Story and photos by Kenesha Fraser
The village of Lake Mainstay on the Essequibo Coast is a well-populated Amerindian village located about 25 minutes aback Anna Regina. When Sunday Stabroek visited the area, the sun was blistering hot and the loose sandy roads were dusty from the vehicles which were travelling to and fro. Mavis Toby and her friend Evadne Isaacs, residents of Hill Top Lake Mainstay, were sitting under a benab when we caught up with them.
“Where we are living, it’s about 5 miles from here. In Mainstay, there are different areas. We have Red Lock, Princeville Village, Hill Top and Whyaka Mainstay. I have been living in Hill Top most of my life and in the early years we used to walk to get to places,” said Evadne. Now the 8 families who are living in Hill Top are fortunate to have a bus service that works every day from Hill Top to Anna Regina.
“Where we are sitting here now was filled with bushes and big trees. When here started to clear up, we use to cross the lake in a boat and then we had to walk to reach the trail where a tractor use to be so the tractor could have take us out to [Anna] Regina. It used to be very hard because we use to paddle a long way,” Mavis said.
In the early years, the residents of Lake Mainstay planted pineapple, cassava and cash crops which they took to the Anna Regina
Market to sell. “Those of us who are living in Hill Top have no access to GPL current but we all have solar panels. We also have clean water that run through the pipes from a well that was built. Our children goes to Tapakuma Primary School which is closer to Hill Top,” Evadne added.
Mavis said that she enjoys living in Lake Mainstay and she was excited about the Village Day celebration that was scheduled to start later that day and she was hoping to have a good time.
Linden Pearson, who lives in Princeville Village said that even though he is contented living in the area, a lot of improvements could be made.
“We have very bad roads and when the rain falls, big pools of water does be on the road. I think that the roads should be improved. I would like to see the community do more activities to develop the village. The trees along the roads should be trimmed because they are overburden.” One villager said that the Arawak Amerindians first inhabited the area around Lake Mainstay and it was first called ‘Quacabuka,’ an Arawak word meaning ‘in between.’
In Lake Mainstay, there is a primary and a nursery school, a health centre, a community centre, a ballfield, a chicken farm, a pine factory, a heritage park and the main attraction of the village – the Lake Mainstay Resort. The spacious resort is comprised of a cluster of comfortable air conditioned cottages and a lot of recreational space. It has a large guest capacity and gatherings such as conferences or weddings are often hosted there.
Twenty-two year old Anastasia Thomas was born in Tapakuma but grow up in Mainstay with her family. “It was lovely for me while I was growing up here. There was lot of people living here and the first family that came here to live was my great, great grandfather and his family. He was the founder of Mainstay and I am proud because of that. Things has become lighter for us over the years and I am sure every villager is happy for that. We now have electricity and a well that supplies the community with clean water. When I was younger, I enjoyed swimming and because Mainstay is the home of pineapple, I use to go to the farm to help out my family with the planting.”
The young woman added that the village has a lot of young people who work in the interior or in the backdam cutting logs. “We have a Community Service and Youth Group that keeps the youths occupied. There is also a dance troupe that participates in many activities. I really like living here. This is indeed a beautiful place.”
Lascels Pearson, former Agricultural Science teacher and the dance teacher of the Mainstay Dance Troupe was born and grew up at Mainstay Whyaka. “It was very nice growing up here with my family who used to do farming. In 1977 after I completed school, I became an Agricultural Science teacher. I moved from here and I went to the Burham Agricultural Institute in Region 1 at Arakaka and then in 1975-76 I went to GSA [Guyana School of Agriculture]. I then started teaching at the Community High or Anna Regina Secondary School. In 1989 I got transferred back home to teach at Mainstay Primary School. I attended the National School of Dance in Georgetown in 1996 where I was trained as a dance teacher and after I stopped teaching Science, I started teaching dance to members of my community, which I’m still doing. Villagers are responding to the dance classes in a favourable manner and I am extremely happy because of that.”
According to Mr Pearson, since 1980 the Lake Mainstay Resort was a major site in Region Two and in the year 1999 the Board of Directors got full control of the resort. “In this village (including Princeville, Hill Top and Whyaka) we have about 550 persons living here now. The roads has improved but can still be developed. The primary school that is here now was once named the St Vincent Anglican School and was run by the priest, but after it was handed over to the government it was extended. I really enjoy living here and I must say it’s a cool place and there is not too much noise.”
Travelling along the Lake Mainstay roads, one may see several sand dunes which are quite a spectacular sight. The sand is usually transported by truck to places along the coast where it is sold.
One of Mainstay’s oldest residents, Juanita Fernandes was happy to share her life experiences when we caught up with her. “I come to Mainstay to live since I was 16 years old and now I’m 72. I came with my family to live here and at the time my father, Thomas Pearson, was cutting wood for GRB (Guyana Rice Board). When we first move here it had a lot of bushes. My father was the one who actually develop this place. He started clearing the land because he wanted to put his tractor and truck in a proper place. He had to look for labourers to help him and they brought their families so he had to build a school. After the place cleared up, other people started coming here to live and before we started using the tractor to take us to [Anna] Regina we had to cross in a boat to get there. Growing up, I remember that I use to go to the pineapple farm to help my father and mother. Now we are developed and I’m happy even in my old age. I now have a lot of grand and great grandchildren and that makes me happier. I am just waiting for the Heritage celebrations to start and I know it will be well attended and everybody is going to have a great time.”
A pineapple processing facility was established in Mainstay/Whyaka in 2002, an initiative of the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) and Amazon Caribbean Ltd (AMCAR).
The factory uses clear glass containers to package pineapple chunks which are sold on the local and international markets. The factory provided a significant boost for the community in improving the lives of the residents since it gave employment to over 30 residents. Residents say that the factory is not functioning as before since cultivation of the organic pineapple has decreased over the years.
Further along, we met Mona Pearson or ‘Aunty Mona’, a lively and entertaining woman who served as a counsellor for the village of Lake Mainstay for many years. “This was always a very beautiful place. The first Captain, Thomas Pearson laid a good foundation. Transportation was difficult and in the early years it hard to go to Anna Regina. People use to go through the canal then go to Red Lock and two donkey use to be waiting to pull the boat. By the time you reach to Anna Regina, you use to be soak and half soak. Thomas Pearson later buy a tractor that we name ‘Pata Pata’ because when the tractor coming through that was the sound it use to make. Every Friday morning, the tractor use to collect people then it use to had to pass through a fine road and sometimes till in the night people use to be going home with rice and flour that they went to buy.
“Mr Thomas loved education so he thought it best to build a school. The first school was where the resort is now and six children use to go. The school get developed now which is a very good thing. Couple other people took up position as Captain and each of them tried very hard to keep the development going, but since money wasn’t flowing, it was hard. Things are different now because we got two now which is a great help in the area of transportation. The Captain now who is Joel Fredericks is pushing the community to do more and that is great. All the teachers are from here. The Medex and health workers are from the community and that goes to show how we have developed over the years, but we still have to strive more.”
The Heritage celebrations this year ended at Lake Mainstay on September 30. The event included a cultural extravaganza, Mari Mari dancing, fire-wood bursting, crab-catching, arrow and bow shooting, swimming, piwari drinking and singing and dancing around the camp fire.
Secondary school children living in Lake Mainstay attend the Anna Regina Secondary School or the Cotton Field Secondary School. There is a local market in the area but most persons travel out to Anna Regina to sell or buy their goods and produce. Garbage is usually burned or buried and according to villagers, since everyone is literally related, they all live as one big, happy family.
