DESPITE being physically challenged with only one hand, Akini Cameron is a construction worker who specialises in tiling and whenever he gets a day job or two, he is ready to go.

The 42-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that he had an accident a year ago and his hand was amputated.

He was looking for work back then and when none was forthcoming, he had established a small shop from his home in Nabaclis.

These days that small business no longer exists, but he would use the spot for some much-needed recreation such as playing music and taking a drink.

Cameron stated that he was not working that day because of the rain and he isn’t the kind of person to sit idly by.

He is a resident of De Souza Street, Nabaclis, East Coast Demerara.

“Even if I have to go till to Diamond for work I would go, but things are not happening recently so I wouldn’t fight it,” the father of eight said.

The pickled mango vendor
Coreen Elias is a happy-to-go kind of person and these days, hardly anything will upset her because she is contented with life.

However, she is looking forward to her 62nd birth anniversary in November and is in the process of acquiring her house lot.

Elias has a small roadside stand in Nabaclis Village, outside her daughter’s residence and she sells deliciously flavoured pickled mangoes.

The elder used to sell a lot more things, but due to the pandemic and other hardships, she stopped doing so and is selling only pickled mangoes.

Elias told the Pepperpot Magazine that she was a cook with the Guyana Police Force at Eve Leary, Georgetown, for many years and also cooked at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) for 31 years before she retired.

She added that she stays with her daughter until she is ready to move into her own house.

Elias is the mother of three and the grandmother of three, who used to reside in Sophia.

Randolph Melville, the overseas-based Guyanese
Randolph Melville is a Guyanese who resides in the United States of America and is often back home to invest in the projects he is part partner of.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that he is a city boy but moved to Golden Grove as a boy and left Guyana for the US at age six years old.

Melville added that with the few dollars he saved up during his working days, he would use it for local investments such as importing trucks among other things.

He stated that he will construct another house on the lot he has and already has a lovely home and an equally fancy fence which surrounds the property.

Melville reported that during the holidays, he didn’t get to contribute to society and will, however, go to an orphanage to make donations of goodies and other things he has in barrels soon coming to Guyana.

“Guyana is my home country and nothing will prevent me from coming back here and I will make my mark locally, because I want to give back,” he said.

Pierpont Morgan, the small-business operator
For Pierpont Morgan, the daily hustle isn’t his style but running a small business is more like him, as he is very supportive of his spouse, whose roadside snackette he is a part of.

The 59-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that he is a native of Dochfour, also on the East Coast of Demerara, but relocated with his parents at Nabaclis.

Morgan added that he was schooled at the primary level at the Hindu School and went on to Alleyne’s High School in the city after he exited the school system. He worked with the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

The father of four stated that he later worked with Demerara Woods as the Forest Inventory Crew Chief.

Morgan related that his mother passed away when he was only 12 years old and he has four siblings.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that he likes living in Nabaclis Village, which has a rich legacy of farming left by their fore-parents.

“Back then, Nabaclis was the place where people from all over came with empty baskets and would leave with full baskets of mangoes, coconuts, bananas and other fruits to go and sell and that was how they made their living,” he said.

Morgan explained that the legacy died when a lot of people left the village, but they still welcome strangers in the community.

Morgan added that the snackette was his wife’s vision and he was in place to assist her to get started and he would often be in the kitchen assisting her, while they have a permanent staff who was off that day to celebrate the birth of her sister’s baby.

He reported that the snackette was inherited from his wife, Aleiro Morgan’s parents and they make all local snacks fresh daily and would do white and black puddings on weekends.