Leonora

Cane cutter riding out of the Leonora Sugar Estate

Story by Tifaine Rutherford with photos by Arian Browne

Originally called ‘Plantation Leonora’, this village on the West Bank of Demerara got its name in colonial times. Leonora stretches from Edinburgh in the east to Stewartville in the west and is situated about nine miles from Vreed-en-Hoop.
Leonora has a population of approximately 2000 and the majority of the residents are Indian since a large number of indentured labourers came to work on the sugar estate years ago. Most of the residents are Hindu, with a few being Muslim and Christian.

Several people earn their income from selling in the market, while others have small businesses in the area; some cut cane in the Leonora Estate and the rest are employed by the private and public sectors.

Children attend the Leonora Nursery and Primary Schools and then Leonora Secondary. Some of them also