Bethany Village is a

mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

located on the Araburia River, a tributary three miles up the

Supenaam River Supenaam is a port village located in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region of Guyana. Supenaam is home to the ferry across the Essequibo River to Parika. The ferry is the main link between the western half of Guyana and the eastern half. Overview Supenaa ...

Pomeroon-Supenaam Pomeroon-Supenaam (Region 2) is a region of Guyana. Venezuela claims the territory as part of Guayana Esequiba. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the north, the region of Essequibo Islands-West Demerara to the east, the region of Cuyuni-Mazaruni ...

, Essequibo in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

Overview

Bethany is an

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

settlement that started as a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

community, and derived its name from the bible. The main access to the coast is via the Supenaam River to the Town of

Supenaam Supenaam is a port village located in the Pomeroon-Supenaam region of Guyana. Supenaam is home to the ferry across the Essequibo River to Parika. The ferry is the main link between the western half of Guyana and the eastern half. Overview Supenaa ...

, but there is also an airstrip located 1 mile from the centre of the community. Bethany is next to another Amerindian Village, Mashabo. Settlement began in the 1880s due to the close proximity to the forest for logging, as well as a nearby Dutch sawmill at the time. Logging continues to be important for the village. Small scale farming is done, producing bora, pak choi, eddo, yam, plantain and pumpkin, but capturing of wild life is prohibited.

Public services

Bethany has a primary and nursery school, community centre, recreational park, health centre, an airstrip, a Seventh-Day Adventist Church. It also has a Seventh-Day denominated medical missionary college. Travel to the village is by boat, and Guyana Adventist Medical Aviation Service provides flights for medical emergencies. Snakes are prevalent in and around the village, and have been known to take off with domesticated animals of Bethany residents.

References

{{Settlements in Guyana Populated places in Pomeroon-Supenaam Indigenous villages in Guyana