At 79 years old, Vibert Cummings is thankful for a lot of things including the gift of good eyesight, but he had some good years and these days he is basking in retirement.

He is a resident of Silvertown, Wismar, Linden and resides at North Road, Silvertown, with his family.

Cummings is a mild-mannered man who was a councillor and is an elder in the village, where he is well respected.

He was a teacher at a private school for many years and a councillor for three years attached to the Linden Mayor and Town Council.

Cummings has been a resident of Silvertown for the past 50 years and he is well known.

He was an outdoor person but suffered a major setback when he underwent two eye surgeries for glaucoma caused by his diabetic condition, so nowadays, he stays in and has things to do at home.

This elder is from Corentyne, Berbice and he came to Linden for the very first time for a vacation in 1969 and was encouraged by friends to join the bauxite company, which was booming back then.

Cummings told the Pepperpot Magazine that he was a teacher and as a young man craving opportunity to expand his horizon, he challenged himself and was employed at the bauxite company.

He started out as a labourer and in no time he became a training officer and stayed with that company for 27 years.

Cummings liked the job and his life there he settled in Linden, in Silvertown and got married in 1969 and has been happily married for the past 52 years.

He is the father of four and grandfather of eight.

Cummings and his wife are religious, simple people who frequent the church for worship services.

“I am just enjoying my retirement and taking things easy because of my health condition, but still I have so much to be thankful for,” he said.

These days, Cummings is available to provide guidance to the people and he has an open-door policy; he serves as a guidance counsellor in his village.

“Life is good here, only thing when it rains because it is downhill my yard does be flooded, so the drains need to be cleaned to minimise flooding,” he said.

Cummings is of the view that the community needs some facilities such as a library, a resource centre for skills training because a lot of young people in the village are jobless.

“You see them around and they are doing nothing because of no work so something has to be done to have them engaged,” he said.

Cummings told the Pepperpot Magazine that the village also needs a recreational park and a place to read, to be occupied in meaningful activities.

“The youths should be doing things to enhance their lives and to become independent and stay away from illegal things and drugs,” he said.

He added that they too, need a health centre in the community and the place needs a facelift.

Cummings stated that Silvertown is a good place to reside and the people get along, so instances of minor differences are resolved quickly as soon as they start.

The villager noted that it is a safe place and incidents of crime are unheard of in that section of Linden.

“I can say, I came here for a vacation and never left so to speak and this village became my home and it is good to be here,” he said.

Cummings has a lot to look forward to, including his upcoming birth anniversary on February 10, this year.