Guyana Chronicle PepperPot 10-21-2018

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Ayana Alexis Fable

Focus reaps success

Lawyer, Ayana Fable tells her story

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Cassandra Chu Simplicity that stands out

By Dominique Hunter AT just 27 years old, Cassandra Chu is carving out her niche as a creative practitioner whose distinctive works vary from beautiful paintings inspired by Impressionism to one-of-a-kind leather works and exquisite semi-precious gemstone jewellery. And although at the surface level these disciplines might appear to be completely unrelated to each other, Chu has managed to link them (both in theory and in practice) so that a certain level of cohesiveness is evident, regardless of the physical form the artwork eventually takes.

But long before she made the decision to focus on those specific subject areas, she was involved in a different kind of creative expression altogether.

It was through Bravo Arts (the popular local face painting and body art company) that the former St John’s College student got her start some nine years ago. She admitted that at the time they were all largely selftaught and self-directed, relying mostly on the guidance of various online resources.

And, it was after being exposed to the endless possibilities, that the medium presented that her desire to learn more about the technical aspects of art intensified.

What followed seemed a natural shift towards a more formal type of training and the decision to enroll at the E.R. Burrowes School of Art, for the institution’s one-year painting programme. After having successfully completed the course, she was encouraged by the school’s administrator to return for the diploma programme. She eagerly took up the new challenge and just recently completed the three-year course, graduating as one of the first jewellery majors the school has produced in recent years.

Reminiscing on her time spent at the institution, the young artist admitted that there was certainly no shortage of challenges. In fact, at the time of her enrolment, she was struggling to find a balance between having a job and the decision to pursue her studies full-time. She stated that eventually, the workload became so overwhelming that she was forced to sacrifice her job and put her art education first. And although this decision should have lightened, her schedule revealed that it was still incredibly difficult adjusting to the school’s intense curriculum.

Drawing, for example, was the one course, in particular, she admits was never her strong suit. But in spite of the difficulties she initially encountered with the subject, she persisted and managed to attain a level of proficiency she now feels satisfied with.

She went on to explain that although there are many introductory courses that may feel quite burdensome initially, they are incredibly beneficial to almost any art career in the long run. However, she is of the opinion that the

school could do even more by introducing a course that would prepare young artists to transition smoothly from art student to art professional. In this way, they would not only be less likely to fall victim to undervaluing their work but they would also be better equipped to market their work at the local, regional and international levels.

“The art school equips you with so much knowledge and skills but what they don’t do is teach you the business aspect of it,” she stated.

Elaborating on her art-making process, Chu explained that hers is one that begins with research and a mood board.

Once these have started to take shape, a series of sketches to pull together a cohesive piece of work would usually follow.

However, as with most persons in any creative discipline, things don’t always go according to plan. In those moments when she’s experiencing an artist’s block for whatever reason, she disclosed that her best bet is to be patient and wait for

that Van Gogh found relief in painting his various subjects, she has also found a way to use her artwork as a coping mechanism to deal with the challenges that accompany the “up and down” nature of her personality, as she describes it.

Although it is quite evident that another major source of her inspiration (particularly in her jewellery) is linked to the culture of Guyana’s Indigenous peoples, Chu insisted that she wouldn’t necessarily describe her

before the finished works of art could be realised. Very often during the course of her studies at the art school, her creative output would be limited due to the scarcity of good quality leather hides in the preferred shade. Nevertheless, she has found ways to work around those challenges, adjusting her plans to suit whenever possible.

She expressed a sincere appreciation for the public’s response to her work as the first graduating student to major in jewellery making in recent years. With the momentum that has since built up following her graduation exhibition, she is hopeful a newer and even more impressive

artwork as being “quintessentially Indigenous.” Instead, she explained that while she acknowledges the simplicity of their lifestyle and their oneness with nature as the foundation for her own art production, she takes it a step further by using her personal style and sensibilities to reflect those same qualities. She describes her work as “nature-based,” particularly in the use of organic materials as well as design motifs and finishing techniques.

