At the home of Jainarine (only name) it was like a trip to back in time. He has a wide array of collector’s wares, toys, stamps, cards, musical instruments, cameras, board games and many other items, collected through generations which started by his great grandfather.

This collection of antiques was handed down from generations to him by his father and most of the collectors’ items are still in pristine condition.

These antiques are displayed in cabinets, dozens of books are stored in barrels, and other things are placed in every available space in his house and storage shed.

The viewing was surreal because his collection is wide and it is quite interesting to know how long and what it took to store away these items and to such good condition and well preserved.

Jainarine has paintings, Dutch bottles, sewing machines that are manual, old cinema tickets by the reel, jars, jugs, old-time lamps, a portable gas stove, guitar, band set, violin, fishing rods, matches, shaving razors, smoking pipes, cigarettes and many other collector’s items.

His wares, including China sets from way back when other cutlery are so beautiful and kept in glass cabinets, are displayed with pride and importance.

“I am willing to part with some of these antiques if the price is right but I have to look at prices and so on before that happens, as you can see, I have a lot and I am running out of space so selling some isn’t a bad idea because I need the money,” he said.

Taking care of these collector’s items is also a full-time job that requires patience and care and he would do that at nights after a hard day’s work on the farm.

He plans to open a Nursing Home for elders and a library but needs a plot of land to so do because his yard is used up for planting, and he also has some chickens, ducks and a fish pond.

Jainarine is a resident of Balchyock Village, Blairmont, West Bank Berbice and is an antique collector and a full-time farmer.

Farming life
The 54-year-old is a full-time farmer and due to the rainy conditions, he lost 1500 heads of tomato plants, peppers, celery and other crops.

He has a pond in his backyard where he has some tilapia and the ducks would also use the same pond to swim.

“I would take a loan from IPED and buy black ducks to rear and grow food but when the rains come and the place is flooded, I lost most crops, so I am at a loss because I still have to pay the loan,” he said.

Jainarine explained that he is able to sustain himself because he would take loans after loans to stay self-employed, but the rain has destroyed his crops and he is yet to recover from the losses.

The father of two stated that he has fruits, cash crops, citrus, bananas, plantains and other crops in his yard and when he harvests he would sell his produce at Rosignol Market to wholesale buyers, who would pay less but re-sell for a profit.

Jainarine added that when the weather is good and he gets a good harvest, he can employ three persons from the village to assist him on his farm, but he is unable to do so these days.

He would pay the labourers $2,500 per day to work as a day-pay, but he cannot since his crops are dying due to the rains.

Although he didn’t suffer from prolonged flooding, the rains have beaten the crops of lettuce, tomatoes, celery and peppers.

Jainarine reported that he used to rear meat birds on a large scale with 1000 chickens but the flooding killed his poultry business.

He has a few creole fowls and some black ducks.

He had to start another small business and bought 215 tilapia and dug a fish pond in his backyard and today that amount has multiplied after six months.

As is, his bora plants are barely surviving and with 500 roots of tomatoes at $800 per tree he has suffered a great setback.

However, his coconuts, bananas, plantains and some fruits trees have withstood the weather and are still standing.

Jainarine told the Pepperpot Magazine that he moved to Balchyock Village in 2009 and he sued to rear cattle by the dam in the squatting area and was allocated a plot and he constructed a house and relocated.

He stated that these days it is just he and his wife, Fazeen Alli would do the farming and she is also a part-time seamstress.

His sons, both work at the Blairmont Sugar Estate as a driver and a mechanic and they too, would assist on the farm when they can.