In a few months, it will be two years since the news first broke about the two sugar workers who had gone missing. What happened to them is still unclear, as well as what became of the two others who disappeared sometime after.
Their disappearance on different parts of the East Coast is thought to have been linked to the crime which engulfed that area at the time. Despite intensive police operations in the backlands there was no sighting of the missing men.
As expected, nothing has changed in their respective homes. Some family members still expect them to appear, others are in the mode of someone waiting to hear something. They all have questions for which it seems there are no answers.
There were wan smiles and broken spirits at every door we knocked on last week while visiting the East Coast Demerara homes of the four missing sugar workers yet they found the strength to sit and reflect on how life has been within the last year. It is astonishing and sad to witness. Some cried just as much as they did when we first sat down with them over a year ago.
“When is my daddy coming home?” little Sharon Dhanhai asked her mother in our presence. She must have asked that question hundreds of times since her father, Sookram Dhanhai disappeared, according to her mother. Every time she gets the same response, “You know daddy loves you Sharon and mommy is here.” The child reacts with a laugh then jumps into her mother’s lap and plants a big kiss on her cheek.
Her mother, Sherry then points out that when her husband was around the child had no idea what sitting in mommy’s lap felt like because daddy’s lap was where she spent most of her time and where she fell asleep every night.
It has been particularly hard for Sherry since Dhanhai’s disappearance. She has three young children and gets by with monthly public assistance and the kindness of a few neighbours. She said the frustration of waking up and realizing that she has stretched her rations as far as they could go and there are still days before the month ends sometimes get to her.
About a year ago, Sherry said, she took a chance and invested in rearing chickens, but lost everything after a break-in and a flash flood. She said it just disappeared.
“I wake up one morning and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. All me chickens dead and what ain’t dead get thief. Some people don’t know how I does struggle to get by but they come and take my chickens,” she related.
September will mark two years since her husband went missing and according to her, the time has come for her to go out and provide for the family as Sookram Dhanhai did. She is looking for a job, but pointed out that she could only do domestic work since she did not have much of an education.
Sitting up in a hammock with the child on her lap, Sherry occasionally stares into nowhere and after about a minute she is back in conversation mode. She talks about what a job would mean for her and the children and said if it even requires her leaving Non Pareil to work in Georgetown, she is prepared to do it.
She said the hardest part of being a single parent is paying the bills alone. “The bills is something else I ain’t know how me husband use to do it without complaining but I have to,” she said.
Sherry married her husband nearly 16 years ago and she said the nights could be very hard to get through. What adds to her misery is the fact that she has no idea what happened to her husband.
With tears in her eyes, she said losing him was the greatest punishment she has ever had to endure and she has a feeling there will be no end to the pain she feels every day.
But she is strong for her children and never cries in their presence. She said when they ask about their father she tries to answer as best as she can and when they are old enough to understand she will tell them what she knows.
Hardat who lived at Annandale disappeared on the same day Dhanhai did. Since that day his household has never been the same. His daughter-in-law fought to compose herself while sharing how extremely quiet and dull the home has been since he left. Neither of his two sons was home at the time.
“Almost every day someone would mention his name and sometimes when you hear it you would try to fight tears. He was a good man, anybody who know him would tell you that, he was just a nice person,” she said.
Hardat’s wife migrated shortly after his disappearance. The shock had broken her spirit and she had been confined to a bed. According to the daughter-in-law, she is doing much better physically but mentally she is the same. She never stops talking about her husband and when she calls she would have long chats with her sons about the times they shared when he was there.
She said the sons are there for each other and they have been strong throughout.
Her husband who is the elder of the two is taking care of his younger brother who is currently studying at university. The woman said no one in the family is ever going to forget and move on because Hardat was an important part of the family.
Upon arriving at the home, we found her seated out front relaxing and looking out. On any given day she is there looking out. She said a day might come when someone might bring the family a piece of news they want to hear that would at least set a part of their minds at ease.
Maikram Sawh’s family at Non Pareil was also in the front yard when we visited and his son invited us in. He spoke briefly about his father and mentioned that his mother was home but she was in no position to speak.
How has it been for them? He said the family has been doing okay but at the same time they often worry about his mother who has been ill ever since that fateful day in May when his father disappeared.
“There are times when we wonder about what could have happened that day but we try not to think about it. Everyone is doing okay and we get by with each other’s support, we are getting through this as a family,” he said.
What has been hard for the family is how deeply affected Sawh’s wife is and the fact that she is showing little signs of improving. The son told us they are there for her all the time and there are moments when she is happy. Whenever his name comes up though or she thinks about him, which is every day, she slips back into an unhappy state.
From the sound of his voice, the son appears to be as emotionally healthy as he says he is and he was composed for the whole interview. But as tough as he is sometimes memories of his father makes him weak.
Kamini Taranauth’s husband, Sampersaud Taranauth went missing along with Sawh. Since that day she has spoken only once with the media and that was before the realization of what had happened sunk in. Now that it has she greets anyone with a media badge as politely as she would her neighbours but she does not have much to say. On the day we visited, she came to the gate, invited us in and said as much as six words. But her silence spoke volumes. Her eyes tell a story of a young widow who has lost her world.
Since her husband disappeared, she has been raising three very young children and is doing a fine job, according to her neighbours. She tried to explain that she would like to open up about how she has been getting by but could not even find the words to do so. We understood and left after spending a few minutes, though she made it clear we are welcome anytime.
