By Faith Greene

Ruby Back is a section of Ruby that has been a prime farming area for many years, and although many villagers choose to stray away from that tradition of tending the land, Omar Hamid has chosen not to.

Hamid shared that since coming there, the population has moved from a mere seven residents to around 300 in that area. Notably, the community has a Primary School also in the back dam. This is called Ruby Back Primary.

The 68-year-old revealed that he was born at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC) but did not live with his parents. In reflecting, Hamid mentioned that he did not have an easy life in the earlier days, but he persevered.

Despite the many adversities that came his way, Hamid was still able to pursue work to provide for himself and his family. He is the father of three children, two of who live near him. Hamid has lived in Ruby for several years and spoke with the team about life in Ruby.
He explained that he moved to the village in 1968. At that point, the roads and drainage in the community were not what they are today. He said the road to get in and out of the village was terrible, but now, it is a great deal better in terms of the road, drainage and electricity.

Hamid said the only thing he wants to see improved is the pure water supply to the community. He said that the project was started a while ago. However, it stopped and no work was being done on it. Hamid said that he is not sure what the project is, but the company responsible for that was doing contracts for the project.
Like many of Ruby’s residents, Hamid said that not every day is good, but it is not all bad either. The man said that the crops are sometimes affected due to bleak weather. This, he said, puts a strain on the production of crops. Hamid explained that the price of manure and other fertilizers is not anywhere near cheap these days. He said planting fewer crops would carry losses, and planting huge amounts during these times means more can be damaged in these weather conditions.

He said that farming in itself is no easy task. According to Hamid, there are several pests and diseases which can cause damage to crops. Hamid shared that he has always been a farmer. His farm is located behind his house, where he plants crops such as bora, saime, spinach among others. The man said that further down in the back dam are more farm lands, where he says that everybody does farming, whether it is crops or livestock.

Hamid said he usually goes to his farm in the early hours of the morning and spends at least four hours (two hours in the morning and another two in the afternoon) every day taking care of all of his crops.