Chu also has an equally impressive portfolio of paintings and leather works.

But she revealed that these present an entirely different set of challenges long it to pass.

“With artist’s block sometimes there’s nothing you can do but wait it out. You just take a break and don’t try to force it.

Some persons would try to induce it by saying ‘I’ll just do it until the feeling comes.’ But for me that can’t happen. Most times I just have to wait it out,” she said.

Chu credits a major source of her inspiration to the works of the late Post-Impressionist Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. In addition to his signature style (heavily textured brushstrokes and use of vivid colour), she revealed that his personal story is one that has resonated deeply with her. In the same manner

body of work would soon materialise. But before settling down to produce her own jewellery line, she is optimistic about one day working with an already established manufacturer to gain more experience in the field.

Her advice to anyone who might be considering pursuing any kind of formal art training is simple: “You have to make sure it’s what you want to do. It has to be your passion because you’re going to run into a lot of obstacles. And if you don’t really want it then it will be easy for you to give up. So you have to make sure that it’s exactly what you want. That will be your drive to keep going,” she insisted.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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‘They supported me’ The importance of a loving support system when fighting cancer

Jessica (left) and Christine Jardim (Photo courtesy of Christine Jardim)

By Gibron Rahim CANCER profoundly impacts the lives of those diagnosed. But the disease does not only affect the life of the patient. The families and friends of patients are also affected by seeing their loved one suffering and oftentimes feeling powerless to help. Yet, these same ones do not give in to despair.

Rather, they act as sources of strength and support as their loved ones battle cancer.

Christine Jardim was initially given no reason to fear regarding breast cancer. It was in 2013 that she found a lump on her breast.

She immediately proceeded to the doctor who sent Christine to get the lump tested.

The results ruled the growth as benign. Then, two years later, Christine was performing a breast self-examination when she found another lump. “I spoke to a friend and she advised me to go to Trinidad,” she recalled. “I went there and they did a lumpectomy.” The lump was then taken for testing, the results of which Christine had to wait for.

Christine finally received word. The results of testing were conclusive – the lump was cancerous. “Could you imagine receiving news like that?” she asked. She described being frozen and unable to think. She told the Pepperpot Magazine that she could not believe it was happening to her. “Most times when we hear ‘cancer’ we think of it as a death sentence,” she explained. She related that she was fortunate to have her daughter

Jessica with her the day she received her diagnosis. “She said, ‘We will go through this, we’ll go through it together. We have to be positive’,” Christine recalled.

Christine returned to Trinidad where she underwent a mastectomy on her right breast as well as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. “I did eight sessions of chemo and 14 radiation [therapy sessions],” said Christine.

“Those were hard times,” she related. “You get different feelings.” She began to lose her hair by her second session of chemotherapy which she said was another shock to her.

Christine prayed a lot during the year she underwent treatment. Importantly as well, “My husband, my kids and my friends they were there for me, they supported me during that time,” she said. “And I think that is what you need.” She attributes the love they shared with her during that time as the source of strength that allowed her to endure.

That kind of support is important, according to Christine. She emphasised, “The main thing is you have to support each other, you have to be there for that person,” as they endure the many changes the body undergoes during treatment. “I thank God that I’m here today and I can share my story with others and encourage others to get themselves checked,” Christine affirmed. Christine’s cancer was at Stage Two when she was diagnosed. She encourages a yearly checkup to allow early detection.

Christine has a family history of cancer.

She related that it is present on her maternal grandmother’s side of the family. However, it skipped her mother and she is the only one among her sisters to have developed breast cancer. Despite her family history, Christine was still blindsided by her diagnosis. “No, never, I never thought of it,” she said, of her consideration of the possibility of cancer given that her relatives had developed the disease.

Her husband would sometimes travel with her for her treatments in Trinidad but it was most often Christine’s daughter, Jessica, who accompanied her. Though she recalled that she would often not feel like eating afterwards, Jessica ensured that her mother ate.

