Two years after the East Coast Demerara, Georgetown and other parts of coastal Guyana were devastated by flooding, Ruth Barrow and her family of Dazzell Housing Scheme and Bibi Shameena Persaud of Good Hope are still in the process of rebuilding their livelihoods.
When Stabroek News visited Second Street, Dazzell Housing Scheme last week, Barrow was tending to her three children on their back step looking out onto the garden where a number of cash crops were thriving.
Two years ago the land had been bare after all the cash crops had been destroyed by the floodwaters that surged over the East Coast Demerara and flushed people out of their homes.
Barrow said that two years ago apart from the garden and livestock which they depended on for their livelihood, she and her reputed husband Troy Canterbury and their children had lost furniture, clothing and valuables, many of which they have not been able replace.
In rebuilding their lives, Barrow said, one of the first things they had to do was to build up the garden plot. Because the land sunk during the flood, they had to “buy earth” to fill it up once again. The majority of people in the Dazzell Housing Scheme, she said had to build up their land.
On the plot of land today are cherry trees, callaloo, ochroes, married-man pork, pumpkins, pigeon peas, bora, cane, pawpaw and dunks. One of the children shared some fleshy dunks with this reporter.
Barrow and her three children had to evacuate. At the time, her last child was three months old and Barrow had to wade through waist-deep water to get out of the area. “The water was scornful,” she recalled. They sought refuge at first in Plaisance but when the floods hit Plaisance as well, she and her children moved to North Ruimveldt.
She said the water crept up so suddenly that they had no time to really move important documents; they had to ensure the children’s safety so many important family documents and pictures were lost to the floodwaters.
Her reputed husband chose to stay in the home, where he had to fashion a makeshift bridge to stay out of the water, because bandits were rampant in the area at the time. Many homes that were abandoned at the time were robbed and even vandalized.
While she has her garden again, which provides greens and vegetables, Barrow said they have not been able to replenish their livestock. As they had no place to put the ducks and fowls they drowned or died from cold and lack of feed. Except for a few yard fowls, they have not cared for a flock of meat birds or sold any since.
Probably because she was not at home when relief supplies were being distributed, Barrow said, she never got any detergents or disinfectant and she never received the $10,000 that the government had distributed even though she had signed up for assistance.
She said will never forget the floods and would “never like that to happen again”.
“I used to dream steady about the flood before it happen and I see it happen.” Since then she has not had dreams of floods nor does it bother her “that much.”
She said that rebuilding to the stage where they are now has been challenging and there were times when it was very frustrating. For example, while cleaning up they found lots of snakes and insects. Mosquitoes invaded the area. “Through all this we had absolutely no help from any sources,” except for family from abroad who tried their best to assist. To them she is grateful.
Thankfully, her husband is a joiner and he rebuilt several pieces of furniture they had lost. He is also a carpenter and at present he is employed. He also repainted the house inside and outside to get rid of the water stains and for hygienic purposes as well. Fortunately, throughout “the ordeal” no one fell ill, and for this she thanked God.
Stabroek News had visited Barrow’s home at the height of the Great Flood, and after the water had receded in February. Dazzell Housing Scheme, Bare Root, Enterprise and Coldingen were among the first places hit by the flooding and those areas were the last to be drained.
At present, the area is without potable water. There are a number of standpipes in the village but no water comes from them. Residents, including Barrow, buy water or fetch water from the neighbouring community of Paradise. The cost for a regular size ‘Tuffy’ tank of water is $2,500. The cost for a tank of water early last year was $1,500, it subsequently moved to $2,000 and now “with VAT” it has moved to $2,500.
At Good Hope
Down the East Coast Demerara at Lot 1, Good Hope Stabroek News found Bibi Shameena and her family cooking their dinner, while at the same time carrying out other chores like feeding the ducks and making pepper sauce.
The setting was so much more pleasant than the last visit in 2005. Then, the Stabroek News reporter and photographer had found Bibi Shameena and her brother feeding the ducks from their veranda because the floodwater was about four feet high in the yard and the kitchen on the ground floor was completely flooded out. Their meat and laying birds had all died and their once thriving garden was completely covered. They lost two calves, a cow and some goats during the floods and one cow died shortly after the water receded.
Bibi Shameena said she cried for her cows because they were like her children. All she had to do was yell “Yo! Yo!” and they would come for their feed, she said. She buried one of the cows near by the home when the water had receded and the other by the seawall. She no longer has any cows or goats.
Since the floods Bibi Shameena said she has not reared any fowls and the ducks her brother was feeding in a pond under an arbour was the first set of “English ducks” she had reared since the 2005 floods. They have replanted some of the crops on the land surrounding their home but the land adjacent to the home has not been planted since the floods. She said they would have to build up the land because it had sunk.
At first, when they had started replanting, she said, the callaloo was spotted and the boulanger leaf, rusty. The boulanger was hardly ever bought by anyone even though they were edible. “We are coping alright,” she and other family members agreed. They now have thriving plots of squash, ochroes, boulanger, pepper, broad leaf thyme and carilla.
She said they had some assistance from former minister of Human Services and Social Security Bibi Shadick who had visited the area. Bibi Shameena also received the $10,000 that government had provided.
Fortunately, for them no one fell seriously ill except for some rashes and colds.
Barrow and Bibi Shameena are just two of about 200,000 or more people who were affected by the floods that lasted for periods ranging from two weeks to six weeks in some areas.
In Dazzell Housing scheme some residents said they have “lifted” their homes since the floods and the majority had to repaint areas where the floodwaters had stained the walls and floors. However, the water mark on the fences of many yards and even some buildings is a grim reminder of how long the water remained on the land. Some villagers said they have not replanted because they are waiting for the land “to cure.” Some started planting as soon as the water receded.
While there was no major outbreak of diseases a number of people contracted leptospirosis which proved to be fatal in some cases and a number of persons had also drowned.
