Sprawled along a dam running parallel to the Canal Number Two Public Road is the village South Section. The village, which ends at the conservancy dam, has a population of approximately 2,000 residents.
The villagers are mostly of East Indian descent but come from different religious backgrounds. South Section has two churches, a mosque, a temple, the Kawall Nursery and Primary schools, the Canal Number Two NDC and a health centre. The main occupation is farming.
The World Beyond Georgetown caught up with farmer Dhanraj Shivcharan just as he was headed out to have a drink with a few of his buddies.
Shivcharan, a former postman, left his job to take up farming full time as he saw it to be more profitable. Born and raised in South Section, Shivcharan said his grandparents who came to Guyana from India settled there many years ago. Growing up meant a life spent in the backdam. He toiled beside his parents and grandparents and sought time for pleasurable things to do also. “We used to go and picnic in the backdam. We went fishing. We used to plant farm and catch fish same time,” said the 52-year-old man, reminiscing about boyhood days. He attended the Kawall Primary School situated not so far away from his home.
His farm extends from beyond his house into the backdam. He plants celery, pumpkin, cucumber and calaloo which he sells wholesale to vendors from Canal Number Two. According to him, the
