This week the Pepperpot Magazine visited the countryside village of #51 Loudia, Corentyne, Berbice, which is the Good Hope district.

This is a fairly large roadside community with mixed-race ethnicities and is home to some skilled and extraordinary folk who are making a difference in the lives of many.

The first stop in this village is the roadside spot, El Paso, a place where you can stop for good food and cold beverages. You can also sit in the large benab there or have the children play on the trampoline.

It is a clean, well-kept place with extra friendly faces and it is indeed a ‘chill spot’ conveniently located on the public road.

The people are very friendly and would take the time to sit and chat and it is a place where most of the locals have lived all their lives.

The community has schools, churches, a mandir, a post office and a police station, but no mosque and the people live in harmony.

Most people like the place for its solitude, while others said it is their home village, a place like no other.

The people of the village are skilled workers, self-employed, small-business owners, cash crops, livestock, cattle and rice farmers.

The community has electricity, potable water supply, landline and cellphone services, internet and cable service as well as good roads and infrastructure.

The village is between #50 Leeds and #52, it has more than 2,000 people and extends from the foreshore to the savannahs.

The community is an agricultural village where the people utilise every yard space to plant greens and vegetables for the kitchen and to sell.

The rice farmers have vast lands on which they cultivate and the cattle and livestock folk use their yard space and savannahs to graze their animals, which include ducks, goats, sheep, pigs, cows, and chickens

The village has a lot of greenery and its share of homegrown fruits and vegetables, and it is a place where people don’t buy these things, since they is grown in almost every yard.

The #51 NDC
Meanwhile, the Pepperpot Magazine met the #51 Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) Overseer, Glory Samuels.

She reported that #51 Loudia Village comes under the Good Hope district and the NDC is responsible for eight villages from #51 to #44, and has a population of just over 2,000 with 886 households.

Samuels stated that the Youth Choice building and skills training comes under the NDC, with a private partnership where they had a pre-school and daycare centre, but recently, no programmes are being conducted due to the pandemic.

She reported that the people utilise the services at the #47 Health Centre and secondary schools are in other neighbouring villages. She also noted that it is a farming village and with their yearly subvention through the Ministry of Communities, they maintain the internal streets, install street lights and do weekly garbage collection for a fee of $100 per bag and $200 per barrel, only on Wednesdays.

The NDC Overseer disclosed that because of flooding, they purchased two polytubings to strengthen the dam at #49 village, where water was overflowing.

She added that two half-inch tubes were also installed in March and one 24-inch tubing was placed behind the sluice, all expenses of the #51 NDC.

Samuels disclosed that in March they had flooding of more than two inches of water and the NDC teamed up with the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) and distributed cleaning hampers to every household.

“We do assist the community in whatever way we can and we ensure all drainage canals are cleared, and we pay for the security of the heavy equipment [excavator],” she said.

Samuels related that the lowlands are still inunduated and needs to be sand-filled, but the NDC would maintain drains, parapets and cemeteries at #49, #47 and #46 villages through workers on the Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP).

She added that they would also assist schools in weeding the yards and spraying and has 11 CIIP workers on board.

She explained that with the monies collected, they turn it over for staff expenses and at present they have only two in-office staff, who are the Overseer and the Assistant Overseer.

The Chairperson is Swarsattie Sharif and the Vice-Chair is Nagesar Sookram and there are 13 councillors.

Samuels is from #51 Village and has been at the NDC since 2010.This particular NDC has been doing its bit to give back to the community through the annual bursary awards, whereby five pupils from each primary school in the district will be awarded money and a certificate for their sterling performances at the Common Entrance Exams.

This initiative started in 2000 and despite their financial constraints, they ensure that the children in the community benefit from something as a form of encouragement for them to do well at school.

“We try to give the top performers something to encourage them to continue to excel in school, and it is our way of contributing to the community,” she said.