“My husband was very supportive,” Christine noted as well. “He said, ‘It doesn’t matter what, I am there for you’,” she recalled.

He told her it did not matter what happened, the most important thing was that she had life. Even though there were times during treatment when she was moody, her husband understood. “I give him a lot of credit for that,” Christine said. “He was supportive, he was there 100 per cent,” as was her son.

Christine currently has checkups every six months. She related that she still feels fear that the cancer will return. “You try to be positive but in your mind, somewhere there, you know there’s a possibility that [the cancer] could come back,” she explained. The wait for the results of her checkups is always an anxious time. “But when you get through that, you say ‘thank God’ again.”

Jessica’s first reaction to the news her mother had cancer was shock. “You feel like you’re having this sort of out of body

experience,” she explained. After accepting the situation her next reaction was to be strong for her mother. She recalled saying to herself, “If I trip out and start to cry and all these things then she won’t have anybody that she could lean on.” It was difficult, she said, but she came to realise that it was not the end of the world. The type of positive person her mother is made the situation easier to cope with.

The loved ones of cancer patients undeniably need the support of their own as well.

For Jessica that was her now-husband. At the time she had recently gotten engaged. “I had nobody else to turn to except for him,” she said. She clarified, “I have friends and so on but he was the closest to me.” She went home to him and cried for hours when she found out her mother’s diagnosis. “He was there for me through everything,” Jessica affirmed.

She would fearfully wonder if he would leave her, given how often she would be out of the country with her mother during her treatment. “No, he was there every step of the way,” she said, not just for her but for her brother, father and mother as well. “We’re a very close family and going through this experience just made us closer.”

Christine’s words of advice for those going through the same struggle with cancer she went through is to be positive. “Get your treatment and you will be okay,” she said. “Have your friends and your loved ones around you.” Positivity, she said, is very important. She encouraged that they share their stories “When we share that’s when we learn so much more and there’s somebody out there to help us.”

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

My bittersweet visit to the Mazaruni Prison was appropriate and uplifting. He was not depressed as I thought he would have been.

I guess that he has come to terms with his fate of having to live a quarter of a century behind bars, during the prime of his life, and away from family, colleagues and friends, and denied the opportunity to do the regular things which he did on a daily basis for many years.

It was somewhat difficult for me since I found it hard to come to terms that this person I knew, was capable of committing such a dastardly crime. I would certainly have recused myself had I been selected to sit on the jury which convicted him. Because of a pending appeal, I would not share any more of the conversation that we had, but it is safe to say that he is doing well and an exemplary prisoner, accepting his fate and doing the work assigned to him as he goes from day to day, in an environment which is so different from what he was accustomed to, and no doubt, longing for the day when he is set free.

A briefing before the team headed out into the field. (Photo by F.Q. Farrier)

By Francis Quamina Farrier AFTER all protocol was established and the necessary paperwork completed by the Prison Headquarters on Brickdam, in Georgetown for my visit to the 170 plusyear-old Mazaruni Prison, I turned up on what can only be described as being at the right place at the right time.

THE BITTER OF THE VISIT: My principal purpose of going to the Mazaruni Prison, a few weeks ago, was to pay a humanitarian visit to an incarcerated former colleague of mine, who is serving a 25-year sentence for a crime he claims he did not commit.

Allan Howard (not his real name), was arrested, charged and convicted in the Guyana High Court, as he continued to claim his innocence. The sentence fitted the crime; the rape of a young teenage girl. But is he really guilty as a jury of his peers concluded?

The truth is known by himself, the alleged victim, and maybe a few other individuals.

When the sentence of 25-years behind bars

was handed down by the Judge, ‘Allan Howard’ wept uncontrollably in the court. Was that so because he was really innocent? Only a very few persons, including the alleged victim, knows the truth.

I was not present at the trial, but on hearing of the sentence handed down when the guilty verdict was announced, I decided that I will visit him in prison as soon as possible.

