By Mariah Lall With photos by Keno George
Whether it’s relaxing with old friends on a cool afternoon or playing a friendly game of draughts with someone from another generation, life in Little Diamond is laid back.
Positioned between the villages of Prospect and Great Diamond on the East Bank Demerara, Little Diamond is everything its name suggests and then some.
Even though commuters may tend to overlook the little village as they traverse the East Bank Highway on a daily basis, it really is the perfect example of life away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
With countless coconut trees bearing some of the sweetest water coconuts in the country and the cool breeze from the nearby Demerara River, Little Diamond is a perfect little hideaway equipped with all of the modern day necessities.
For Doreen Jeetlall, who is known by fellow villagers as ‘Aunty Doreen’, and a resident of Little Diamond for almost half a century, the community has always been a wonderful place to live.
Now 74 years old, she has been able to watch the village develop over the years and jumped at the opportunity to share her insight on life in the area.
When she first moved to Little Diamond, Aunty Doreen said, “…All the houses were little cottages, where ordinary country folk lived….we had no highfalutin people in here.
“When I first came here, people used to hang their underwear right on their front fence, but the people around here have since moved up. I don’t see anybody hanging underwear on the fence anymore,” she quipped.
Aunty Doreen gave The World Beyond Georgetown a brief history on the village’s longstanding church, which can be seen from the highway.
