Residents enjoy the simple life of their community

WHEN he had nowhere to go after a tiff with family members, Paul Ferdinand decided to leave home and start a small business to enhance his life. Today, Ferdinand has a small roadside shop at the Friendship Public Road, East Bank Demerara, where he has erected tiny wooden living quarters and is utilising the land behind him to plant. The 33-year-old related that he has been at the location for the past four years and his small business is growing and he has a lot to be thankful for.

Although he has a plot of land in the village itself, he is not ready to build a house just yet, but is saving up for that purpose solely. The father of one reported that the fruits and vegetables he harvests from his garden he would sell at his stand and his sister’s husband would cut the bark of various trees that has healing properties and he would also market those. “I wanted to be by myself, so I left home after a quarrel with my family and decided to start my own business and made this stand out here and I am good because I am earning in an honest way,” he said.

Ferdinand stated that it is also because of other situations that he chose to move away from his family and he is pleased about that, since he can live on his own terms and conditions. He would plant when he has some spare time and would pick birdseeds to sell as well, along with the various barks of trees such as capadulla, granny backbone, tea bush, monkey ladder, and panty borer, sasparilla among others that are used to make tea to cleanse and heal the body of various illnesses. Ferdinand has some dried and water coconuts, soursop, ochro, corilla, boulanger, banana, plantains and other fruits and vegetables he got from his kitchen garden, just behind his makeshift cottage.

The only issue for this small-business owner is whenever it rains his entire cottage would leak and the place would be wet, but he is trying his best to cope since it would not rain every day. “I take this girl and we living together and we try to be happy because that is something you have to do for yourself and it is working out well so far,” he said. Ferdinand’s business is supported by passers-by and people traversing that East Bank Demerara corridor daily.

The Sluice Attendant

The Pepperpot Magazine also met another resident, Ramchand Sukhai, a pensioner who works as a Sluice Attendant at Cuffy Sluice, in Friendship Village. The 67-year-old reported that he has lived all his life in that community and he has a quiet, peaceful life. He explained that a part of the village was owned by his family and they have since sold sections of land and it was an estate back in the days. Sukhai stated that he is up to date with the news in terms of weather patterns, since he takes his job seriously to open and close the sluice when he is supposed to prevent flooding.

He monitors the weather and knows when he has to open or close the sluice. Sukhai’s wife passed away three years ago and his son, his son’s wife and a grandchild are residing with him along with several dogs. Sukhai related one issue is that he is afraid of the traffic situation on the Friendship Public Road and his advice to motorists is to slow down and arrive alive, because of the endless road accidents and fatalities.