Opening a business is one way of earning an income that can sustain a household and provide a wide variety of perishable and non-perishable items to customers at their convenience. Apart from farming and fishing as the primary economic activities in Whim Village, residents in the community also operate grocery shops and snackettes as a source of income.

35-year-old Annie Phipps made the bold move to become the owner of a snackette approximately two months ago. She related to the Pepperpot Magazine that after the birth of her child, she had to quit her job as a salesgirl. Determined to assist her husband, Madray Ramsammy, in offsetting the family’s financial expenses, Phipps decided to establish a snackette. This business venture has also provided her with the opportunity to take care of her baby at the same time.

“I decided I had to do something after I had my baby and that’s why I really opened my own business here,” said Phipps, who is also a mother of five children.
She added: “I send all kinds of food like barra, channa, cassava ball, cassava egg ball and different flavours of local drink.

Furthermore, Phipps pointed out that she would often awake early in the morning to prepare the foods and her husband would transport her to the snackette, which sits opposite the community’s Post Office, with the items since he plies his trade as a taxi driver on the Corentyne public road. For this reason, she expressed satisfaction with the major infrastructural developments, particularly the roads throughout the village that allow for ease of transportation.

“Living in Whim is quiet. The people are cooperative, and I get to do my lil business,” expressed Phipps.
Located several streets away is a small grocery shop operated by 56-year-old Latchman Appadoo and his wife, 50-year-old Wellai Punsamy. Appadoo reminisced that as a young boy growing up in Whim Village, there were no grocery shops and this often proved to be a burden on many families.

He shared that the idea to start the grocery shop was birthed after realising that over the years, the people residing in Whim Village continued to travel long distances to purchase certain items that they needed due to a lack of shops in the community.

At the time, Appadoo worked as a carpenter to support his family of seven. However, carpentry jobs were seasonal and the family needed another source of income in addition to the odd jobs that he undertook doing farming and fishing.

As a result, the family turned to opening a grocery shop three years ago. When the Pepperpot Magazine visited the family’s home where the shop is located, there were a number of items on display for sale, including cakes such as salara or ‘red bread’, and coconut buns, a variety of packaged snacks, ice cream products, tons of essential household items, aerated beverages or soft drinks and bottled water, to name but a few.

Even though the grocery shop can be negatively impacted by fluctuating sales that depend on customers’ purchasing habits during different seasons, Appadoo revealed that he is quite content with knowing that there are different business days and the family holds no expectations that every day will be the same.
“Me comfortable here,” Appadoo noted while sitting beside a smiling Wellai.

A short distance from Appadoo and Punsamy’s grocery shop at the beginning of the main access road in Whim Village, the Pepperpot Magazine talked with 26-year-old Ryan Isaac who has lived his entire life in the village.

Isaac described himself as a hard worker who either works seasonal construction jobs or fishing to make money to provide for his wife and two young children. He indicated that he remains motivated to ensure that he can always finally support his family and he shared that he has plenty to do in the village.

“I does work hard and I love the village. Me get everything here in the village,” said Isaac.