For many countrywomen, rearing a few fowls or sheep in the yard comes as second nature since they know the value of subsistence farming but not much of them ventures into the business on a large or even medium scale basis as Anita Sammy did. Anita made it her business in order to supplement the income of her husband and ensure that her family gets the best life possible.
Anita, a Bath Settlement West Coast Berbice native, met her husband Louis Isaacs at the age of 20 and since the duo got together, she has been rearing livestock and poultry. The mother of four now lives with her family at Tempe where her husband farms and she looks after the animals.
While growing up, Anita was always the shiest among her six siblings. She explains that it was this level of coyness that attracted her husband to her, which let to them ultimately eloping and starting a family together. At first, Louis was a labourer and would “shy paddy” or do other forms of work to take care of the family but as time progressed he was able to rent a plot of land where he farms rice now.
Anita never imagined she would love having animals around the house as much as she does now but this love was not always there since she got into the business of livestock and poultry as a means of supplementing her husband’s income.
“Since me take he (Louis) was working labourer and so and all the time I used to mine like cow, duck, fowl, goat and so. Because of how work does be that is how me start the business. This village (Tempe) the only thing you can do is plant rice or rear stock so he does plant and me does rear,” a smiling Anita told the Sunday Magazine.
Looking back to her formative years, the 48 year old said while growing up her own father did not have a stable job and after he died her mother took up the role of taking care of the family. Taking inspiration for her mother, Anita says she wants to be there to assist her husband and ensure that their family have the best life possible. 
Anita now has over 30 sheep, a number of goats, several heads of cows along with ducks, fowls and broiler chickens. This she said is able to supplement the income of her husband when they suffer a “bad crop”.
“Sometime when you plant the lil rice sometimes it doesn’t work out. Sometimes the weather nah good, the crop bad and the rent ah raise and that is just some of the problem and that is why me does mine the lil chicken and stock,” she says.
However, life has not been without challenges for Anita and her family as she recalls how a number of her cows, sheep and goats die whenever it rains. Because of the lack of proper infrastructure within the area, the animals suffer.
“When the rain falling the flood does gone with them. Lots of them does dead out. Until now the place ah flood and the animal them a dead out. With this rain nuff of the sheep get die out because of mud and the road and so on,” she says.
Anita plans to continue rearing animals for as long as she is able to since it has now moved from a necessity to a hobby. She enjoys caring for her chickens while interacting with the cows and sheep.(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
