Life in Nappi, a Macushi village located some 25 miles from Lethem, is simple. Farming, hunting and fishing are the main economic activities there but over the last decade six villagers have been making various hand crafted items, some of which are on display at GuyExpo this year.
Ruefina Da Silva is one of the Nappi residents involved in the craft industry. She has been making mainly balata ornaments since the early 1990s. Detailed models of armadillos, scenes from Amerindian villages and nativity sets have been on display at GuyExpo since last Thursday.
At the tenth Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta X), Da Silva reported, her ornaments were sold out but at GuyExpo this year sales are slow forcing her to slash her prices by as much as 50 percent in some cases. With GuyExpo scheduled to close tonight, Da Silva had little hope that she would sell much of her pieces before travelling back to her village. However, despite this the woman said that she will be present at the next GuyExpo with a wider range of ornaments.
“During Carifesta,” Da Silva pointed out, “there were many foreigners in the country and they came to the exhibition we had here last year and bought my stuff. This year I am seeing mostly fellow Guyanese people and they are hardly buying anything so I am dropping my prices.”
The nativity sets which take almost two days to make were originally priced at $5,000 but were reduced to $4,000. The prices of other smaller balata pieces were reduced by half. Da Silva explained that the ornaments take a very long time to make and at the price she is selling them she will not be compensated for her labour.
Over the years, according to Da Silva, demand for the crafts has declined and she had not been getting orders. When she returns to Nappi, she said, she will have to take up farming or start making other products of cassava to make a living. One of GuyExpo’s objectives is to provide small-scale businesses with an opportunity to display their progress and solicit possible buyers. However, Da Silva said, she is yet to see one buyer, local or foreign, who is willing to buy her products in quantities.
“When I go back I will have to find something else to do… this is my main source of income,” she said.
Da Silva said she and other residents from villages in the Region Nine learnt of GuyExpo through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs. The Region Nine Chairman, she explained, sent a representative to inform villagers of the event and compose a list of those interested in participating.
“We travelled to Georgetown free of cost,” Da Silva said, “and we’re staying right in this compound [National Exhibition Centre, Sophia]. The only thing we had to provide for ourselves is food.”
Laughing, Da Silva recalled that when the group first arrived in Georgetown they didn’t have much money to buy food until they sold some of their products. With sales almost non-existent and home so far away Da Silva is ready to return to her village.
The same village council governs Nappi, its northern neighbour Parisha and its western neighbour Haiawa both of which are located within three miles. The villages are small, the layout simple and the houses small made from natural materials, Da Silva explained.
Nappi is located in beautiful savannah area she said; it is a short distance away from the Kanuku Mountains and there is no market there for balata ornaments, Da Silva said. GuyExpo, she had hoped, would provide an opportunity for her to find market for her products but it was not what she expected.
“…I mean Carifesta was better,” Da Silva said with a shrug.
