FOUR years ago, Sybil Francis with a leap of faith packed a few belongings and journeyed to Timehri North, East Bank Demerara from Port Kaituma, Region One (Barima-Waini) in search of a better life.

The 61-year-old is pleased for making the move from her home village to a place she never went to before.

It was for the best, because she is gainfully employed at the North Timehri Coop Society Ltd and she manages the shop of groceries and their locally made salted fish, Chinese sauce and green seasonings.

Francis is one of 10 women from the community who are employed with the North Timehri Coop Society via the Government of Guyana (GoG), through the Ministry of Social Protection Timehri North Coop Society Ltd. Salted fish Processing Facility, funded by the Sustainable Livelihood Entrepreneurial Development (SLED) programme.

The group of women under guidance from Chairperson of the Coop, Carmen Simon, would process locally caught fish and after the preparation of cleaning and drying the fish, they would package it for sale with all the labels and other requirements.

“The Chair, Simon, would go to the city to get the fish in bulk and bring it to us and we do all the preparations and use the facilities here, where we also sell the salt fish,” she said.

Francis told the Pepperpot Magazine that they have salted trout, snapper, banga and shark and they started making local Chinese sauce and green seasoning, which are bottled and sold for $300 each.

The North Timehri resident stated that she is very happy to be working and right in her village and she is the face at the coop; she is there from Mondays to Fridays from 08:00hrs to 16:00hrs.

The mother of six added that she has a son, who resides with her, but he is often away at sea. He is a boat captain on a fishing vessel and is gone for weeks at a time.

Francis reported that she has a daughter in Port Kaituma, two others in Matthews Ridge and two more in the Aruka River.

She explained that she gets paid from the profits of the small business selling groceries, salted fish and other locally made products on a weekly basis.

Francis disclosed that she is very comfortable with her little house which is located at the edge of the village, downhill and she would walk to, from work and after.

She said life in North Timehri is by far way better than when she was living in Port Kaituma.

The miner
The Pepperpot Magazine met Winston English, a miner, who was home due to the rainy season from the interior.

He added that since the rains began he came home to rest a bit and has a lovely cottage on the main access road in the village.

The 44-year-old reported that he has been residing in North Timehri for the past 10 years after leaving his home village in the Pomeroon River.

“I used to visit relatives here and I get to like the place and decided to relocate here and it was worth it, because I have my own house and life is good,” he said.

English stated that living in North Timehri is easier than residing in a riverine village, that is far-flung and it is expensive to do things there unlike Timehri, where things are accessible and the cost of living is reasonable.

The father of three stated that the village is a relatively safe place because even the newcomers would see how they are living and adapt to their peaceful lifestyle.

“This place as you can see nice, a lovely view, it is breezy and we don’t get flooding here a lot, but to live happy one must work to enjoy the finer things in life,” he said.

English disclosed that the people are close-knit and they are very neighbourly and it is a good place to raise a family and with the airport and other places being near, it is convenient for them.

“Look at this place, beautiful and the people are of mixed race and everybody mind their business, get along and that’s the way to go,” he said.