SUBJECT: How People Live in the Bush
AUTHOR: Lina Gates, Age 15, lives with her parents, one sister and two brothers, and cousins in the village of Kaikan, Guyana, near the Venezuelan border.
DATE: March 3, 1997

The other day I was in the school helping the teacher. She asked me to paint some paper red; I guess she needed it for something. She gave me the paint. Then I looked around for some paint brushes. To my surprise the teacher handed me the piece of a stem. It was about the size of my little finger both in length and diameter. I looked at her questioningly. She smiled and took it back. Then she beat the end with a nearby object. The end was crushed to form little bristles. I was really impressed because it painted perfectly. Afterwards, the teacher showed me the bushes outside where the stem came from.

[Plant uses]

How to use Coconut Leaves

A few days later the teacher announced that each student was supposed to bring a coconut branch to school. Baffled, I awaited patiently to find out why. The next day a group of kids took their chairs outside and began to work with the coconut branches. When I got a chance I went out to see them. They were stripping the leaves off and leaving the hard, thin, midrib (center). This they gathered together to make a broom. It looks exactly like the bottom of a normal 'straw' broom. The broom doesn't have a handle, you just hold the bunch of 'sticks' and sweep. It works quite well. Another thing they do here is cut their own wood to build houses. Several men at a time will get in a canoe (handmade out of tree trunks) and go down river. Then they will walk into to the forest with a chain saw until they find some nice huge trees. Then they cut the tree down. They dip

[Thatch Roof Huts]

Thatch Roof Huts

a string in burnt oil and then snap it across the length of the log to mark where they're going to cut. After that, one man will use the chainsaw to cut even pieces. The result is remarkably well cut boards.

Every man will take about two boards and make his way back to the canoe. Sometimes they have to go down steep, muddy inclines with the heavy boards. When they finally reach the canoe they stack the boards inside and head for home. Once home they use their cutlasses (machetes) to square the wood. Then they set the boards underneath a roof to dry. In the end they can use the boards to build. Because of the amount of trouble it takes to get boards, and because there is only one person in the village who really knows how to build houses, the majority of the people just use bark to build their houses. They beat it out to make the wall. For the roof they use grass or beaten out drums (barrels) which sometimes float down the river.

Children also make use their surroundings to invent ingenious games. One time a group of kids

[Pet Bee]

How to fly a bug

tied a string to a bug. Whenever the bug would fly, they would follow it around and pull the string. It provided quite a bit of entertainment. Another game is to make little propellers out of scraps of wood. The children will then take turns running down the path with the propeller in front of them. The wind turns it rapidly and they enjoy it so much.

I suppose my list could go on forever. But there are very important lessons to be learnt:
1. The more we have, the more we take for granted.
2. Many times real joy can come from simple things.
3. No matter what situation you're in, you can look around. Make use of your surroundings.

You may write to Lina at: gates@andrews.edu

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Last Updated: March 10, 1997