Life in La Harmonie

SURUJDAI Seenarine is originally from the village of Vriesland but has come to make the village of La Harmonie, located some miles away, her home.

Surujdai came to live in the village some 29 years ago when she was only 18 years old. It was a time she described as hard.

She came into the village after she got married and had her first child only a few months later. “At first, it was hard. Making the children and raising them up,” she said. Today, Surujdai is a mother to five children, three of whom still attend school.

But she forged on. Surujdai admitted that getting married at such a tender age was not easy. Despite that, she came to live in the village of La Harmonie, and she said she learned the way of life of the people.

The distance is what baffles many people. The village is so close yet seemingly remote compared to its counterparts and surrounding villages.

The Pepperpot Magazine asked Surujdai to explain exactly how far the village of La Harmonie was located. She couldn’t say for sure, but she knew that it was close enough to be a part of Wales Estate. And it was even walking distance. She stated, “When the place was dry, we used to walk and go to Wales Estate.”

Traversing the village is in itself a tiring task. The homes are sparsely spread apart. With neighbours sometimes sharing a distance of five to ten house lots between them. Despite this, everyone in the community knows each other and maintains a good relationship. Surujdai is the proprietor of a shop that is perhaps two miles from the La Harmonie stelling and primary school.

The La Harmonie Primary school

The village of La Harmonie has long been thought to be under a population crisis. The community houses approximately 200 people in La Harmonie and the following three villages. This comes as a bit of a shock when Vriesland, just a few miles away, has a population of 2,500 residents.

Surujdai stated that there were far fewer people in her early time in the village. And it was just recently that she noticed a few more families settling down in the village of La Harmonie.

“It was hard. To me, it has fewer people. In those times, people have moved out,” Surujdai said. “It’s only now people are coming back and making houses.”

Surujdai and her husband are farmers. More so her husband, she stated. She explained that, like most people at the time, her family started off by the cultivation of sugar cane. But the family later moved to planting citrus crops, which they still do today.

Surujdai explained that, “This was the last part of Wales estate. My husband used to plant cane here. But after two or three years the cane finished and we started planting citrus and we still plant that today.” Surujdai expressed.

Because it becomes impossible to traverse the road during rainy periods so most people don’t leave the village on a regular basis. Surujdai, for example, leaves the village of Harmonie once a week.

She does this when it is absolutely necessary. She leaves to acquire what she can’t get in the village and when her children need something. Surujdai stated that, “I leave once a week to go to Georgetown.”

Surujdai Seenarine (Shaneice Banfield photos)

On these trips to the capital city, Surujdai tries to make as few stops as possible to return home as soon as possible. She shared that, “I don’t stop anywhere. Anytime I leave, it’s straight to town to get my seasonings, my greens, my meat and anything else my children need to get to school.”

Only two of Surujdai’s children still attend school in the village, while another attends school on the East Bank. The children that attend the La Harmonie Primary School find getting to school every day as a difficult one for both them and their mother.

“The two smaller children I carry them every morning and bring them back to school,” Surujdai said.”The next one goes over the river with the boat. And her brother carries and brings her in the boat.”

The travelling and the difficulties involved with getting in and out of the village are among the only things that Surujdai considers issues with the community. The village doesn’t have water, but they do utilise solar energy which the villagers express are of great help to them.

Surujdai explained that, “The travelling is hard. If you have to travel from here to Wales it might take two to three hours with a vehicle.” When asked if she believed she would ever leave the village of La Harmonie, Surujdai explained that it was where she had spent the greater part of her life. It was where her children were born and raised and was what she proudly called home today.

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