The Cost of Living
on Fiona Craven (Guyana), 14/Dec/2011 00:08, 34 days ago
Ever wondered how much a volunteer earns here inGuyana? Brace yourself: $54,000 a month. But before you all start booking a flight to escape the recession inIreland, you might want to work out the exchange rate first, and then compare that with the cost of living over here. For although $54,000 sounds like a lot of money, it’s an art in itself to try and make it stretch. My monthly stipend here is about equivalent to €200. So I have about€6-7 a day to live on.But bare in mind that my accommodation, electricity and gas, and health care is all paid for. If I find it a challenge to make my allowance stretch, I have no idea how my colleagues manage. I recently asked a colleague in the regions how much she earns: $38,000. That has to support her and her daughter, and she has none of the VSO perks I have of free healthcare and accommodation. She, like many others, has a second job working in the market doing people’s hair and nails. Another woman I chatted with works as a cleaner in a restaurant from 6.30am-3.30pm six days a week. She earns $6,000 a week, that’s just €4 a day. Her monthly rent is $40,000. You do the maths. A driver for the ministry of health here was telling me that he earns $35,000. Out of this he spends $10,000 on electricity, $4,000 on water, $8,000 on school fees for his daughter…………He works evenings in a private taxi.Being a developing country, one might think that things here inGuyanaare extremely cheap, I know I had an expectation before I came here that it would be. But truth is, prices of many items aren’t that different to home thanks to the need to import so much.The Guyanese currency has denominations of notes worth $20, $100, $500, $1,000. There are $10, $5 and $1 coins which I just roll my eyes at when I get back as change because they’re virtually worthless. There being nothing bigger than $1,000 does make for a bulging purseHere’s a rough guide to spending inGuyana. I work on the conversion of $1,000 =€41 pound of tomatoes: $300-500 depending on the season1 regular sized pineapple: $300Rum and coke: $600Glas of wine: $1,000Loaf of bread: $270Small punnet of strawberries: $2,500Lunch of rice and curry: $500Gas bottle: $3,700Small bottle of shampoo: $1,000Yoga mat: $8,000Top to wear on a night out: $4,000Local bus ride: $60Short taxi ride: $300My bike: $17,000Cost of picking up a regular parcel in post office: $1,000 - $4,000 depending on the mood of the customs official500ml bottle of water in a shop: $2005 gallon bottle of water delivered to the house: $200CD (pirated): $300Monthly Internet: $8,000-$10,000Entrance to the circus: $3,500 (adult), $3,000 (child)Christmas gift of marble shoot: $2,700Christmas gift of Jenga: $9.450With Christmas fast approaching it’s not hard to see how this time can be a huge financial burden on families. Here in the developing world there really is a Cost of Living.