SILOCHNIE Bahagmati is a resident of Germina Village, East Bank Berbice, and she is self-employed as a shopkeeper who has a lovely, tidy home and environment.

The 67-year-old is a pensioner and resides with her husband, a farmer, who has a small kitchen garden for the home.

With only three neighbours, Bahagmati doesn’t mind at all because she has good neighbours who would look out for her and each other.

The mother of three told the Pepperpot Magazine that Germina Village is a quiet place where you can hear the birds chirp, and it is quite breezy with a lot of greenery; an ideal place for a simple life.

Bahagmati stated that her eldest child is 50 years old and she has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

“I really like it here. I am from here, so I am used to this way of life, nothing fancy and flamboyant and things are basic,” she said.

Bahagmati told the Pepperpot Magazine that only death or sickness would make her leave Germina Village, and she is satisfied with the way things are.

She added that she is most pleased about the all-weather road — construction of which started six months ago — because the lives of the locals have been enhanced significantly.

The pensioner related that the only issue she has is the annual renewal of her off-licence, since the sanitary officials do not visit her village and she has to commute to New Amsterdam.

She is of the view that being a far-flung village, the sanitary officials should visit at least once a year to conduct inspections to fast-track licensing of shops in the community. The resident of Germina Village stated that at her age, to visit New Amsterdam and do documentation is an all-day affair and she is usually fatigued.

“I don’t believe in doing illegal business. Even though my shop is small and no big profit-making venture, I have been doing the right thing for the past 28 years by getting licensed,” she said.

Bahagmati used to sell groceries, but since the pandemic, things have slowed a lot, and people are not buying as before, so she would only have products that actually sell.

She has a lovely flower garden with a wide variety of plants and she has adequate seating of wooden benches and tables, both inside her shop and in front of her yard, under a huge tree which is just right for such.

Keisha Ali, the housewife
Also in the same village is the home of Keisha Ali and her family, a neat place which is well put together.

When the team visited, she had already prepared a meal and was relaxing with some neighbours under the house.

Ali is the mother of four and her husband is a farmer of citrus only.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that she is from Ituni, Berbice River and only relocated to Germina Village, East Bank Essequibo, in 2000 after marriage.

Ali stated that the village is very quiet and spacious with a lot of neighbourly people who live like family and she feels right at home in such an environment.

She explained that before they had good roads, they endured many hardships getting their produce out of the community and had to spend days to do so.

But today, there is no need to suffer anymore since an all-weather road was constructed, making it easier for them to traverse and access is so much better to their farms.

Ali related that although they don’t have all the basic necessities of life, they are comfortable and are optimistic that development will take place.

She added that the children go to schools outside the village and transportation is an issue, since there is no taxi or bus service.

“Despite the challenges of being in a far-flung village, life is simple and still comfortable away from the busy places,” she said.