Growing up can be challenging enough as it is. But with the extra pressures of walking a considerable distance to and from school. Along with only having the opportunity to leave the village when necessary. As well as the main means of transportation being boats, it can add extra pressure.

But Ishmeal Narine believes that although the community faces its issues, the people have learned to live with the tide.

Ishmeal was born and raised in the village of La Harmonie. He says his youth drastically differed from what today’s youth experience. And Even different from life just being beyond the river.

“We didn’t have much to grow with. In terms of the exposure to the fast-paced life on the road side. We were always just country boys, playing cricket and football in the street.” Ishmeal stated.

Although his upbringing was that of humble beginnings, Ishmeal believes that it was these very situations that made him into the man he is today. And he is thankful for those times, saying, “It wasn’t that bad. It was humble, not like the fast life that a lot of young people are going on with right now. And I am thankful for that.”

Ishmeal’s unique childhood experiences and value for hard work were perhaps influenced by the fact that his grandparents raised him. “I grew up quietly and a lot of what I learned, I learned from my grandparents. Because my mother and father were working and I grew up with my grandparents,” he said.

His grandparents, coming from an older generation, taught him particular values and things he shares with his children today. “Most of my childhood was grandmother and grandfather because mommy and daddy were always working.”

In his youth, Ishmeal admits that school was not among the things he was interested in or even liked. Saying, “I didn’t like school so much. But I regret it a little bit now. Because education is important with ExxonMobil and everything in Guyana.”

He is, however, doing plenty to survive and take off his family as a contractor. Ishmeal stated that, “I am still doing reasonably. I am a small contractor. I build houses on my own.” Still, he now has a profound appreciation for education and ensures his children attend school.

Ishmeal shared that as hard as it is today, the older generation also went through their period of hardships. “What my grandparents told me about before was that they grew up in farming. It was sheer hard work and hard labour. But it wasn’t so hard for them because that was what they grew up doing. They were accustomed to it.”

Ishmeal believes that as time progresses, as with all things, change will occur. And all that is needed is faith, stating that, “I know about hard life. It is not easy to survive. But I won’t give up.”

Although when he came to know his village was all cane fields, there was a time when the village looked a bit different. Ishmeal explained that his grandfather told him how after the famed cocoa plantation closed down, the people did what they knew with what they had. They became farmers.

But not everyone indulges in farming. As Ishmeal explained, there are a few people who work in wildlife. He said, “There are some people who do wildlife. But that is only for certain times of the year…Most likely parrots, some anteaters and porcupines. Right in the village, in the jungle parts, you would find monkeys.” But those who depend on the village or themselves depend on the river and the East Bank as a means of survival.

Ishmeal’s main objective and reason for working is his children. And they are perhaps one of the biggest reasons why he doesn’t believe he will leave the village of La Harmonie. “My children are going to school right now. I have a nine-year-old and a six-year-old. So I don’t think I would leave here. Because we went to secondary school right here, we used the river.”

Travelling to school in La Harmonie is more technical than in other places. The children from an early age have to learn the way the tide works. And how to tie and place their boats.

Ishmeal expressed that, “It is a little tough for us. The children find it more hard than the adults be because of the weather and the tide.” He went on further, saying, “You have to work with the tide. Keep your boat in or keep your both out so you can be on time.

In what he thinks is the most unique thing about La Harmonie, Ishmeal believes it is not the river or the wildlife but rather the people. Because they are who make the village what it is. He shared that, “It is a quiet area. Friendly people, I know for sure. And a lot of hard-working people.”