Residents of the front part of Clonbrook say they enjoy the serenity of the village, and having seen much development over the years they would not migrate from the area.
“Yuh know me sorry all my life I didn’t come here to live because me like here. This area nobody nah business, nobody nah see. Like me in a new world here. It private. By 7 o’clock me done drop meh netting and gone ah bed,” Kowsilla Narain, a resident of Clonbrook for two years told Sunday Stabroek.
Located on the East Coast of Demerara in Ann’s Grove, Clonbrook is home to about 1,500 people, a mixed population of Africans and Indians. Several churches in the village testify to their Christian faith but there are also two Hindu Mandirs and one Muslim Mosque.
“All the races in here live peaceful. It’s a mixed race community but the majority is Africans… In here real nice. Me ah de only Indian live in this part and me can leave meh door open and go in and sleep. Me nah frighten, me nah scared of nothing. It’s a peaceful environment,” Narain said as she sat down after finishing her morning chores and her pot was boiling in the kitchen nearby.
The woman said her day starts at sunrise when she awakes and starts to prepare breakfast for her family and then gets an early start on her chores. She said that after her house is clean, then she begins preparing lunch after which she has the afternoon to chat with her neighbours. This, Narain said, is the usual agenda of housewives living in Clonbrook.
“Most of the men work in de bush. Women – some deh home, some work, some sell and some go in the bush too. Most people go into the interior because they want fast money,” she related.
Joining in the conversation was Narain’s neighbour, Nicola Alexander, who said unlike long ago, more women are working in order to maintain more steady households. “The man them money
ain‘t coming in quick enough… since me ah grown, them always say Ann’s Grove got the most bush people. The women going in de bush and cook, wash and other things,” she said, explaining that in most cases where both parents are away in the interior, the children are forced to go and be looked after by a relative.
This, she said, has an effect on the children growing up, since they feel the need to provide somewhat on their own. “When the children got to go by some family to help them, they is end up selling broom, selling sweetie, selling biscuit, all kinda thing. Some of them big in the fowl fighting too,” she added.
However, Narain pointed out that almost all the children of Clonbrook are enrolled in school, unlike the situation in some other rural communities. In the village she said, there are two nursery and primary schools, the Clonbrook Nursery and Primary and the Backdam Nursery and Primary along with the Ann’s Grove Secondary School. “Most children here ah go to school, no matter how poor is the family. But who nah go school, gone bush. Like every other village them got the bad eggs with them who is smoke and drink alcohol and so, but that’s at the backdam side of the village, we don’t really mix with them people,” Narain stated.
The backdam – ie – the back of the village, is an altogether less accommodating environment than the front half, and nobody there wanted to speak to us and no photographs were allowed. It was in that section that some bottom house liming spots could be seen, although there was a large bar sited at the front of Clonbrook on the main road.
In general commercial activities were confined to bottom house stores such as clothes and barbers’ shops. In addition, the village has its own market.
Currently, Narain maintained that there is a very low crime rate and residents are very comfortable without having much to fear. She said that the police at the small station, which is conveniently located across the road from her home, keep a watchful eye on the community.
What is more of a concern, she said, is the quality of the running water which could not be used to do much except outdoor cleaning and the like. “The pipe water ain‘t healthy. It come with rust and ah come muddy. We nah report it. If one go and the other ones aint coming together what sense it gon make? We alone can’t do it. We have to full rainwater to wash and do chore but buy water for drink,” she explained.
According to Narain, the hours of the nearby Clonbrook Health Centre are also a concern since it is only open from Monday to Friday; residents can be seen there by nurses and a Medex. The closest hospital, she said, is located at Nabaclis which is about five villages away, a 20-minute drive from Clonbrook.
Narain stated that at the neighbouring village of Bee Hive, there are reports of stabbings and suchlike, and persons are forced to rush the injured parties to Nabaclis for treatment. “Every time they got a wedding or something, somebody guts ah come out, eye ah come out, all kind thing,” she said with a sigh. Meanwhile, in Clonbrook, Narain continued, residents find gathering at their homes to enjoy a drink or two more enjoyable.
“Them ain‘t got much rumshop and so this side; just one and two lil spots… most people prefer sit down under them house and drink,” she related.
Alexander told Sunday Stabroek that the area was really undeveloped years ago but conditions have improved considerably since. “The place was bad, we had a lot of mud, didn’t have any roads. When water raise, you had to use boat. Only last year really the roads fix up… Now we have everything, road, water, lights, phone, and we deh good in here,” she said.
Narain said that the place has developed so much over the years that many foreigners have been attracted and have built houses. “Every single house you see here is a foreigner. People come and build, do what they have to do, spend they holiday then gone back. Most of the houses are locked up,” she observed.
