Swan, situated off the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, is an Amerindian community that is home to approximately 415 people. It is mainly accessed through the Marudi Road though there are shortcut trails leading to it.
The village chairman is Norbert Charles, who was appointed interim chairman in 2012 and elected in 2015. He is the first resident to have moved to Swan; his home village was Kamwatta in the North West District, Region One. Many Swan residents are from Region one.
Prior to moving, Charles worked as an oil palm harvester at the Wauna Estate. He was sent for training at Dora in the Demerara River and later he and his family settled in a squatting area just beyond One Mile. His was one of 27 families who squatted here and later approached the then Ministry of Amerindian Affairs for assistance. Then Minister Carolyn Rodrigues approached the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission in 2004 and Swan—a 40-acre plot—was identified as the area for them. Charles and his family took up residence in 2007. The other 26 families followed in 2011 after benefiting from Food for the Poor houses. Over time, 52 more families joined them and the village is now packed to capacity. Besides those arriving from the North West District, there are families who would have arrived from Morakobai in Mahaicony, Region Five and Georgetown. Of the 79 families who now reside in Swan, 65 of their homes were built by Food for the Poor. Houses have a single solar panel that is barely enough to provide lights.
