A ‘bread basket’ of farm-fresh produce

This week, the Pepperpot Magazine journeyed overland to visit the quiet countryside village of Naamryck, East Bank Essequibo, to highlight the way of life of the locals.

This small agricultural village is nestled between Look Out and Salem and is bordered by the Essequibo River and the savannahs.

It is located several miles from Parika, a central hub of many businesses and a market and the ferry stelling and the beach where private speedboats are moored.

It has a population of about 250 residents, most of whom are farmers, homemakers and other skilled craftsmen and women and some young professionals.

The village has two internal one-vehicle streets and it has canals and trenches running along the houses.

It has two main access dams that lead into the vast backlands and are primarily used for large-scale farming of ground provisions, pineapples, bananas, and plantains.

The village is mostly self-sufficient in terms of food security and the people eat what they produce.

The natives seem to be from ‘farm-to-table’ folk, who toil for long hours starting early in the mornings to way into the day on their respective farms along that corridor.

Naamryck Village is located on the eastern bank of the Essequibo River, approximately 22 miles from Vreed-en-Hoop.

The residents are predominantly Africans, Amerindians, Indians and people of mixed ethnicities, who consider themselves one big family.

It is a very close-knit community and most people are either related by blood or very neighbourly and they co-exist in relative peace and calm, regardless of the political overtones.

Naamryck Village is home to some of the sweetest pineapples and wholesome ground provisions, including plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, and eddoes.

The people are very friendly and would open up their gates for you to enter and have a chat at any given time; and these folk do not have idle time because they are always doing things to enhance their lives and financial situations.

The community has a ballfield but it needs maintenance and an upgrade because it is in a ‘run down’ state and inundated with water and bushy.

Naamryck Village has one mandir and no other facilities but those can be accessed in neighbouring villages with the central hub for businesses at Parika.

The community is a ‘green’ village because it has a lot of greenery in terms of plants, flowers, trees being fruits and vegetables and the people take pride in keeping their surroundings clean and tidy.

Some villagers have plants and flowers lining their driveway, in front of their yards, inside their front yard space, and around their houses.

It is a relatively clean village and there isn’t much of a garbage problem since the locals get rid of their refuse using a private waste disposal service that collects refuse once a week.

Naamryck Village is among a string of small communities located along a long, winding road which ends at Bendroff, the village before Morashee, which is only accessible via boat.

The village has a potable water supply, which is rich in iron content and so reddish-brown it stains everything and cannot be used for drinking.

Naamryck Village also has electricity, landline phones and internet services.

It is one of those villages where nature is at its best with the birds chirping and the cool breeze is refreshing; and it has a very ‘homey’ feel to it with large shady trees under which has wooden benches and tables for seating accommodation for that regular afternoon relaxation.

The people also rear their own chickens and have livestock and they are early risers, who start their day with a hearty breakfast before heading off to their farms via boats with outboard engines through a canal since the dams are in a bad state.

The produce is transported via boats to Salem Koker and it is usually offloaded for wholesale buyers, who make their purchases to re-sell to vendors all across the country.

The Salem Koker is a busy place where farmers bring out their produce to sell and vehicles such as canter trucks would park there to make their pick-ups.

Some men would use the shady trees to have a ‘lime,’ where a pot of cook-u-rice was boiling on an outdoor fireside and drinks were in abundance and friendly banter could be heard openly.

Naamryck is a place of hard-working farmers and it said to be a ‘bread basket’ home to farm-fresh produce.

Naamryck Village comes under the Parika/Mora Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) and its chairman is Jaideo Sookhoo.