-Steadily working to enhance their lives

DRUPATTIE Itwar, better known as Anjo, is a resident of Free Yard, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice, a mother of three, a housewife and a friend to all in the neighbourhood.

When the team visited, Itwar was entertaining her neighbours, two women living nearby and picking shrimps after which they had a meal of snapper curry with rice and katahar with shrimp.

The 43-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that Free Yard was not a dull place since there was always something to look forward to and people traversed the street all the time, so she was not bored.

Itwar added that she has lived in the village for the past seven years.

“There is familiarity here and I like it because I am from here. Everybody like where they are from and it is the same with me,” she said.

Itwar reported that it is a nice place to reside and she would try to live well with everyone because we should support each other regardless of our differences.

“I got married in this village then went to #65 Village to live and my first husband was lost at sea. It happened 12 years ago. He and his crew of five were never heard from or seen again. I had to move on,” she said.

Itwar stated that she remarried and was living at Bushlot Village and then she eventually returned to her home village to settle for good.

The homemaker told the Pepperpot Magazine that even though they have a few ‘bad apples’ in the community, they do not interference with her and she was pleased about that.

She would take care of the household chores and cooking while her husband is a labourer attached to Albion Sugar Estate and is responsible for clearing the canals that come under the estate.

Bharat Sookdeo has been working at the same estate for the past 30 years and, that day, he was on a day off taking some time to relax in an outdoor hammock in his verandah.

Shabanna Lily, the self-employed mother
Down the street is the home of Shabanna Lily. The 42-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that by the end of this year, she is hoping to open her own small business, a roadside snackette to sell food.

The mother of five pointed out that from home she makes dhal puri to sell based on orders but since she had a baby, much of her time was taken up caring for her child.

She also makes icicles and lemonade to sell and she is expected to restart her small business soon since the child is now over a year old.

Lily is a single parent and has difficulties since she has no one to care for her youngest child whose father migrated and never returned.

She lost her first husband at sea on a fishing expedition when he was burnt to death 10 years ago and she was left to care for four children, some of whom are grown today and leading their own adult lives.

Lily has been residing in Free Yard Village for the past 16 years and is originally from Bloomfield Village.

She has a wooden cottage on Spready’s entrance of the community and she enjoys the quietness of the place.

“I am hoping that things will get better for me because with the establishment of my own small business, it will bring in a steady income to the home and that is enough,” she said.

Two of Lily’s children are still living with her and the elder would often assist with the daily chores.