This week the Pepperpot Magazine visited the hilltop village of Canvas City, Wismar, Linden, in Region Ten (Upper Demerara-Berbice) to highlight the way of life of the locals and the village.

It is a scenic, like out of a magazine kind of village with remnants of a yesteryear feel to it but the people are the nicest and it is a very safe neighbourhood to lead a good family life.

The village is sandy, hilly with many back alleys, nooks and crannies leading from one place to another and is a community where the people are vying for self-reliance to earn.

Canvas City is located between Half Mile and One Mile villages and has a population of about 3, 000 and a lot of children.

The village extends from New Silver City Nursery School by the bridge, the entrance and ends at the junction just before One Mile Village, a larger community.

The village has churches, a Nursery School, a hotel, a Resource Centre constructed by the people and serves as a place for skills training by local volunteers and other buildings making up the housing section of the community.

Most of the dwelling houses are on top of hills and this village doesn’t flood easily even if it rains heavily for over a period of time.

It has about four cross streets and many small tracks leading to houses both up and downhill and is one of the most picturesque villages in Linden.

The people of Canvas City Village comprises of all ethnicities and they co-exist in harmony, peace and there is cooperation among the people, who came together, pooled their money and upgraded the road through a self-help initiative.

These villagers crave development, however. Even though there is electricity, potable water supply, internet, cable, cell phone and landline services the people really need an all-weather road to make living there better.

Most of the locals have kitchen gardens of fruits and vegetables and are self-employed folk, who are finding jobs right from their homes since job opportunities are scarce in the region, which has caused a lot of the young people to leave.

It is not exactly known when people began occupying the land but it is believed to be in the 1970s when the bauxite industry was booming.

And more people left other parts of the country and went to seek employment in Linden and began clearing and living in areas such as Canvas City which was once dense forest.

Back then, people used whatever was around them to build houses and they constructed small cottages with the canvas belt that were used then discarded by the bauxite company.

The newcomers took that canvas and fitted it as roofs and walls for their houses thus, the name derived Canvas City because all the houses back then were made up of canvas, a by-product of bauxite.

After some time, the bauxite company began using conveyor belts instead of canvas belts in the factory and when they discarded that too, the people made use of it to build their houses.

The conveyor belts were even sturdier and to date the people still have it as shade covers for their verandah, patio, porch and other to keep out rain.

Today, the village has developed somewhat with all the basic infrastructure except a good access road and the people have been trying to fix it themselves but they too, need a little help to have an upgraded road.

There are a few small shops in this village and the people support each other because that’s how they survive and they are finding many ways to earn an honest dollar despite the pandemic and the shortages of jobs in that region.

The residents of Canvas City are poultry farmers, shop owners, carpenters, mechanics, welders, masons, teachers, nurses, vendors and other skilled professionals.

The resilience of the people to have an enhanced life by establishing a group called the ‘Canvas City Group’ which initiates many self-help activities within the village with their 40 strong membership.