For 42-year-old Bibi Abrams, the memories of her final moments with her husband, 54-year-old Mark Abrams of No. 53 Village, Corentyne Berbice have become both a source of comfort and unbearable pain.
Mark, who died in the tragic sinking of the MV Barima, will be laid to rest on Tuesday, bringing a heartbreaking chapter to a close for the family he leaves behind.
The couple shared a 10-year relationship and raised one child together. Bibi, a mother of eight who works as a cook at a local shop, said she lovingly prepared Mark’s meals before every trip, knowing the demanding nature of his work.
“I get up and cook five roti, saltfish, seasoned chicken and a big bottle of water. I always tell him, ‘Make sure you eat because when you’re on the boat you don’t sleep and you don’t eat.’ I always wanted to make sure he left with enough food,” she recalled through tears.
She also remembered accompanying him to the Kingston Wharf before he boarded the vessel.
Their final conversation came on Saturday afternoon after Mark borrowed a phone to call her because his own cellphone had stopped working.
“He told me the boat was leaving and said he had already bought food. He told me when he reached he would borrow another phone and call me because his phone was spoiled. That was the last time I ever heard his voice,” she said.
Bibi said she learned of the tragedy in the early hours of Sunday morning when a neighbour rushed to her home shouting that the boat had sunk.
“I started trembling. I went straight on the internet and saw that something had happened in the river, but I never heard anything about my husband.”
For days, she held onto hope that he had survived.
“I kept telling myself maybe somebody rescued him. I believed he would come home alive.”
That hope ended on Wednesday when her son, who had travelled to Region One to assist in the search, identified Mark’s body.
“He called me and told me not to cry, but when he described what he saw, I knew. I knew it was him,” she said.
Mark earned a living as a trader, buying and reselling goods, and was known as a hardworking man who always found a way to provide for his family.
His death has left Bibi facing an uncertain future.
“It will be very difficult now. I have to find work to provide for my children and make sure they have three meals a day. He would always come home after every trip with whatever money he earned and we would manage together.”
Reflecting on their decade together, Bibi smiled through her grief as she remembered the simple moments that meant the most.
“When he came home and I had to go to work, he would wake up early and make bush tea for me. He would ask me what kind I wanted, and he would prepare it before I left. Those are the memories I will always hold on to.”
As family and friends prepare to say their final goodbye on Tuesday, Bibi said she will forever cherish the love, care and companionship they shared during their 10 years together, while mourning the life cut short in one of Guyana’s worst maritime tragedies.
