LAST week the Pepperpot Magazine visited the community of Moleson Creek, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), to highlight the way of life of the locals.

The journey was overland and started very early in the morning to get to the village, tucked away down a long, ‘crush and run’ road.

That road is about one and a half miles away from the main access road and about 10 minutes’ drive from the Guyana/Suriname Ferry Stelling.

Moleson Creek is the last village on that corridor and bordered by the Corentyne River and Crabwood Creek Village.

It is home to dozens of people who have lived all their lives there and have no desire to relocate but welcome any form of development.

The community benefitted from a ‘crush and run’ road, which replaced a mud dam, thus significantly enhancing the locals’ lives in terms of accessibility.

The village has no electricity, and certain sections of the community don’t have access to potable water supply. Most residents store rainwater for consumption since the water from the pipes is not good enough to drink.

Moleson Creek is a very large agricultural village with a large land mass, most of which is set in the back lands and over time, many people left the village.

The people of Moleson Creek Village are mostly farmers of cash crops, rice, ground provisions, citrus, cattle and poultry.

Some men in the village work as labourers on farms owned by their fellow villagers and the women would also work on farms, others sell produce at markets and some homemakers handle the home’s domestic aspect.

The locals of Moleson Creek are humble, everyday people whose lives revolve around hard work as farmers. They toil daily in the farmlands that are located in the village and access them via boats or the mud dam on tractors or horseback.

Due to the rainfall conditions, access to the farms is limited via boats equipped with outboard engines or paddles.

Farmers have to journey for miles in a small canal to get to their farms and most of them provide employment for the men in the village when extra help is needed during the harvesting of crops.

There are many large-scale farmers in this village as well as some who reside elsewhere but have their farms in Moleson Creek.

There are about 25 houses in Moleson Creek Village with just about 200 residents, including many children.

This village has only one small shop and no public transportation system. The residents would use taxis at $1,000 per trip, and a handful of them have their own motorcycles, bicycles and vehicles.

The village has existed for many years, but development has been slow. However, recently they have seen the construction of a makeshift road which will eventually be asphalted.

Before this road was built, the locals told of many sufferings getting in and out to buy groceries, which was done via horseback, on tractors and on foot.

The residents are very pleased about the recent development and are optimistic they will also benefit from other developments, such as an upgrade of the drainage and irrigation.

The people of Moleson Creek told the Pepperpot Magazine that the new road, the construction of which started in December last year, adds much value to their lives and their houses are more accessible now than before.

This community is set in nature with many trees and one of the most noticeable ones is the “whitey” tree which is found all over the village, and during the visit,the whitey fruit was in season.

The people enjoy a quiet, tranquil life away from a crowded setting and they have a lot of space to grow fruit trees, flowers and other plants.

Residents of Moleson Creek have many pets, including dogs, parrots, macaws, monkeys and almost everybody rears their own chickens for home use.

Moleson Creek is one of those places where there is absolute quietness, and that silence is only shattered momentarily by the whistling of birds and the sounds of other animals that reside in the forested area nearby.