A young mother welcomes new opportunities

ALL across Guyana, change is not only evident, it is impactful. While we know the ins and outs of the country’s massive changes, transformations are happening at the very base level for many Guyanese and in the farthest parts of the country. The village of Siparuta is best known for its farming and logging industries, which have seen little besides population growth in recent years. The community is now taking steps to re-invent itself as well as the lives of its people.

Twenty-four-year-old Merinda Charlie is one of Siparuta’s villagers. A young mother from Moruca, Merinda says that life in Siparuta has made countless opportunities possible, the most recent being the introduction of a machinery operation programme to the community by Guyana’s Board of Industrial Training. Although cited as a simple endeavour, the programme has garnered tremendous support with dozens of participants, many of them ambitious young women. Among them is Merinda, who sees the initiative as a significant stepping stone and a new way to take control of her own life.

Merinda was born and raised in the community of Moruca, Region 1, as the first of 10 siblings. She described her upbringing as hard. With the death of her father at an early age, her mother took on the role of provider, which left a young Merinda with many household chores. “Life for me was hard growing up. My father died when I was nine. Mother raised me all by herself and sent me and all my siblings to school.” There were, however, a few similarities between Moruca and Siparuta, with farming being the biggest. “We farmed with my mother and made things to sell. That’s how we maintained ourselves,” she said, adding, “In my family, there were 10 siblings, and I was the first. I had to look after three of my siblings from when they were two months old. I was just 11 years old.”

Although her early life was filled with challenges, Merinda credits her childhood with teaching her many of the skills she has today. “Schooling was hard because, in the morning, Mummy got up at six o’clock for work. I had to bathe the children, put on their clothes, carry them to their babysitter, then come back, put on my clothes, and go to school.” She further added, “I learned to do things that a grown woman does at the age of 10.”

New beginnings

Almost eight years ago, Merinda met her now-husband, Andrew, during a trip he took to Moruca. The two met and soon became a couple, much to the surprise and excitement of her family. Merinda recalled how her mother met Andrew. “My mother saw Andrew and asked him if he liked me. He said ‘yes’,” she explained. “Over the years since then, we grew to love one another. We have one child together. We’ve been living here together for almost nine years now,” she said.

In November of 2016, the pair left Moruca and moved to Siparuta. “He brought me away from Moruca in November 2016. We worked on the farm together and raised the money so he could bring me to Siparuta,” she said. After coming to Siparuta, Merinda did not return to Moruca for five years. During that time, she was getting used to a new life in a new community.

Over the years, Merinda has played various active roles in Siparuta in an effort to get used to the community and its way of life. “I started working in Siparuta, trying to fit myself into different categories, doing things: Farmers group, Community Policing Group member, and part-time work at a health centre,” she said.

Community development

Siparuta is among many of Guyana’s rural communities taking bold steps to develop new and old sectors while bringing in new opportunities and people. According to Merinda, life in Siparuta has been more independent, with more space to develop herself, an experience she says she is grateful for. “In Siparuta, people live independently.” She further added, “In Siparuta, you can find work that suits the community: lumber, logging. There are different types of work available,” she said.

Moreover, the expansion of opportunities has not been limited to the men of the community, and a drastic rise in the number of women working in Siparuta has been seen. Growing up with a mother who struggled to find work to support her family, Merinda says she is happy to see more opportunities opening up for the new generation of women. She is even happier to be at the forefront of this movement. “Now, with this government so far, in the past nine years, they’ve brought in plenty of work so that women can fit in.” She added, “We find it much easier because my son has a far easier life than the way I grew up.”

Now, a mother of a six-year-old son, also named Andrew, Merinda shares that her son now has access to many of the things she struggled to find as a child, marking a major generational change. “Things I never had while growing up, my son gets access to them very easily,” she said. This coming December, Merinda will be one of Siparuta’s several female licensed machine operators, something uncommon in most parts of Guyana. This certification is a stepping stone and will open a wide range of opportunities, with new infrastructure work happening in the region where licensed machine operators will be in high demand, and Merinda plans to be at the forefront of this shift. “I know that they want licensed drivers, so I intend to apply and do that,” she said.