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From Shadow Minister of Local Government and Regional Development
Today, 7th November is National Day of Villages. It marks the 183rd anniversary of Victoria. Victoria is the first village bought by former enslaved persons, our ancestors.
Victoria, our first village and the purchase is significant in our folklore, literature and history. As you know William Pilgrim had created the musical, “The Purchase” and several writers, including Brian Moore, Rawle Farley and Alan Adamson, had written about the importance of the event which took place on the 7th November, 1839.
On that day, 83 men and women collected their money in coins and in a wheelbarrow brought bags of coins 30 kilometres from what was then Plantation Northbrook to Georgetown. But that move by the 83 pioneers was significant for several reasons: For them it marked a break from the period of enslavement; the world system of bondage is modern human history. Many of them were illiterate, but one thing they knew was that they wanted their liberty, and that liberty was not found on the plantations.
The picture below shows Region 3 Councillors Perry Birbal from the APNU+AFC side and Leotha Watson from the PPP/C side embracing each other. This was 7th November, 2017. The talk about a unified Guyana under the umbrella of One People, One Nation, One Destiny is not a now thing.
![The vote is the result of a long campaign in a country that remained divided on the issue. [Flor Guzzetti/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/villagevoicenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/vote.png?resize=350%2C250&ssl=1)
