The way of life and culture of people in Batavia

By Shaniya Harding

THE village is undoubtedly beautiful. The people, places and scenery are fully enthralling and the villagers are still in tune with nature and their surroundings.

Apart from the occasional nurses, teachers or young men who leave the village in search of other jobs, most of the community people work in and for their village.

The main economic activities in the village are still to this day logging, hunting and farming. Logger and villager of Batavia, Gladuston Williams, has been doing logging for a few months now. He has lived in Batavia for 29 years and says that while the community has seen a barrage of changes, the way of life and work remains, more or less, unchanged.

The 59-year-old explained that the Batavia he knew had very few homes and even fewer people. Gladuston explained that currently, he is part of a group of just four men who do logging in Batavia and the surrounding areas. He said, “We go into the falls, and we cut down trees like the crabwood, the big ones. We cut it and best the skin. We use man power we don’t have a tractor. We pull with rope.”

The ability and workload these man are able to accomplish is stunning. As Gladuston said, “Sometimes we cut ten, 15 or 20 of them. We most likely find them close to the river. There are special people in the crew that will look for the right trees.”

Wanita Miguel is a mother of seven living in the village of Batavia. Like many others, her family is involved in farming and the authentic way of hunting. “My husband hunts with his dogs. And he doesn’t have a gun, just arrows. He goes out like three times a week. And he makes the arrow and bows himself.”

Wanita explained that her husband doesn’t go after bigger game, like wild cows or hogs. But he rather goes after smaller things like labba. Wanita states that her husband learned to hunt because of how he was raised. From small bouts running around with makeshift arrows and bows, to hunting for a living now.

Wanita and her family, hunt and farm in order to sell at the Bartica market. She says selling here is a lot easier than it was before, but the matter of water is still a issue for the community. “We are using the pond. We would be happy to get the well. We’re using the pond water every two or three days. And we have to bail it out to clean it. So we would be happy if we had a well.”

Many people who come to live in the village quickly adapt to the way of life. Most of the village’s population are native indigenous persons. But a few people have come into Batavia,who are not indigenous and have made the village and its practices home. And they have been welcomed with open arms.

Ryan Joseph is a young man whose life has had an interesting beginning. At 37 years old, Ryan came to live in Batavia as a young child after having moved all around Guyana in his childhood. Ryan explained that, “I wasn’t really born in Batavia. I would more so say I grew up here. I spent most of my childhood, from five to eight years old in the interior. I started school very late at the age of eleven.”

Because of the way he was raised, Ryan says that Batavia was a nice, peaceful and stable change for him. He explained that, “I like the place. I have always had a heart for nature. I don’t like business or noise. Batavia is a very quiet place, with fresh breeze and trees, and especially the river. I can’t really do much without the river. I only feel comfortable when I am around water ”

The way he grew up and was accepted in the community of Batavia has led Ryan to take the position as one of the village’s councillors. Ryan works primarily with the youth. He works towards teaching them about themselves and hooning their potential, as he explained, “As a councillor I deal mainly with the young people. I would have educational talks with them on family planning and sexual and reproductive health. We try to gather them and influence them to be better people in the future.”

“It helps me to feel good about myself. Being somebody that started school very late and also knowing what it’s like without schooling at a very young age. I don’t want to see people go through the very same thing. And I don’t want them to think that this is all life has to offer. There is more out here and once they put themselves up to the challenge, they can be people of the village that can benefit their community in a very positive way.”

On the matter of why he thought the village was so accepting of different types of people other than themselves, Ryan explained that there is always a connection. “Out of a hundred per cent, only 10 to 15 percent of the population are not indigenous. I’m mixed Amerindian and afro Guyanese. So there is always that connection with the Amerindian part,” he said.

As a villager and councillor, Ryan could not be more excited for Heritage Month. He said that Batavia will come alive on the 17th .”Batavia is very exciting. It’s a place you could come and relax. We have the falls. On that day, I will be doing archery. We will have the tour and the cultural items will be skits and dances. The cassava processing; they will show the different stages. It will be a very exciting day,” he said.