Stabroek News last week visited the small East Coast village, one of several areas constantly under threat of attack, and found that the instances of crime had had one good effect in bringing residents closer together, since they literally had to be each other’s keepers.

One resident, who had her windows smashed and valuables carted off during an August 28 attack by about 15 masked men, told this newspaper that it was the recent birth of her grandchild that had brought some life and laughter back into her home.

Last year, she was awakened at about 3 am to the sound of her neighbour’s window being smashed, but before she knew it, her home was also being invaded. Her three children were made to lie on the floor as heavily armed men demanded money. In the end, the bandits carted off $3,000, a tape recorder and a pair of shoes.

Today, the woman has grilled her entire home and admits that she only feels safe when indoors.

“It is much safer, but still you don’t venture out too late, because you could never tell...About a week after [the robbery] I grilled the house and I feel much safer when I am inside, because don’t mind who come and call, I don’t really get up to come outside...I still feel a bit uneasy sometimes when you see people lurking around [but] I am getting over it and trying to move on. Then I got a grandchild and that bring a little life into the house, because everybody playing with baby now, so you don’t really think about it much.”

The woman said that although the recent killing of some criminals corresponded with the reduction of the crime rate, she would not say that this was the end.

“I do not know if they were directly involved...Like the kidnappings, you don’t hear about them so much like before, maybe they [the bandits killed recently] were not doing the direct job, but then they had people contributing.”

Although some semblance of normal life has returned to the community, there are still a few petty thieves around who now concentrate on stealing poultry or anything left unattended in the night.

Unlike 10 months ago, grills secure most homes in the now developing scheme. Some residents, who had left in a hurry, have still not returned, but according to the neighbours, those persons said they would be back eventually.

“One woman moved out and she never come back in the village, just come and check on the house and go back...Another one who witnessed [the attack] left, but said she is coming back. This area was like a ghost with this house lock up, that house lock up, but I was not prepared to go anywhere. I did not move out because I said thief man deh all over, not only up here,” said Penny, another Non Pariel resident.

Like for many other residents, the bandits capitalized on her lax security and held her at gunpoint through her window while they forced one of her young daughters to open the door. The bandits who had swarmed her yard, identified themselves as soldiers, but inside they started to loot, carting off some cash, a CD player, her cellular phone, shoes and other items. It was a life-changing experience for Penny, but she too has admitted feeling much safer today.

“Before, everybody used to mind their own business, but after [the attack] everybody would come together, sit and chat...it bring the neighbours a little closer,” the woman told Stabroek News.

Three days after the incident, Penny grilled her entire house. Touching on the recent shooting deaths of several wanted men, the woman is convinced that most of the men who launched the attack in Non Pariel some ten months ago are dead.

“Those who [were] in my house were teenagers just like those boys [who were killed on June 4 in Friendship]...But I believe that the big ones like Shawn Brown were the masterminds behind it. Like these lil’ boys were working with them and Inspector Gadget [Premkumar Sukraj] was one of them, but I can’t let that bring me down. It [the crime wave] ease down a lot and we are not as afraid as before.”

The Lilliah family expressed the same sentiments, but according to Mrs. Lilliah, she has had some trouble sleeping ever since the attack.

“Sometimes most nights I ain’t really sleep...still peeping, looking. The trauma is still within me and the hour that they came in on me, I does still wake that same hour. But since these people died, it is a bit more safer.”

It was their tools that the bandits stole to beat other residents.

Since the attack, the woman said she spent a few nights at her sister-in-law, but returned home after her husband asked her how long she intended to run. One businesswoman, who had moved out of her home for two weeks, told this newspaper that upon her return, she was heartened to find that women had taken up the mantle and formed a vigilante group. “They keep watch one half of the night and then the men come.”