The small, normally quiet village of Yeovil, West Coast Berbice, was recently alive with activity when two groups of 40 high school students came from Connecticut, USA to help build a multi-purpose centre.
They were volunteering for Builders Beyond Borders (B3) which had provided about US$30,000 for the initial stage of the project. The centre will be equipped with an indoor basketball court, gym, media centre, computers, lockers, showers and lavatories and would be a major boost for the community.
Residents of the close-knit community who are all related, earn their living mostly from rice, cash-crop and livestock farming while some operate businesses, including a grocery and general store and the Unique Beauty Salon.
The village has a nursery school and about 21 houses, a few of which have been closed up owing to migration. Residents pointed to an old, abandoned house, said to be an eyesore and called on the owners who reside overseas to “pull it down.”
During this newspaper’s visit, the village looked deserted, save for a boy who