THE #51 Loudia Village, Corentyne, Berbice Post Office is managed by Michelle Cadogan and two other staffers and provides a reliable service to several villages and their people.

The Postmistress told the Pepperpot Magazine that they sell stamps, do payments of old-age pensions, treasury pension, Laparkan, First Global, money transfers and accept bill payments for all utilities.

She related that depending on the time of the month, the Post Office is a very busy place and they try to do their work in a manner where people do not have to wait in long lines to get service.

With just two staffers, Cadogan reported that the upper flat of the two-storey building is in a bad state and just the lower flat is used and they are hoping to buy the place and construct a more acceptable building to house the Post Office

Presently, they are renting and they have a good working relationship with the community.

The #51 Loudia Post Office opens from 07:00hrs to 15:00hrs on weekdays and is closed on weekends.

The Postmistress added that they also deliver mails and things are good except when it rains; the building is old and in dire need of one edifice.

Cadogan and her employees serve the villages of #50, #49, #48, #47, #51, #53 and #54 and their service is good and reliable, despite the challenges.

“A lot of people would utilise the services provided by the Post Office and some do visit to pay bills and do money transfers, as well as the elderly would come to collect their various pensions every month,” she said.

The Councillor
Winston Samuels is a resident of #51 Loudia Village, Corentyne, Berbice, and he has lived all his life in the community.

He is the village grocer, he has a shop which the villagers support and he is well-known and a reserved but respected elder.

The 77-year-old would manage his shop daily and would close for lunch before re-opening, and he is one of the 13 councillors at the local Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).

“The people of this village have what it takes to foster development, but need support,” he said.

Samuels reported that they had a flood last month and the NDC and central government officials visited and did an assessment of the situation, to ascertain how they can help in terms of flood relief.

All drainage canals and trenches were cleared and pumps were brought in to pump the excess water off the land; cleaning hampers were distributed to every house and they were grateful for the assistance.

The lovely house
At the turn, right on the Public Road at #46 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, there is an unusually beautiful house made of cedar wood, which sits on a large plot of land.

It is very eye-catching and it is the vacation house of the Kendalls, their custom-made house and whenever they are in Guyana, they would spend their time there, as they were doing when the team caught up with them.

According to James Kendall, the house is 30 years old; it is a design from the Canadian Lindar Cedar home-style, but the Kendalls made a parallel replica which is 40 per cent of the Canadian model.

He explained that he had the house modified to suit the local climate, which is a feature of the coastal land and was made into a cottage-style edifice, off the ground just in case there was flooding.

Kendall added that the house is four feet off the ground and has three levels; it is quite large and spacious

“I was born and raised in this village, but I migrated and is residing in Canada for more than 40 years and I have two girls and the plot of land was a gift from my grandfather, who owned the estate back then. I wanted to do something and built this house,” he said.

Kendall stated that the house was designed in 1988 and with local workers the house was built in 1989 and is a work in progress, since repairs and upgrading are continuously being done.

He disclosed that the brightly painted, well-kept house has three bedrooms, another on the lower flat, a large family room, a study and has a semi-wrap around bend with two baths, two toilets and the master bedroom.

Kendall told the Pepperpot Magazine that just like the village #46, the house has 46 windows, doors, incorporated as a residential home.