MICHAEL Ramaiah is a businessman and resident of Miss Phoebe Village, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice and he gives back to the community through the religious organisations and would assist in whatever way he can when he is asked to provide finance or groceries to the less fortunate.

He is the owner of Michael and Sons Business Enterprise, a wholesale/retail beverage depot and shop at Well Street, Miss Phoebe Village.

He has seven staffers in his employ and is willing to provide jobs for the youths in the village, but added his concerns as regards the gambling shop in his village, which attracts the young men who would lose their earnings and imbibe heavily there.

Ramaiah reported that Miss Phoebe is otherwise a quiet, countryside place where everybody knows each other and they do not have a lot of issues, except his street needs an upgrade.

The farmer and the vendor
In this same village, there is the home of Phulmattie Fredericks and her husband Balram Fredericks, who was once a cane-cutter, but had to quit his job due to ill health.

They had been living in the village for the past 38 years and are caretakers of the property in which they they reside. They used to rent the place, but had family issues and were asked to move.

When Balram suffered a heart condition and collapsed several times at work in the cane field, he was offered early retirement and was at home, so he decided to convert his yard into a garden.

He plants the fruits and vegetables and his wife would sell the produce at the Port Mourant Market on Saturdays to earn.

Phulmattie, also known as Pammy, is originally from Black Bush Polder but relocated to Miss Phoebe after marriage.

The mother of five stated that when they had the flood, they lost 14 banks of celery and other cash crops and are now trying to re-plant after the soil is fully dried out and prepared.

They have two neighbours and they live a very quiet and simple life.

Balram has crops of broccoli, bora, celery, shallot, peppers, lettuce, boulanger, thick leaf calaloo and other crops.

“Since January, I re-planted and is [sic] hoping for a good harvest because this is my living and we depend on it,” he said.

He is one of many small-scale farmers in the village who are awaiting their cash grant to upkeep their livelihoods of farming.

After 29 years of service at the sugar estate, he was forced into early retirement when he got sick and is getting only $10,000 monthly, which is insufficient to offset household expenses including, bills.

The Berbice Islamic School
In this village, there is the Berbice Islamic School which is conveniently located on the Public Road, and it was established in 2004 for both Muslim and non- Muslim students.

According to teacher Farina Yassim, who has been at the school since 2013, the private school offers both primary and secondary education in their spacious classrooms.

“Our students are not forced to conform to the Muslim faith nor teachers and we respect religions and people here,” she said.

The school has a prayer room and when it is time for prayers, non-Muslims are given remedial work to complete.

Yassim added that the Berbice Islamic School is a place where slow learners are elevated to become exceptional students and they have had some success stories as some students have excelled.

“When they come here after five years, they do well in exams and we ensure our curriculum is sufficient,” she said.

Yassim told the Pepperpot Magazine that presently they have online classes for the secondary students, while classes are held at the school for the primary level.

They have an enrolment of more than 32 pupils in the primary level and a lot of students in the secondary level have dropped out due to the pandemic, but they had more than 130 before COVID-19.

The Berbice Islamic School is governed by a Board of Directors and has six teachers and they would type out and print all work materials to distribute free of charge to pupils and students who do not have internet access.