Arriving at the Mazaruni Prison, I was still uncertain what I would say to my former colleague when we met- whether I would be able to ask him that direct question; “Did you rape that young girl?”This was going to be a very difficult visit for me. But I felt that this visit was necessary, on humanitarian grounds. We are advised by the Master to visit the imprisoned, among other acts of compassion.

I have visited the Mazaruni Prison on a number of occasions over the past 40 years, but never to visit an inmate. It was new territory for me. When ‘Allan Howard’ arrived in my presence, we first greeted each other with a tight hug. He smiled. I cried. We talked for about 15 minutes, sharing what

ing of fish in a big way.

The Mazaruni Prison is located on high ground above the river, and as such does not suffer from floods. The rearing of livestock and cultivating of fruits and vegetables abound at the Mazaruni Prison; Cows, pigs and goats, chickens and ducks, also a wide variety of greens are cultivated at that location. During the visit, I observed six new cottages which I was told are to accommodate staffers.

In a brief on-site interview at the end of the visit, the Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, expressed his satisfaction with the day’s tour and said, “I am exceedingly thankful for the technical advice we have received today”. He also mentioned the over-tapping of the location river defence which is to be given the necessary attention.

The future of Lot 12 Camp Street On a related issue of the future of the Prison Service in Guyana, I have been interviewing citizens, both at home and abroad, as regards the future of Lot 12 Camp Street, since its destruction by arson. About 92 per

The Prison Director at the Mazaruni Prison explains the task the prisoners in the background are engaged in. (Photo by F.Q. Farrier)

THE ‘SWEET’ OF THE VISIT Fortunately for me as a journalist, there was a high-level official team visiting the Mazaruni Prison that very day of my visit, including the Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels, who graciously allowed me to tag along with the official visiting team as they toured the facility. The team included experts from some government ministries, who were there to see conditions at first hand and to share their expert advice on the areas which were targeted for improvement and expansion. The team included Dawn Jordan of the Georgetown Prison, Fisheries Officer Jagwantie Doolall, Veterinarian Dr. Dexter Lyken, Agricultural Officer Maple Blades and Amias Benjamin.

The principal areas they looked at were the various agricultural projects at the prison. First, we toured the cow pens where there are a variety of animals. They all looked very healthy. So, too, the pig pens in which there were some really large swine.

The principal new development now in the works, is a large fish pond. During the tour, measurements were taken at the area identified for that new venture for the rear-

cent of those who I interviewed, expressed the view that the facility at Lot 12 Camp Street should not be rebuilt. Many suggest that a new prison should be constructed away from the city of Georgetown. When asked where a new prison should be constructed, most of those with whom I spoke, suggested somewhere along the Soesdyke/ Linden Highway.

Another concern expressed by those with whom I interviewed, is the need for a stricter code for applicants who desire to join the Guyana Prison Service. “There are just too many rogue Prison Officers in the Prison Service today,” was the expressed view of a citizen. A small number advanced the view, that there is enough land in Mazaruni to construct a new prison, to accommodate prisoners with short sentences,who are usually sent to Lot 12 Camp Street in Georgetown and to Lusignan on the East Coast Demerara.

With the many instances of banned items and illegal substances being taken to Lot 12 and Lusignan, maybe that suggestion of those two prisons being transferred to the Mazaruni location might be given serious consideration.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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Is school bullying really on the rise?

School bullies operate in buses, on the streets and right in the classroom

By M Margaret Burke SCHOOL bullies are not just children attending schools; they are in every opportune position where they can negatively affect the lives of these young ones. While some of the bullies are actually in the school system, others may be recent dropouts; crisscrossing schools to do mischief; truants; and generally young people who may have no problem making others uncomfortable or breaking the law.

Dolly Murphy (only last name real), who is a 15-year-old, told the Pepperpot Magazine, “I feel that our schools should get many more school mentors, who are able to understand children and also talk to them much more because I believe that some children have real problems and really need help. I attend a school in Campbellville and so I have to travel by bus to come to school every day and wow, it is not easy at all!”

