A couple tells their secret to a happy life and long marriage

IN the little village of Maida in East Berbice lives a couple who has been married for more than 30 years, and is proud to attest that their love has withstood the test and trials of time.

Nadira and Sham Harrihar met at church, and the young pair stood by each other through a barrage of life’s problems. They have navigated through married life, the struggles of parenthood, and family matters while striving to provide for their children. The husband-and-wife have lived and worked beyond Guyana, and they say life’s challenges exist everywhere. Today, the couple leads a simple life on the Corentyne, and if there is one thing they have learned, it is the importance of faith in the face of adversity.

Sham Harrihar was born and bred in the lesser-known village of Bushlot Farm. He explained that the way of life then was simplistic, and largely dependent on farming, even more so than today’s. He recalls most of his childhood comprising of happy memories. His boyhood days were filled with running, fishing and playing cricket in the quiet streets of the Corentyne. But he also remembers the struggles his family faced when his father, the breadwinner of the household, fell sick.

Sham’s father sought work on the road as a taxi driver. Sham explained that growing up, his father’s modest job meant his family was not well off. “As a little boy, my father got sick. He used to drive taxi his own taxi,” he stated. Sham’s father was a religious man, and he searched across religions and faiths for a solution to his illness. Sham explained that some years later, his father recovered. Sham and his family owe his father’s recovery to his faith. This experience changed the way Sham saw life at an early age, and Sham became a devout Christian as a young man.

Sham’s faith led to the church, and it was at church that he met his wife, Nadira. The two met as a young couple, and quickly fell in love before their families got together and the pair got married. Nadira says that not much thought was put into their marriage; it was simple, and something that just felt right. “We reached each other, and we liked each other, and we planned to get married to each other, and we have been here all the time,” she said. The two married in their early 20s, and stayed together, even now as they enter their 50s.

Among the reasons the two have stayed together is that their shared ups and downs seem to play a big role. “In spite of what happened; ups and downs, we are still here. And we give God thanks and praise for it,” Nadira stated. Building life in the little- known and undeveloped community of Maida was a unique experience for Nadira. She came from the community of Port Mourant. Leaving Port Mourant, with all its modern conveniences, to venture into the modest village of Maida was an experience that Nadira called strange.

In their interview, the couple remembers the rough road that led them to where they are today. “Coming here was strange for me. When I was living in Port Mourant, I had light and water; all those convenient things,” she recalled. “And then I came here to this village. There was not any current in this village; no running water at that time. We had to go to another village to fetch water,” she said.

Sometime after getting married, Sham and Nadira decided to move to the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis, and soon after to America. For the years the two lived overseas, they worked long hours in different fields to secure a better life for themselves and their two sons. Sham worked in a factory, building, assembling and repairing various engines and motors during his time in America, while Nadira worked making confectionery. Although the work was hard and demanding, they both said it was worth it, and among the happiest years of their lives.

As good as their life was overseas, the pair needed to return to their country. Several years ago, they returned to the soil of Guyana and opened a vulcanising shop in Sham’s home village of Maida. The two rebuilt their home with all the things they could not once afford. Today, the two live quiet lives in the Maida. They say that there is no secret to a happy marriage, or even a happy life. But rather, happiness is found through perseverance.