Photos by Joanna Dhanraj
Golden Grove or Grove, as most persons call it, on the East Bank Demerara is said to be one of the most developed villages in Guyana. It is adjoined by Diamond and Good Success. Entering Golden Grove, you must adjust your eyes to the scene. Unlike the nearby villages, Golden Grove presents a congested atmosphere with vehicles and people jostling for space in its streets. Visuals are of shoppers packing bags into taxis, children in merriment as always and businesses lining both sides of the road as far as the eye can see. Then the noise hits you: of vehicles speeding by honking their horns, vendors asking if you need anything, taxi drivers hawking fares and through it all people chatting, some quite loudly trying to outdo the noise around them.
Golden Grove has a number of taxi services, a few supermarkets, doctors’ clinics, pharmacies, schools, food courts, restaurants, two police stations, auto shops, boutiques, many churches, a mall, beer gardens, and a health centre, to name a few. The reason it has just about two or more of everything is that Golden Grove has approximately 16,000 to 18,000 residents.
Golden Grove is a main point for persons selling wholesale. Persons come from nearby islands, villages on the West Bank Demerara, neighbouring villages and even from Timerhi, Linden and other places around Guyana to trade at Golden Grove. But however boisterous the main road may seem the residents living inside the village lead a quiet life. One such resident is Purlettia Pollydore.
Pollydore migrated from Port Kaituma in the North West District ten years ago to live in Diamond while she worked at Gafoors at Land of Canaan. It was there that she later met the love of her life, got married and had two children. Five years later, they moved to Golden Grove.
She tells of escaping death two years ago during an accident. “The bus I was in was driving on the road when a forklift turn onto the road into the bus,” she said. Her left arm bears rows of stitches where the lift went through. She was hospitalized for a bit at the Woodlands Hospital and counts herself lucky and is grateful to be alive.
The housewife spends most of her day at home enjoying the quiet atmosphere while taking care of her family.