Latest update December 19th, 2024 3:22 AM
Apr 29, 2013 News
By Enid Joaquin
Quaint, tranquil Hururu is a nature lover’s paradise, with huge coconut and mango trees forming a beautiful milieu to the mostly modest homes.
But there are also a few beautiful and modern homes, except that here, the traditional and the modern coexist with none of the palpable discrimination prevalent in our urban villages.
The more modern houses are beautifully painted, with glass windows and with most of the modern conveniences of a city residence, and then there are the little shacks with thatched roofs, and just the barest of necessities. But the people all live as one.
Hururu is tucked away in the upper Berbice River. It is a small Amerindian community, which its residents fondly refer to as “the mission”.
It is also known as an Amerindian reservation, because in the past only Amerindians resided there.
Today although the community is still made up of predominantly Amerindians, it is also home to other Guyanese.
Most of the other people are spouses of Hururuians who took up residence there after getting married.
Jean Thomas, is one of them; she was not born at Hururu, but in New Amsterdam Berbice-but to her, Hururu is” home”.
“I love it here, the peace and quiet- everything.
I came here since I was fifteen years old, when I got married, and I’ve lived here ever since.”
Thomas said that she is of East Indian and Amerindian heritage, while her husband is Amerindian.
She said that when she moved to Hururu in 1984 only six families lived there.
The population has grown tremendously since then, to about six hundred families currently.
At Hururu, there is no noise pollution from snarling traffic or impatient honking horns, no garbage lining the thoroughfares- I mean thoroughfare, as there is only one, which runs parallel with the nearby River that serves as the community ‘bathroom’.
Swimming and skinny- dipping here, is a daily routine – not just a pleasurable pastime.
Here, care free children run around scantily clad, with sun burnished bodies innocently exposed, and hair flying in the wind. They play in dry docked boats- oblivious to the cares of their parents, and the world.
Hururu to the visitor is a pleasant diversion from the hustle and bustle of more developed communities.
Huge, lush mango trees line the lone thoroughfare of earth, stamped solid by traversing feet, which is the only traffic, apart from the occasional bicycle or motorcycle.
Villagers or visitors to the community have to disembark from other modes of transport at the ‘head’ of the village, as the bridges encompassing the two creeks can only accommodate pedestrians or cyclists.
People of Hururu live a simple life, depending mostly on the nearby forest for their livelihood, which is logging. A few are employed with the bauxite Company at Aroaima (RUSAL).
The children receive their early education at the Hururu Nursery and Primary schools, while some of the older ones attend the Hururu Academy, and a few go to schools at Aroaima or Kwakwani.
Both the schools at Hururu, along with the Head teacher’s residence and the community Health Centre, sit in a fenced compound, which is adorned by a huge mango tree.
People of Hururu are friendly, though somewhat reserved.
The village Toshao, Winsbert Benjamin, is a soft spoken and unassuming Amerindian.
But all is not well at Hururu. Residents are concerned that one of their main sources of income, which is logging, is under threat, because of the mining taking place there.
One youth who is engaged in logging, pointed out during a recent interview, “If they (RUSAL) continue mining at this rate, soon we wouldn’t have logs to harvest!
But bauxite mining is important to the residents of Hururu too, as quite a few of its residents are employed with RUSAL.
However that did not stop them from protesting the activities of RUSAL recently, by blocking the road and river, after the company stopped them from using the main thoroughfare to get to their logging concessions.
Residents have meanwhile proposed that RUSAL establish five wells in their community, as they have no potable water.
They are also concerned about the high cost of electricity, which is $53.78 per KWH, and are seeking to have the company grant them free electricity, or at least at a cheaper rate.
Dec 19, 2024
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