By Michel Outridge

LIKE most women of Green Valley, Wismar, Linden, Nickoya Williams is a teacher and due to COVID-19 she had to get used to online teaching, but prefers the face-to-face interaction in the classroom, since she believes the children are not grasping much that is imparted to them via virtual sessions.

The school teacher told the Pepperpot Magazine that the pandemic has brought challenges for most people in terms of work and having to be indoors for extended periods of time has been hard and she really misses the classroom.

It is with great frustration that she would conduct online classes, but the children haven’t been very responsive and that is a cause for concern, she said.

Williams has been a teacher for the past nine years and she is attached to the Royal Hall of Learning School, a private institution.

A year ago when the novel coronavirus came to Guyana, everything changed and people had to contend with working from home and it took a toll on some folk mentally, causing depression and fear of going out.

Williams, like most women in Green Valley, is at home and after a year they are finding things to do to occupy their time, even though they would like normalcy again, such as returning to school.

She is originally from Kuru Kururu, Soesdyke/Linden Highway and after marriage, Green Valley became her home, a peaceful, quiet place for raising children and a good family life.

Williams added that the village is small but developments such as street lights, and an all-weather access road are needed, since they have only one and it is in a bad condition.

Williams would tutor children in her spare time from home and would engage in her share of online classes via Zoom and the virtual learning platforms from Mondays to Fridays.

Meanwhile, there is also another villager, Hazel Stephens, a stay-at-home mother of six, who is a local of Green Valley.

She lives in a lovely blue-painted concrete house that sits comfortably on the hill overlooking the valley; from there, it is a fantastic view;

Stephens told the Pepperpot Magazine that she has spent all of her 44 years in Green Valley, the only place she knows and that is home for her.

She related that three of her six children are grown and have left home to pursue their careers, while the three small ones are at home.

She, too, has been at home without a job for the past year due to the virus the work she had closed off.

“Being at home isn’t a bother for me because I have things to do at home to occupy my time, and I like living here, it is home and I wouldn’t leave this place to live anywhere else,” she said.

Stephens reported that there are no thieves in Green Valley and it is a place where they do not buy certain things such as coconuts and eddo leaves among others, because there is an abundance of it all over.

The Pepperpot Magazine also met Petra Lewis, another stay-at-home resident, who was in the process of hanging out the laundry despite the heavy rainfall that day.

The 36-year-old explained that she quit her job at Massive Inn, Old Kara Kara, McKenzie Shore, a year ago because of COVID-19.

She has been residing in Green Valley for two years and has a lot to do at home, because she feels at peace.

“This place don’t get a lot of visitors, so when new people come we recognise that right away but we don’t mind; the people are friendly and we get along well,” she said.

In her yard there are plenty of fruit trees such as star apple, pear, cherries among others and she would share with neighbours when it is too much for the home.

Lewis added that if she doesn’t have a reason to leave home, she wouldn’t and doesn’t mind being at home.

The Pepperpot Magazine encountered Dolores Gibbons, she is a stay-at-home mother who sells cold beverages from her home.

In her yard, there is a natural spring and anyone can visit to have their water bottles filled, since it is the same water residents continue to use for consumption with worry.

The 51-year-old is a plain-spoken individual, who is well-known in the community.