that are affecting Rupertee at the moment and foremost among them is the lack of a primary school, which forces the children to walk for miles to the school at Annai, along with the lack of proper police security.

“We have been lobbying for a school over the past 18 years from each government but no one listens. The kids have to walk two and a half miles, and it’s worse during the rainy season. Imagine your child having to walk in the rain and the road situation; mosquitoes,” Andries expressed.

Because the village has about 400 persons, the authorities have been asking them to justify why they should place a school in the area. But according to Andries, the school in Annai which the children have to walk to is currently overcrowded.

As for the security concerns in the village, Andries said the police station in Annai has no transportation. “I don’t know why we have police officers when there is no transportation provided for them. They have a huge territory to cover. Do they expect these officers to walk?”
Andries hopes that these concerns will be addressed by the relevant authorities.