THIS week, the Pepperpot Magazine visited Gangaram Settlement, East Canje, Berbice, to highlight the way of life of the people.

The village is self-sufficient in terms of food security and the people are self-reliant, having their own poultry and livestock.

Gangaram Settlement is sandwiched between Betsy Ground and Speculation villages and it is a very quiet countryside place which is breezy and the people are friendly.

The population of the village is just over 450 residents of mostly Indo-Guyanese descent and a handful of Afro Guyanese.

The village was established in the 1960s when the sugar estate wanted to access the lands at New Dam, which is located about four miles away.

It is in a backlands section of that area. As such, the people residing on state lands were relocated to Gangaram Settlement.

Gangaram Settlement was then called “Gold Stone Hall” but later renamed and all of the residents were given transports for the lands they occupy.

Most of those people have since passed on, but their descendants are still there and it is also said that a lot of people have migrated.

The village has a few elders, who are still in good health and are able-bodied.

Gangaram Settlement has two mandirs and one church.

It also has a nursery and primary school housed in one building. That school was relocated from New Dam along with all the residents and one mandir in the 1960s.

The village has a playground which is utilised by the locals and it is a clean village, since the villagers maintain their yards and surroundings.

The locals of Gangaram Settlement are rice farmers, poultry and livestock farmers, small-business owners, sugar workers and other skilled professionals.

The village has electricity, potable water, landline phones and internet.

Behind the village is the scenic Canje Creek.

Gangaram Settlement has a mechanic shop, several small shops and a construction company where locals are employed.

It is said to be a very safe neighbourhood where doors are left unlocked and the people are easy-going and welcoming.

It is a place where almost everybody has a kitchen garden and a yard full of plants and flowers to add that extra spot of colour to the environment.

The people have their own goats, sheep, cows, ducks, chickens and a few rear horses and donkeys to assist them with land transport.

The people of this village would go to New Amsterdam or utilise the supermarkets along the main access road to do their shopping.

They catch their own fish and eat what they grow.

Gangaram Settlement is a quiet place to raise a family and the people are simple and respectfully go about their daily lives without being nuisances.

The village has a pump station at its edge and a dam separates the land from the Canje Creek, where there is an abundance of mangrove trees.

The locals have a lot of pets and in one residence, there were more than seven dogs of all sizes and breeds.

There are just a few shingle-style wooden houses in this village that endured the test of time and they are well preserved to their colonial style.

This is the kind of village where the people drink fresh cow’s milk at breakfast and cook the calaloo from their backyard to go with roti.

Most households would make breakfast, then do a one-cook for lunch and dinner.

The people are hard workers and would get up at the crack of dawn to go to their farms, but they would also tend to their livestock and poultry before heading off.

Gangaram Settlement is the perfect place to sit under huge shady trees.

The homes are well tiled from the front gate and very spotless.

Residents are set in a very traditional way of life but are really simple folk, trying to earn and make a good life for themselves and their families.