She continued, “Even though I am from a single-parent home, my mother helps me

ever present in the home and would neglect him, his mother and his siblings financially and otherwise.

Jones pointed out that the boys in school love to do deliberate ‘tripping’ – causing others to fall or stumble and then they have a good laugh; he said that they also use ‘accidental’ or open kicking of other boys they feel they can take advantage of; teasing, name-calling, insults, especially about a loved one such as sister, aunty or mother; they also terrorise others in all forms of bullying that are being used in the school system.

It was reported that while some of the situations are quite similar with the girls, there seems to be a trend where ‘girl fights’ tend to happen at a faster rate and sadly this occurs mainly over ‘the boys’. In addition, many of the girls end up in ‘war’ over gossiping; exerting control over other girls who may seem physically and or mentally weaker, while generally practising many of the same bullying tactics the boys follow.

Bullying can rob a child of his or her future; get involved and stop it

to be strong – she would talk to me, ask me questions and always, always encourage me, and that is what has been making me strong and not afraid of those children who are out here as bullies all the time; they are on the streets; they are on the buses; they are in the schoolyard and even in the classroom, but I stay strong,” Murphy stated.

Lionel Jones (only last name real), who attends a school on Woolford Avenue told the Pepperpot Magazine that he feels that a lot the bullying is coming from his school, or at least from children within the “Avenue”, as he puts it.

“You wouldn’t believe it. I think that sometimes the teachers are fed up of complaints, and the thing is, that they don’t know everything because a lot of times children do not go to them to talk because they are afraid,” he said. “I am about to finish school since I came here after writing the SSEE in 2013. I got set back in one class, but that is okay because I will still soon write the CXC examinations and I am writing seven subjects because I feel that I can handle all of them well. However, from the time I came here in 2013, until now the bullying has not changed.

I am young but sometimes I feel that something is wrong with too many of us young people,” Jones offered.

He said that he too came out of a single-parent home, even though his mother is married; he explained that his father is hardly

ELECTRONIC DEVICE Jade Agustin (only last name real), another student who attends school in Campbelville, stated that parents should be wary of giving their children the best smartphone and other electronic devices to carry to school.

“Unless they are a bad boy or bad girl, they suffer at the hands of the other students.

You should see what other students do to them with their phones – the expensive phones that their parents buy; they have to put in the credit for the other ‘bully’ student to make calls; some of them have to allow them to have the phone all day and only get it back when they are ready to go home; others may borrow their phone and then tell them that they had it in their bag and it ‘loss’ and then they cannot do anything, except to go home and tell their parents that the phone ‘loss’,” she explained.

GENERAL AGREEMENT All the students spoken withheld strong views against bullying; at the same time, each one of them felt that there should be more involvement of parents, the school welfare officers, mentors, peer groups and also teachers.

“It is my humble opinion that school bullies cannot be completely gotten rid of; there will always be some of them around.

However, I believe that this situation can be changed for the better. I think that it is worth a try – involve the peer groups with all the other

An image of a child's bullish behaviour from his peers at school

adults and see what can happen. Too many school children are going down the wrong road and it must be stopped,” Jones implored.

They all agreed that teachers have a lot of work to do and while their involvement is very important, the involvement of par-

ents, especially at parent-teachers meetings, the involvement of trained mentors and also the involvement of the schools’ welfare officers, are all equally important in the fight to help get rid of the high level of bullying in schools.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Focus reaps success Lawyer, Ayana Fable tells her story

By Telesha Ramnarine AYANA Alexis Fable, brimming with joy over her recent admission to the Guyana Bar Association, is confident that her decision to put aside all distractions while pursuing her studies is largely responsible for the kind of success that she is enjoying at the moment.

Had she not decide to heed her father’s advice to stay thoroughly focused on her goals, the 23 year old told the Pepperpot Magazine that she would not have made it.

