Photos by Anjuli Persaud
A twenty-minute drive across the Demerara Harbour Bridge, heading to the West Bank of Demerara, takes you to a small village called Nismes. The predominantly African-Guyanese village is five square miles in extent, and is bordered by the Demerara River to the east, Vauxhall Canal Number One on the west, Bagotville to the north and Toevlugt to the south.
The small rural community has a population of just over fifteen hundred. It boasts a primary school, one restaurant, two gas stations and a Pentecostal church. In terms of educational opportunities, most of the students attend the Nismes Primary while at the secondary level they go to the West Demerara Secondary School.
There is no active night life in this small village; however, the residents do go over regularly to neighbouring Bagotville, where according to the residents there is always “music playing and
