Story by Dacia Whaul with
photos by Arian Browne
If you like hot days and cool nights without having to pay for it, then you might consider visiting Timehri. The village, built on a hill, is situated south of Soesdyke and bordered by the Demerara River on the west. According to Leon (only name given), Timehri is a quiet place once you get used to the sounds of planes landing and taking off at the nearby Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
The 29-year-old said although his family does not mix a lot in the village, they do entertain themselves with his music system. “Everybody just deh in they own corner,” he added. He also noted that the days are warm and the nights are cool, just right for a comfortable rest.
“This place real nice yuh know,” Leon’s mother Joyce said. “As long as you work hard,” she added.
Joyce told Sunday Stabroek that she sells greens at La Penitence Market in Georgetown. Her day usually begins in the wee hours of the morning. “I have to go to the docks to buy greens from the farms up the Demerara River,” the woman said. Once she would have made her purchases, she heads back home to parcel them off and then leaves for the city market. She explained that Sunday is her best selling day, as well as the shortest.
Esther (only name given) a food vendor, sells just a short distance from the Timehri Dock. She said that from as far back as she can remember, Timehri has remained the same. When asked about fond childhood memories, Esther chuckled for a while before replying.
“Well I remember when me and my siblings use to walk to school till at Soesdyke,” she said. “We use to thief people fruits from they stand and run away. You can’t dare try that now.”
Esther pointed out that people today are of a “different breed” and would not find what she and her siblings did funny.
Furthermore, the mother of seven, who has six brothers and sisters, also reflected on the days when she would eat her lunch in the mornings before school. “I use to eat my lunch and hide the bowl in the bush” she said, adding, “Don’t ask how I use to feel hungry at lunch break!” she exclaimed with hearty laughter.
She also shared the times when she used to take her mother’s coins from the cupboard and spend them.
“What I couldn’t spend, went down the pit toilet,” the woman said, with a look of disbelief and guilt that she wasted the little money her family had like that.
Meanwhile, Savitri Singh, who said she grew up in Timehri, but only returned to the village four years ago, said she recalls sand roads and hard work. “We didn’t have time to play,” the woman said as she stood at the side of her snackettte. She said they would get up as early as 5 am to accompany her grandmother behind the Race Circuit where they planted pineapples. Although the experience was tough, Savitri said it has made her the woman she is today. She also spoke of the developments in the community.
She said aside from the airport and the circuit, there is a community centre ground and the Timehri Docks which serves as an access point for those communities further up the Demerara River. She noted that farmers from the Demerara River take their produce there to sell and that is the point from which they and other residents of riverain communities access the city.
Timehri has stable electricity, potable water, tar pitch roads and rarely suffers from flooding.
In the event there is a fire, villagers can call the Fire Service at the airport. For medical attention, they can visit the Timehri Health Centre or the Guyana Defence Force’s Health Centre at Camp Stephenson.
For school, children attend the Timehri Nursery, then Timehri Primary and depending on their performance at the National Grade Six Assessment, children might attend the Soesdyke Secondary. They might also be placed at another school along the East Bank Demerara carriageway.
According to villagers, although there is a community centre, it is not too functional. And the only place for youths to hang out is at a pools hall near the airport.
Crime, they also say, is low.
