Relentless in their pursuit of a good life
AFTER working as a tractor operator at the estate for 36 years, Amit Singh is retired and is a cattle farmer in his village of Guava Bush, Berbice.
The 63-year-old has lived his entire life in the village, and, according to him, it feels good to be able to enjoy some of the benefits of retirement and old age.
Singh said he spent some of his best years in the sugar industry, and as a result of his skin condition, vitiligo, he is often regarded as the “white man” due to his very fair complexion.
In school, he was teased as a child as being “the white boy” but he didn’t mind and the colour of his skin has no real bearing on him as an individual.
Singh told the Pepperpot Magazine that he grew up in a family home where his parents were hard-working people. He went to school with bare feet and had one book and a pencil. Back then, he walked to and from school on the mud dam.
The village elder stated that he would assist in the home with the cows. His parents were farmers, and today, he is still keeping the family tradition alive. He has 10 cows and he takes care of them daily.
Singh had nine siblings, but two have since passed away.
His parents passed away in the 1970s, and three siblings reside overseas. To date, he is occupying his parents’ house, which he has managed to keep in good condition over the years.
When the team first spotted Singh, he was on his way via his bicycle to take his cows to graze in the village pasture.
The father of three related that life in Guava Bush is good because there is enough space for everyone and the people exist in harmony.
When he has milk, he would go around the village selling cow’s milk.
Mangree Baldeo, the poultry farmer
Mangree Baldeo, called “Aunty Ino”, rears ducks, chickens, and some creole fowls, but her livelihood is being threatened due to the constant flooding plaguing the village
The 63-year-old is a widow who was forced to pluck the few remaining meat birds she had and sell them off.
Baldeo told the Pepperpot Magazine that every time it rains the yard is flooded and the chicken pen is usually underwater.
From 60 ducks, just 20 survived and she lost the meat birds. She had 125 and the few creole fowls managed to survive the floodwaters somehow.
It causes the chickens to die. As such, she would suffer a loss in income.
The mother of two related that even before her husband died, she used to plant and sell greens and fruits and then started rearing chickens.
She has been a resident of Guava Bush for the past 46 years and she was a market vendor, but due to ill health, she had to quit.
Baldeo is from Williamsburg and is from a family of eight siblings.
Her husband passed away eight years ago.
The single parent would also pick dry coconuts from the trees in her backyard to make coconut oil to sell.
“I am trying to do these things from my home in a bid to earn. I was never dependent on anyone, and that will not change,” she said.
Baldeo has been a go-getter from the onset because she got married at a very young age, and it taught her to wise up very quickly.
Shamdai Rupan, the pensioner and her dogs
Shamdai Rupan is where she wants to be, that is, Guava Bush, her village but the canal near to her home is eroding rapidly and overtops, which causes flooding.
The 72-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that she has been living in the village for the past 40 years but is originally from Topoo, the village, next door.
She was the cook at the Albion/Port Mourant Sugar Estate for 43 years before she retired and is taking care of her dogs, all nine, including Rottweilers.
The mother of four added that she used to love gardening but due to the constant flooding, she lost most of her fruit trees.
Some flowers are barely hanging on while most perished.
Rupan doesn’t go out much, but when she ventures out, it is to the mandir, which is located a bit further up the street.