She’s now a parliamentary counsel working in the legislative drafting department of the Attorney General Chambers at Carmichael Street, Georgetown, under the supervision of Attorney General Basil Williams and Chief Parliamentary Counsel Charles Fung-a-Fatt.

Just a few days ago, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall heard Ayana’s application in the High Court where family and friends converged to share in the joyous event.

Today, she too is offering the same advice she received from her father.

“Stay focused and keep on that path. There are people who are going to distract you.

You have to put them aside and that’s how you’ll achieve whatever you want in this life,” she expressed.

ARTS STREAM? Ayana, who describes herself as a very motivated, respectful and determined young woman, was born and raised in Georgetown and attended Stella Maris Nursery, Comenius Primary and Tutorial High School. She completed the Sixth Form at St. Joseph High and pressed on with her education at the University of Guyana and Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and Tobago.

Initially, she wanted to become a paediatrician but after being placed in the Arts Stream, she decided to shift her focus. “In Fourth Form, I started debating and that’s when I realised I had a

Ayana is happy that she decided to put aside all distractions and focus on her goals

passion for Law so I decided to give it a try. I wanted to be in the science stream but I didn’t fight it. I just let it go,” she said. Meanwhile, others made a point of asking to be transferred to other streams.

Incidentally, one of the requirements for Law is history which is taught in the Arts Stream, so things eventually worked out well for Ayana.

Upon completing the Sixth Form, though, she was still unsure about which path she wanted to pursue because she was having difficulties with Law at CAPE. “I thought it was really hard but then I decided to just give it a try and after receiving my results for CAPE Unit Two, I realised I was ranked number six in the Caribbean for CAPE Law. So after I realised I actually did so well, I decided to pursue my studies at UG.” The rating she secured in the Caribbean motivated Ayana to push ahead with the goal of becoming a lawyer. “I had worked for the distinc-

tion and I actually achieved it. So the moment I saw that, I said that I can achieve anything that I want to and that once I put my mind to it, I’m going to get it. And that is exactly what I did,” she said.

HUGE SACRIFICES One of the biggest sacrifices that Ayana had to make was to let go of certain friendships that were having a negative influence on her. “I had to give up some friends because they were actually distracting me. They would always call to go out or to do something, so I just had to put them aside. I don’t think I would have reached so far had I not put them aside, because I had to stay focused and once there was distraction, then I couldn’t reach my goal and fulfill whatever dreams I had,” she said.

Apart from this, Ayana recalled that she had to make other huge sacrifices to be able to remain focused on her education. While at the UG, for instance, she had to

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018 ◄◄◄ From page VI

work very hard. “I had many late nights but whenever I became frustrated, I prayed a lot.

I would always become calm after praying and then I would continue studying,” she said. Furthermore, Ayana also had to spend two years away from family and friends to be able to remain and study abroad.

But the sacrifices were all well worth it, she expressed. “I’m elated that I have reached this far but I know this is not the final stop.

I still have to reach higher heights; set more goals and achieve them,” she said.

SUPPORT SYSTEM She is grateful to her parents for their con-

stant encouragement. “My mom has always encouraged me and has always pushed me.

Both my parents worked tirelessly to ensure that I got whatever was needed; the best education and opportunities that I could’ve received.”

Ayana wants other young persons to know that not achieving a top school after exams does not mean that they cannot be successful in life. “I did not allow the school that I attended to define me; I did not allow it to limit me. So do not allow the school that you come from to define you. Set your goals and work hard to achieve them,” she said.

Ayana is also thinking about becoming a musician as she enjoys playing the piano, singing, and dancing.

Ayana with her dad and stepmom, Martin and Karen Fable (on her right) and mom and stepdad, Patricia and Kevin Langevine

Ayana (second from right) at the Hugh Wooding Law School graduation, earlier this month

With fellow students at the Hugh Wooding Law School

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

The overcrowded dog food business The once-lucrative trade has died a natural death due to competition

By Michel Outridge WELL-KNOWN dog food vendor, Mark Sealey, who has his business at A and B Cemetery Road, Georgetown said that he believes the dog food business is dying because there are too many vendors.

