The quiet village of Fellowship, Mahaicony is surrounded by a lot of huge trees and you have to look carefully to find some of the houses that are hidden among them. In almost every yard there are mango, coconut and other fruit trees.
Nicketa Thomas was making use of the shade under a big mango tree in front of her yard. She had tied a hammock under the tree and was enjoying the breeze as she listened to music from her cellular phone and rocked her baby, Jaden. She works at Qualfon on the East Coast and was on the evening shift that day. A customer service representative, her job entails activating phones.
The village was actually a coconut estate and many of the residents are into the coconut business, making oil, copra or brooms to sell. Some are engaged in cash crop and livestock farming while others, like Nicketa, seek employment outside the village. Residents operate a small shop, a trucking service and an electrical workshop.
Winston Blair, an electrician deals with repairs to television and other appliances, and the installation of satellite dishes. He was busy fixing an APC backup battery when this newspaper dropped in at his workshop. Work was “slow at the moment because the year just started,” he said, but he would be busy around Christmastime. An ex-soldier in the Guyana Defence Force, Blair had attended the Government Technical Institute where he learnt his trade. About 20 years ago he returned to the village and set up his workshop and
