LAST week the Pepperpot Magazine visited Cornelia Ida (CI), West Coast Demerara to highlight the way of life of the locals.

The village is quite large and has all the features resembling a township with the many businesses that line the main public road.

Hague and Anna Catherina border Cornelia Ida Village and its population is about 6,000 to 10,000, with its inhabitants being predominantly Indo-Guyanese with some Amerindians, Afro-Guyanese and some Spanish.

Cornelia Ida or CI as it is referred to is divided into six sections. They are Sea View, Block X, Block Y, Block N, Cornelia Ida Squatting Area and Cornelia Housing Scheme.

The village has a Primary School, A Nursery School, a private school, two orphanages, several insurance companies and consultancy services, gym, a branch of E-Networks, auto sales, taxi services, roadside stalls, pharmacies, a pet shop, a laundromat, GWI Well Station, masjids, mandirs, churches, restaurants, bars, a gutter smith, supermarkets and many shops.

Cornelia Ida is a community with almost everything in terms of ingredients to make a meal and the shops are well-stocked with other essentials, so there is no need to leave the village to go shopping.

The locals rear their own chickens and grow their own vegetables and fruits and can be deemed self-sufficient.

Additionally, the water trucks would pass through the community daily, just like the many fishermen on their bicycles, the milkman and trucks with groceries and greens.

Cornelia Ida is a quiet place with neighbourly people who go about their daily routines peacefully and most of the people know each other.

The community has developed over the years with upgraded roads and three new schemes to accommodate the housing needs of the people.

It has both modern design houses as well as colonial-style dwellings with a lot of large edifices that compliment the ever-changing architecture.

The locals of Cornelia Ida are professionals employed in both the public and private sector, self-employed, stay-at-home moms, skilled workers, fishermen, cane cutters, shopkeepers, businessmen and women.

Cornelia Ida is a community set in traditions. Most of the elders have since passed away or migrated, however, so the lands and properties were handed down to generations and they are tasked with up-keeping the houses.

The village has many internal streets, shortcuts and dams leading to all sections of the community, which extends from the seawall to the back lands area, which were allocated for house lots.

Cornelia Ida is mostly well-kept, but since the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) doesn’t do any garbage collection, some people have resorted to dumping garbage in the canals and drains in the village and some even burn their refuse outside their yards.

Most residents have contracted Puran Waste Disposal to do their weekly garbage collection with bins and barrels provided and they pay a fee for the service.

There are a lot of Spanish families renting houses in this village. Some are Guyanese who had to return to their homeland to start life afresh due to the economic crisis in neighbouring Venezuela.

Some of the men are employed as cane harvesters at the Leonora/Uitvlugt Sugar Estate and others are doing day jobs in and around the other villages.

In some sections of the village, it was observed internal streets were being upgraded to all-weather roads and soon the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) will be installing street lights.

The NDC manages the maintenance of drains and parapets under its Community Infrastructure Improvement Project (CIIP).

Romesa Beauty Shop
Meanwhile, in Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara, there is the home and business place of Romesa Khan, a 31-year-old mother who has a beauty shop with every little thing to spice up your life in terms of skincare, haircare, makeup, clothing, and bags among other things

She wanted to become independent and established her beauty shop eight years ago by constructing a neat little building just at the front of her house.

“Growing up, I always wanted to work with myself, so it was a life-long dream because most of my family members have their own businesses,” she said.

Khan told the Pepperpot Magazine that her mother was her biggest motivator, the person who encouraged and supported her through it all and she was very thankful she had the guidance.

The small business has some interesting things and they are sourced right here in Guyana but of good quality and the prices are pocket-friendly.

Romesa Beauty Shop is opened every day except for Sundays and Khan is a very patient person who is there to ensure one spends sensibly.

She is originally from Windsor Forest but relocated to Cornelia Ida 20 years ago making it her home and she seemed very comfortable.