Speaking to the Pepperpot Magazine he added that to stay afloat he also sells other pet-related products such as dog bowls, collars, food bowls, chains, medicines, shampoos,

Purina brand puppy chow and dog chow along with the local cooked dog food.

When this newspaper visited the location on Thursday, Sealey was tending to two large pots of dog food that were being cooked on coal pots.

It is a daily routine he starts from early in the morning, after which when the food is cooled, he packs it away in individual two-pound bags which sell for $100 each.

The dog food pot consists of rice, seasonings, salt, Chinese

Dog food preparation.

spices and cassareep, eddo leaves, pumpkin and the by-products of beef and chicken and this recipe is basically like homecooked cook-up-rice-without the coconut milk.

Sealey told this newspaper that his cooked dog food is nutritious and wholesome but the business has seen a decline over the years in the city, especially, since “everybody and their mother is selling dog food on the street corner,” he said.

The 48 year old added that back in the days when the dog food business boomed he had two employees but within recent times he had to let them go because now he only makes two pots of dog food.

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Living with hydrocephalus The ins and outs of caring for a child with disability The outlook for a patient with hydrocephalus depends mainly on how quickly the condition is diagnosed and treated, and whether there are any underlying disorders.

Jaden’s parents said that they sought medical advice from various practitioners but were told that options were limited; Jaden would either outgrow the condition or he would have to live with it.

Having accepted that fact, the parents said their love grew unconditionally for their only child. Shelly who is a teacher said that she is happy that her child can attend school and be

Five-year-old Jaden Hariprashad

By Indrawattie Natram FIVE-year-old Jaden Hariprashad of Jacklow, Upper Pomeroon River in Region Two was born with a rare condition which has prevented him from socialising with other children. This condition, however, has not deterred him from achieving an education. Jaden currently attends the Jacklow Primary School in the Pomeroon River.

During an interview with Pepperpot Magazine, little Jaden said he loves reading. He was very jolly and alert throughout the interview. Jaden also said that he loves his school.

Both parents of Jaden, Shelly and Jetendra Hariprashad said that their child was born with hydrocephalus. Also called

“water in the brain”, hydrocephalus is a condition where there is an abnormal buildup of CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) in the cavities (ventricles) of the brain. The build-up is often caused by an obstruction that prevents proper fluid drainage. Hydrocephalus patients may experience a steady growth in the head size, convulsions and brain damage.

Symptoms include headaches, vomiting, blurred vision, cognitive problems and walking difficulties.

in the company of children. She said his positivity to life is amazing and he is eager every morning to attend school and to mingle amongst the children.

Jetendra said that he has accepted that his child is a “special needs” child and as such special attention is given to him. “We went to a lot of doctors and hospitals. We have tried but we are hoping that a miracle would happen one day, and our only child can be able to run and play like a normal child,” he said.

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v i j Muneshwer: a

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

A Math Extraordinaire

By Vishani Ragobeer IF YOU think that the region’s top Mathematics student at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) is a nerd, you’re probably half right.

Rajiv Muneshwar, a 19-year-old student just out of Queen’s College, is this year’s Regional Top CAPE Mathematics student. He likes Mathematics, Science, Chess and an occasional game of table tennis. He says he enjoys playing the guitar too, but mostly because it impresses the ladies.

Rajiv Muneshwer

Over the two year period of Sixth Form, he wrote 12 CAPE units. Though some may consider this a lot, he said, “In my opinion, these aren’t a lot of subjects, they’re just subjects that I like.”

But more importantly, he said, “I just liked to push myself also.”

You see, when he wrote the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations back in 2016, he only wrote 11 subjects and copped nine grade one, and two grade two passes.

Now, this might not seem like few subjects to many, but he explained that when you’re in Queen’s College where students write more than your average number of subjects, it seems like few. So at CAPE, he came back to show he’s worth his salt.

