A village that works together

ONE of the things that makes any village or neighbourhood a good place to live is its people. This is perhaps one of the reasons why people consider places like Fort Wellington and the rest of the countryside the perfect place to call home. The villagers of Fort Wellington care for and help one another in any way possible or necessary.

At the far end of Fort Wellington lives a young man who displays amazing feats of strength, care and compassion. He is an ambitious young man attending the Guyana Technical Institute while he maintains a job. But his responsibilities go far beyond those as he is also tasked with caring for his father. But as difficult as it may seem, this young man says that his family and neighbours make caring for his father possible.

Quindon Gilles is an inspirational young man who has lived around Fort Wellington all his life. And while his village has remained mostly the same, Quindon says a lot has recently changed for both himself and his father. His father, 70-year-old Victor Gilles, has lived in Fort Wellington for almost 20 years but still finds it hard to remember the place he has known for almost two decades. This, Quindon says, is due to a stroke his father suffered three months ago.

“He has three blood clots in his brain. He normally gets strokes, but recently they realised that blood clots are there. He was in the hospital for about a week or two, and he’s on medication right now,” Quindon explained. His father’s symptoms go as far as affecting his hearing and memory. And although he can do a lot for himself, he still needs help with some things. “I help him with things he can’t do by himself. Like physical things, getting him water and making sure everything works and so on,” He explained.

One of the biggest issues that Quindon faces is the possibility of his father having another stroke. As he stated, “He is improving, but I still have to watch him. Because he could have another stroke at any time.” Quindon is not an only child. On the contrary, he is the last of 13 siblings. Caring for this father is a shared task among the siblings that live close by. But because of his age and availability, much of the responsibility of caring for Victor falls on Quindon.

In a community as close-knit as Fort Wellington, where everyone seems to know everyone else, it is no surprise that the neighbours are the family’s biggest supporters. As Quindon expressed that, “The relationship between my father and the neighbours is great. They would come over and check on him and help whenever he is alone or sick. If we call them, they would be here. The relationship is really good,” he said. To families like his that are fighting similar battles, Quindon says the most important thing is to co-operate and work together with the community and to offer help to those who need it.