Surama Village

Here are a couple of shots of the village. Surama is an Amerindian village of about 260 people, 60 of whom are children. They have had visionary leaders who are trying to develop a sustainable income without changing their communal and community life too much. They are in the initial stages of development and there are many pros and cons to the exercise.
Many of the houses are like benabs made of the Ite palm leaves which are beautifully shady and cool and keep out the rain well. They last about 5 years before they need replacing. The village is quite spread out but families live close to each other so there are often grandparents parents and children in separate houses within close proximity to each other. The Sways, the Captains, the Josephs or the Allicocks for example. The money for the village comes from eco-tourism. They just got satellite email in September and there are no phones just a satellite connection like a two way radio twice a day into the next town. They govern themselves via a council which meets regularly and makes decisions concerning the village. They like everyone are experiencing the difficulties of reaching consensus with both young folks and the elders. However so far they seem to be doing an OK job. They live in the savannah on the edge of the rain forest and I must say it was a much plasanter climate for me than Georgetown. In fact because there is often a breeze I was actually chill for the first time since leaving Canada.