A lovely hilltop village

This week the Pepperpot Magazine journeyed over land to Block 22, Wismar Squatting Area, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) to highlight the way of life of the people.

THIS small hilltop village is on a steep decline. The hillside village is bordered by Canvas City and Christianburg and parts of the village are called Canvas City Extension and Block 22, Success Avenue and also Block 22 Squatting Area.

The community was established more than 23 years ago when a few persons of Indigenous descent settled there and they did so on top of a steep hill. But over time, more people began occupying the lands and the place later became very populated.

Among the early settlers were Christopher Clarke and Walter Moses, both elders of the village and they still reside there with their families.

When they moved there, it was just a small track, and the area was thickly forested. Within recent years a lot of people have relocated.

Block 22 Wismar Squatting Area has a potable water supply, electricity, landline phones, and internet services.

There is a sandy makeshift road developed by residents, but when it rains, the water goes downhill through the village, and it causes erosion.

At the rear of the village there is a creek and it is often used by locals, who are Afro-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, Indigenous Guyanese and a large number of mixed-race people.

Block 22 Wismar Squatting Area is managed by the Community Development Council (CDC) and they also had an active Policing Group, which is somewhat defunct.

The community is a relatively safe place to reside and raise a family and the people are amiable and hospitable.

This small but beautiful village is surrounded by Wisroc, Canvas City, One Mile, Half Mile, Silvertown, Silver City and Christianburg.

The community has many nooks and crannies and it has large and small hills and it goes up and downhill. It is quite a climb and a lot of people have very scenic views because they live on hills and in several tracks in the village, which are not easy to climb.

Block 22 Wismar Squatting Area has about 300 residents and about 40 houses with some new ones going up, and it is a village with a lot of children.

The village has many small shops and the people grow their own foods in their kitchen gardens, and some have farms at the back of the village.

It is a clean community and it has well-kept yards and the surroundings are quite pleasing to the eye. It is a lovely place to settle, and the people are very neighbourly.

It is a place of many trees, flowers, fruits and vegetables. In addition, fine-leaf thyme and broad-leaf thyme are grown all over the village, even on the roadside.

The people send their children to school in the nearby villages and access services there also and do their bulk shopping in the city or in McKenzie.

Some have their own vehicles, and others use the roadside taxi service, which adds up to $300 per trip from McKenzie to inside the village.

The locals told the Pepperpot Magazine that life in Block 22 Wismar Squatting Area is fair, and it will be even better when they get a paved road.

Block 22 Wismar Squatting Area is a small village tucked away among hills, and it is a quaint place where the air is fresh, and the people are very welcoming.