The life of the basket-maker
Monica Thomas, better
known as the “Basket Lady”
of North Timehri, East Bank
Demerara, has been making
various types of baskets for
many years. The 60-year-old
has her eyes set on retirement,
but until she can pass
on her craft, Thomas is making
do by making baskets to
order as best she can (Carl
Croker photo)
Monica Thomas, better known as the “Basket Lady” of North Timehri, East Bank Demerara, has been making various types of baskets for many years. The 60-year-old has her eyes set on retirement, but until she can pass on her craft, Thomas is making do by making baskets to order as best she can (Carl Croker photo)

AT age 60, old Monica Thomas better known as the “Basket Lady” of North Timehri, East Bank Demerara and she is willing to pass down the talent to her grandchildren and children, but they are not too keen on learning, since she has her eyes set on retiring.

She has the natural gift of making any type of baskets, be it clothes, onions, potatoes, garlic, fruits, vegetables and those big ones used to store cooked rice at religious functions and other large events.

Monica Thomas displaying two of her baskets (Carl Croker photos)

Thomas is in her golden age and she wants to ‘hang up her gloves,’ so to speak, since she is willing to just relax, but that may not be for now.

“When I ask the grandchildren to help me or come and learn this skill, they would say hard work does make them look old and they don’t want to do it”, she said.

The elderly woman told the Pepperpot Magazine that she cannot make as many baskets as she used to and needs help to fulfil her orders.

“I only make baskets based on the orders I get and it is difficult to get the muckru [the type of vine needed to make the baskets] and it is sourced from the swampy area aback the village and the men hardly ever want to go and cut it for me,” she said.

Thomas added that an ordinary basket would take 15 minutes to make once she has finished stripping the muckru and only has to plait it.

The mother of four related that since as a child she learned to make baskets by watching her grandmother and mother doing it, and she grew up making it herself.

She is originally from Low Wood, Demerara River and relocated to North Timehri 21 years ago.

Thomas explained that her sister and brother-in-law used to work at North Timehri cutting wood, because the area was thick forest and there weren’t people living there at the time and they had a small camp set up while working there.

She noted that as time progressed, they settled there and encouraged her to relocate for a better life and she cleared a part of the land by cutting down the trees and bushes and erected a small wooden cottage and began living there.

“This entire place was just trees and bushes and there was no one else living here but us and there was only a small track leading to the road, but as time passed, more people began occupying the land to escape the hard life of the far-flung mostly riverine areas[where] they were residing,” she said.

She reported that in Low Wood, a small riverine village that sits on the bank of the Demerara River, the only two jobs there are farming or basket-making and she wanted a better life.

Thomas pointed out that back in the days when she was much younger she used to make all types of baskets for several places, including Creations Craft, Guyana Stores, but these days she cannot work like before.

When she settled in North Timehri she began making baskets to sell and used to hang it up outside her small shop in front of her yard and when people passing through to go to the races at the South Dakota Circuit, they used to stop and buy.

Thomas disclosed that she would pay $600 per bundle of the muckru sticks and at times she would get six baskets from that bundle, if many sticks are in good condition.

Since the clothes basket is so large and has a cover and handles, it takes two bundles of the muckru sticks to make it.

Monica Thomas scraping the muckru to make baskets in her yard

Thomas pointed out that basket-making is her only and main source of income and it takes a lot of time and effort, manual labour, to do it and often it is difficult to meet orders, since she has no help.

She related that her children and grandchildren had asked her to stop making baskets, because she had complained she needed help and they bought her a sewing machine instead and she would make pillowcases to sell when she has the time.

But since people continue to order baskets she would make to meet those orders and at times she would journey to the city to Stabroek Market to sell some baskets.

But after being reportedly harassed by City Constables and paying them money, she could not make a profit and stopped coming to the city to sell baskets.

Thomas added that the hardest part of making baskets is stripping and scraping the muckru which takes time and it has to dry before she can use it.

She is a pleasant lady who doesn’t like the limelight and would work quietly from her home and has plans to build her own house sometime.

But for now, she will try to meet the demands of orders for baskets.

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