The Soesdyke-Linden Highway is the location of several business enterprises that reflect the determination of Guyanese women to enhance their entrepreneurial reputations; none of these better exemplifies the spirit of entrepreneurship that which reposes in our womenfolk than the Yarowkabra Coal Burning Association, registered since February 2003 under the Friendly Societies Act.
The 28 women comprising the active members of the Association make a living by converting waste wood into coal, baking the wood in pits that are three feet deep. A small number of men are recruited to help move the wood, acquired from the nearby Howard Bulkan’s Superior Shingles, to the coal pits on the adjoining plot of land. It is a decidedly low-technology pursuit; the waste wood is moved to the pits in two wheelbarrows that have clearly seen better days, or else, on the heads or shoulders of the women. There are those who might say that burning coal is not women’s work, but the members of the Association beg to differ. It’s tough work but most
