– Life in the village is comfortable for residents

AS a Sunday School Teacher at the High Flying Tabernacle Church in North Timehri, East Bank Demerara, the children of the village are naturally drawn to Rhonda Hemerding.

But when the pandemic reached Guyana’s shores and the children could not attend schools anymore due to their closure, they reached out to ask her for assistance.

Hemerding accommodated the children and began helping them with their school work via worksheets and textbooks given through the Ministry of Education.

Being passionate about helping others and teaching, she readily agreed to tutor children of her community during the weekdays at her home, free of cost.

Hemerding has converted her shop into a classroom and her husband made some wooden benches and tables to make the children comfortable and she would host the children in two groups.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that being a Sunday school teacher at her church, which is located just a few doors away, she realised she loved being around children and she liked teaching a lot.

She was, however, motivated to re-write Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and was successful when she did. She was about to apply for a teaching job at the school in Timehri, but then the pandemic happened and her plans were put on hold.

The mother of three stated that eight children in her village began coming to her house and she would encourage them to bring their own snacks and water and has all COVID-19 protocols in place, such as hand- washing, the wearing of face masks and social distancing.

Not all the children are present at one time and she would allow them to come in two groups of four at each session.

“I am doing this as a way of giving back to the community, because it is free and I like teaching, so I am happy to assist,” she said.

Hemerding added that her husband is a poultry farmer and they have a farm at Friendship, also on the East Bank of Demerara and the plucked chicken she would sell at home, to earn.

She explained that she grew up in Craig, then lived at Alliance Road, Timehri and after marriage went to reside at Litchfield, West Coast Berbice, where her husband is from and in 2010 they relocated to North Timehri.

Hemerding has been married for 16 years and has three children and is quite comfortable as is; she keeps a clean and tidy home and yard.

“This place nice to live, quiet and like every village, people have their own issues, but nothing major and the only thing is it is taking a while to develop. We don’t have landline phones, but we have internet from a private company, so the children can access the internet for school work,” she said.

Hemerding also has a small printing business which she operates from her home, doing printing and photocopying services.

She has her eyes set on becoming a teacher and plans to have extra lessons at her home for the children in her village.

The pastor’s wife
Meanwhile, the Pepperpot Magazine met an energetic woman, Kiwana Sam, wife of a pastor, who resides in North Timehri and serves as a mentor for the female church members and children.

She and another church member, Felicia Macallum, 19, would host extra lessons for the children in the village at a minimal cost of just $200 per day.

Two sessions are held in the church building from 13:00hrs to 15:00hrs on weekdays, and most parents who are working would pay $1,000 per week.

Sam has been living in North Timehri since age 14 and she is 33, a mother of three and the church is attached to their home.

Her husband is the pastor of the Church of Pentecost Guyana Inc.

That church was started by a Haitian pastor, who was impressed by Sam’s husband’s generosity by accommodating some Haitians at his home and he assisted them to construct the church building, to show his appreciation.

The church building was completed a year ago and they have about 30 members and on Father’s Day, they held an appreciation service for all fathers.

“We does contribute from our own pockets to the needy and just about anyone that needs help in the form of clothing or groceries and it feels good to assist others and it is something we strive to continue doing,” she said.

Sam’s husband has a full-time job as a porter at Bounty Farms Ltd and does the preaching on Sundays.

“Being the wife of a pastor is not just to be a role model and live a good Christian life, but also to encourage and help others in their time of need, to have an open door, a place for people to come and feel welcomed and to serve God and be a good example in society,” she said.

The Greens Man
Chitram Ramdeholl is a farmer and he resides with his wife, Ramdai, at North Timehri, East Bank Demerara.

Ramdeholl would take time to clean his yard and surroundings and at his farm, it is no different; he has a very clean farm that is weed-free.

The 58-year-old has a plot of land of about five acres at the edge of the village, where he has some sweet peppers, celery, lettuce, eddoes, and plantains.

But most of his crops perished due to the recent flood and he is in the process of re-planting some cash crops.

The Ramdeholls are originally from Clemwood, Demerara River and moved to North Timehri about 20 years ago in search of a better life and for the children to attend school.

They have a cultivation of papaya and sweet peppers in their backyard and their place is well-kept and they have lots of plants and flowers to add that bit of colour to the environment.

Ramdai told the Pepperpot Magazine that they would go to Stabroek Market to sell their produce after harvesting, but due to the heavy rainfall, they suffered a loss.

The 55-year-old was once healthy, but these days she has pains in her hip and is unable to do much except cook and keep the place tidy.

The mother of two reported that life in North Timehri is favourable and they are trying their best to cope, despite many challenges.

One of the first settlers of North Timehri
Rita Stoll is among one of the first settlers of North Timehri, who at age 16 left her North West Village and journeyed to the city and later, after marriage, she settled in North Timehri.

The 65-year-old, a jolly woman, told the Pepperpot Magazine that when she came to live there, the place was a forest and saw only monkeys.

Her in-laws were the caretakers of the guesthouse in North Timehri, the only building in the village back then and they had a small camp there at first.

The mother of seven stated as the place developed and more people began occupying the lands she built a house and called it home.

Today, she resides with a daughter and is quite comfortable and is enjoying her golden years.

Her husband passed away many years ago after he had a cardiac arrest, but by then the children were grown and they too built their own houses and are residing in the same village.

“This is a very safe place to live, nobody don’t thief or anything and you can still leave your doors open and go out,” she said.