Patrice Simeon is a teacher attached to the Aroarima Primary School and has spent many waking hours at the school preparing pupils to write the recently held Grade Six Assessment examination.

She is a resident of Nottinghamshire Village, Linden and has a way with children, which makes her ideal for a teacher.

“It was good to be back in the actual classroom after being away from it for so long and it felt good because I was able to connect with the pupils better rather than virtual classes, which has its own challenges,” she said.

Simeon reported that none of the Grade Six pupils had an internet connection so they had no choice but to return to the classroom to prepare them to sit the exam.

Having fulfilled her mandate as a teacher and with the Grade Six Assessment exams out of the way, she is at home relaxing, awaiting the new school term with the fervent hope that schools will be re-opened.

“I am ready to return to the classroom so we have to wait and see what’s going to happen because being home is rather boring and I want to be in a classroom where I belong,” she said.

For Simeon being a teacher is what she always dreamed of so when it happened she was very happy and said that it is a fulfilling job.

“If you are passionate about teaching like me, it is easy as a job and I really like being around the children imparting knowledge, preparing them for a bright future in the workforce,” she said.

Simeon began her teaching career eight years ago and said it feels like yesterday because it is not a burden for her at all.

Even though teachers, like many others, have been tried and tested during this pandemic, they went beyond the call of duty to deliver education to the children that depend on them.

The mother of one reported that she has been residing in Nottinghamshire Village for six years, and she is originally from Kwakwani.

She resides with family members and she would assist her aunt, who has the only shop in the village.

Simeon is a spritely young woman who loves what she does for a job and is looking forward to the re-opening of schools.

The village cook and black pudding lady
Meanwhile, Marcia Simmons called “Shondel” is said to be the best cook in the village. She is the “black pudding lady” who makes very tasty foods and other things.

The mother of seven was unable to get a job so she decided to utilise her cooking skills and started to make white and black pudding, egg ball, pholourie, cassava ball, fried rice with fried chicken, baked fish macaroni and cheese every Saturday.

Residents support her because they get what they expect- deliciousness and her small business helps to buy groceries to put food on the table in the home.

Simmons told the Pepperpot Magazine that she would prepare the dishes early at her home and would get help from her children to get out house to house and sell in the community.

She is well-known in the small, close-knit village of Nottinghamshire and people look forward to her dishes every Saturday.

Marcia Simmons on the go in her village

Of her seven children, only four are at home with her and they are a blessing to her life because they would often lend a helping hand in doing things in the home, she testified.

Simmons also has a part-time job as a Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP) worker attached to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region 10 and would clean drains and parapets 16 days per month and get an income for that job.

This Nottinghamshire resident is also a small scale cash crop farmer and has utilised her yard space to cultivate crops which she would sell to bring in a dollar to the home.

“In life, if you want to be able to have a comfortable life or have many children like I do, you have to ‘hustle’ honestly and do more than one job to earn and I am trying to do to make ends meet financially,” she said.