Linette Greenidge - Senior audit clerk: ‘For me this will be my first Christmas away from my parents since I got married. It’s my first Christmas away from my family so it will be a whole different something. And it has changed a lot because my mother normally does all the shopping and now I have to do it on my own. I shopped for my parents this Christmas. It’s good in a sense but it’s very costly because I like nice things. What is keeping me in high spirits though is that the country is in a bad state economically but I thank God that I had the money to do my shopping for the season. The season is shaping up good. Christ is the reason for the season and many people are just shopping crazy and they are not remembering Jesus. For me Christmas is a big event on the calendar because of the birth of Christ. It’s like we are preparing for the birthday of Christ. My preparation is going fairly okay and I have almost completely finished my shopping. I have to bake cake and all the other necessary meals for Christmas. My mother will be helping me with the pepperpot. As to the crime situation, to be honest, I really can’t say. There may be a little disturbance for Christmas but I am hoping for the best.’

Davanand Barclay - businessman: ‘Well, right now plans are not going too well because of the crisis. It has really slowed down business. You are finding that it is hard to get a sale now because people are hardly buying even during the Christmas season. It’s just going slow. So we don’t really have too much of a plan. We are just hoping to have a quiet holiday at home because of the situation. I will not be having too much of expectations.’

Shawn McBean - teacher: ‘Well, I’m trying to pull things together to see what will happen for the holidays. I only got paid today and it’s very hard to do planning without the money. I actually live in Berbice and as far as plans go I plan to go out and walk on Christmas Eve night. We normally go in the town area in Corriverton where there is usually a lot of people around. I will go to church on Christmas day and on Old Year’s night, nothing big. I am not the kind of person who sports a lot but even as the Semester is over you blow your mind a little and prepare for the next.’

Roshelle Daziel - teacher: ‘It’s coming along quite okay. I am trying not to overspend because we don’t know what next year holds for us, you got to be prepared. Right now I am just shopping for a few items, I am now beginning and I expect to be finished by tomorrow.
There is also a lot of preparation at my church. We have a Christmas pageant but other than that I don’t really have any special plans. Really we do not want to get too caught up in terms of preparations because we don’t want to forget the true meaning of Christmas. People tend to forget the true meaning of Christmas, which is celebrating the birth of our savior. Basically I plan on spending a quiet holiday at home with my friends and family. And because I am a teacher and a student at the University of Guyana I plan on enjoying every bit of the holiday because soon it would be over.’

Christa Branker - receptionist: ‘Well, for me Christmas is not anything big. It’s just another normal thing, like any other normal day. My special plans? Work! When it’s all said and done it’s just like your birthday, it comes and the most people do is spend a lot of money. Then when the New Year comes you are in a situation. Just meeting with my friends from school, and getting together. That’s the only thing nice about it.’

Vanessa Campbell - student: ‘Preparation is coming good, it’s coming along alright. But we haven’t really planned anything much, maybe the day before Christmas. The thing is that right now my husband is just working all the time and it’s only me and our two children at home and with what is happening right now, the crime situation, we are scared to come out of the house. Only in August people broke and entered the house.’

Rudolph Singh - guard/ gardener: ‘My wife is doing a lot of preparation. I am hoping to carry the kids to see Santa on Monday and I will be buying gifts. I am just hoping that I could maybe get away from work. I work for two different sets of people and I might have to work on Christmas Day. I usually spend that day at home with my family, I don’t go anywhere. It’s only if anybody comes over that we might have a get together... you know if friends and relatives come over. But I might not get a chance because my bosses made arrangements for me to work and now they are out of the country and I might have to work. I am now just hoping that I can get somebody to work for me.’

Shawyna Yaw - teacher: ‘For me things are going a bit slow because a lot of money is not circulating right now. For me I am just relaxed right now, you know how Guyanese people like waiting until the last minute. I am not really doing anything special, just home with family. Normally I don’t have anything special planned for Christmas besides that.’

Indar Singh - maintenance: ‘Preparations are going good. They’re beautiful. The fun for me is actually seeing the atmosphere during the Christmas season, seeing the decorations on the houses and just enjoying everything with your friends. As for the crime situation, I am a Christian and for me I believe that these things will happen, it’s written that these things will come to pass. But everybody is thinking of Christmas and nobody is thinking about what the season is all about. It’s about keeping your life in tune with the lord. Our special plan for Christmas morning is just going to the service at church.’