HAVING to relocate to Amelia’s Ward, Linden, from the picturesque privacy of Watooka Riverside, Wismar, Collis Alves had to adjust his lifestyle but seems to be coping quite well.

The 45-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that, as a landscaper, he was a busy person, working mostly during the day on weeding jobs throughout the village.

He currently resides at his sister’s place at Lovers Lane, Amelia’s Ward and would go about his day early.

It had been three years since he relocated, and he was familiar with his neighbours but preferred to keep to himself due to his busy schedule.

“I come, and I go for work, and that is basically how I live, but here, there are many houses very close. In Watooka Riverside, there is a lot of space and you had privacy; here, you don’t have that, making the stark comparison,” he said.

Alves stated that in that part of the village, most people come from Wismar and it was mostly quiet, and that was just right for him.

He reported that he used to work with the bauxite company but quit in 2013 when the management changed and he decided to become self-employed.

The landscaper added that he would use his motorcycle to go to the location for his weeding jobs with his brush cutter.

Alves would prepare his brush cutter and ensure it was serviced and the blade was always sharpened before he set about his day.

“Life is simple when there is no drama and you tend to have a peaceful life when you mind your own business,” he said.

Christina Rollins, the elder
At 76 years old, Christina Rollins is enjoying her retirement, and she is surrounded by her great-grandchildren, who keep her busy.

She is a resident of the populated section of Lover Lane, Amelia’s Ward, Linden, and she is a joyful, stable person who resides with a daughter.

The pensioner told the Pepperpot Magazine that she moved to the location in 2003, and she was originally from New Amsterdam, Berbice.

Rollins will be celebrating her 77th birth anniversary in October, and she is looking forward for that date to be in the company of her relatives to observe the occasion.

She is the mother of four children, all girls. She also has 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

“Life in the past years was much better because the cost of living wasn’t so high; nowadays everything is so expensive and that in itself is a burden on ordinary people. I had a better life back in the days,” she reflected.

Rollins pointed out that when she was much younger she used to be a domestic worker, and these days, she is occupied with the grand and great-grandchildren.

Nyree Goodchild, the shop owner
Nyree Goodchild is a shop owner and has a small roadside business at her sister’s place in Lovers Lane, Amelia’s Ward, while she resides in another part of the same village.

The 48-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that she would buy items to stock up her shop from canter trucks that would visit on a weekly basis, and when she gets barrels from overseas, she would also sell whatever is in them.

Goodchild is the mother of one, and she lives at the Police Outpost Street in Amelia’s Ward and would walk to Lovers Lane every day to manage the small business, which is tended to by her relatives whenever she is not there.

She reported that she worked at a gas station for 15 years before establishing her own small business, a shop.

Goodchild disclosed that it has been four years since she started out with the shop and was very grateful that the community supports her as a ‘corner shop’.

Before moving to Amelia’s Ward, she lived in Old Kara Kara. In this very close-knit village, the neighbours were considered family, but life in that community is very different because people are reserved.