Since the pandemic most people have been at home, secluded from loved ones, relatives, friends and others but this young man is doing everything he can to brighten their Christmas. Tarik Nicholson has decorated his natural Christmas tree plant in his yard which stands tall and proud with red and green decorations of bows and ornaments and it is also outfitted with fairy lights.
The Christmas tree is natural of which he bought and planted just for Christmas holidays and now that it is fully grown he trimmed it and the decorations were Brightening up the place for the holidays store-bought.

He stated that some of the decorations are from last year, he recycled and he got some new ones. Nicholson has been decorating the tree for the past two years to bring joy and spread the holiday cheer in his village. It is quite a sight at nights when it is lit up and the children in the village would come out and look at it for a bit because retiring to their beds.
Nicholson is a resident of New Hope Housing Scheme, Onderneeming, West Coast Berbice and he lives with his extended family. The 19-year-old has a lot going for him because he is multi-talented and is always doing something around the house or yard.

He would buy plants from the nursery at Rosignol and got some old tyres which he painted bright red and used it to pot the plants, which sits in the front yard. Nicholson is also tasked with re-painting and decorating the house and is hoping  to finish just in time for the holidays. This young man also rear pigs has some meat birds which he will sell for the holidays and there some creole fowls, as well. “Since growing up I always had a knack for decorating, cooking and making a house look good so I decided to do Home Economics at Fort Wellington Secondary School and I was delighted to be able to learn so much of which I have put into practice in the home,” he said. Nicholson is a very cheery individual and he has an air

of confidence and from the way he does things, you can tell he knows what he is about. He relocated to New Hope Housing Scheme four years ago with his grandmother and siblings from the neighbouring village of Hopetown when his family benefitted from a house and land.

Nicholson told the Pepperpot Magazine that the holidays always excites him and that gives him the drive to do things to decorate and brighten up the place especially for his sister and four brothers. He would also spend hours in the kitchen to ensure cake,  pepperpot, bread and other dishes are prepared and placed on the table for  Christmas for the family to indulge. “I like to things but the only thing I didn’t get to learn is knitting and I would enrol in a class when the pandemic passes over because I  want to knit chair backs for the house,” he said. Nicholson stated that they are in the process of extending the house so they can relocate the kitchen on the lower flat but it is unfinished. He would also spend a lot of daylight hours in the yard doing his gardening to ensure the plants are watered and they get ample manure to promote growth.

Nicholson would wake up at about 04:00hrs to look after the 20 meat birds he is rearing and the pigs before doing household chores. His company is a small Bluetooth music box he carries with him which has a memory card of music that he would listen to. Nicholson told the Pepperpot Magazine that Christmas is the time of year he looks forward to even though it is a lot of work around the house but it is also about sharing, caring and families. He will ensure his house is full of joy for the holidays and being self-employed gives him the time to do more of which he is all too happy.