And when it comes to Maths, he has had a special affinity since then.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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The Berbice Bridge toll increase IT GOES without saying that everyone is opposed to the crushing burden that will follow should the Berbice Bridge Corporation go ahead with its plans to have the toll fees increased by some 400 per cent.

News of this increase hit everyone early last week and from what I’ve garnered, one thing that we can stand united on, is that the increases are simply preposterous. Well, I should say, preposterous to everyone, save for those who actually conceptualised and advanced the idea of this increase.

Then on Wednesday, just as everybody and their grandmother were fully aware of the hike in the bridge toll, I attended a symposium held in observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. There’s a nexus here, I promise.

The speakers at this event grounded their presentations in economic theory or at least with some economic underpinnings and sought to contextualise poverty in Guyana and its plausible solutions to this societal ill.

Professor of Economics at the University of Guyana (UG), Thomas Singh went so far as to mention the toll hike, albeit more in passing, in his explanation of poverty and its ramifications.

He shared that sustained poverty reduction goes hand-in-hand with sustained economic growth- that is the creation of new industries and jobs, the increased production of goods and services and an increased cash-flow.

There is a challenge however in having all sections of the population engage in opportunities developed in this regard.

He used the emerging petroleum sector as an example. It is expected that the standard of living will increase but simultaneously, the cost of living will increase too. How quickly all sections of the population can adapt will determine how best the opportunities can be harnessed by them and how well they can ‘live’ in the society.

Now back to the bridge story. A colleague sought to put the toll hike into perspective for those of us (me) who needed a simple explanation. Stripped away from economic terminologies and formal English, it’s much easier to understand the dire ramifications of this detriment.

Berbice is a farming county, so let’s talk about how this toll hike affects this economic. Produce from Berbice makes its way to Georgetown, Guyana’s commercial hub, in search of hungry hands willing to buy these

products. Now with these new fares, the smallest trucks fetching produce to Georgetown have to pay $14,600, just to get over the bridge once. And this figure only increases with the size of the vehicle.

Take rice as another example. During my trip to Berbice earlier this year, it seemed as though every household has a rice farm or at least some family member who worked with a farm. Now imagine the increased cash burden that accompanies the 400 per cent increase in bridge tolls. This puts a strain on the production and supply of rice which will, in turn, put a strain on those persons involved in the production. And let’s forget about the bigger rice companies, but think about the small man providing for his family.

Then aside from economic activity, consider the general economic strain. You might have seen the memes: If yuh cousin got a wedding, tell them Livestream it ‘cause data cheaper than transportation; or Adele’s ‘Hello… from the other side’- Berbice edition.

For me, in order to avoid this economic strain, Berbice and Berbicians will become increasingly isolated from the rest of Guyana.

With the current fees, it will cost between $2,000 to $2,500 per person to get to Ber-

bice in a hired taxi, depending on how one is going. It might even be more. I know for my friends and I , visiting Black Bush Polder again just for a casual stroll will be out of the question should these increases take effect because this fare will also increase exponentially.

Also, the incentive to invest and establish businesses to promote economic growth diminishes unless these businesses intend to operate almost exclusively in the county.

So talking about poverty reduction, you need to factor in all the socio-economic factors experienced by the people. The outrageous fees will result in a slow-down in economic activity which, at least in the longterm, will result in a slow-down in poverty reduction measures.

I’m very happy that the subject minister - and by extension, the government- has illustrated their cognisance of the ramifications this toll hike would have on the population. I’m happy that they’re willing to help mitigate the situation and I’m happy that they have rejected the toll hikes and have said that they will challenge it in the courts. These increases should not happen, at all. Let’s see what happens.

Building a legacy for those to come

Quince Solomon

FAILURE is inevitable but getting up and striving for a better result is always important, especially if you want to build a legacy which others will idolise.

Guyanese-born designer, Quince Solomon is on a mission to build a legacy for his children and grandchildren.

Born and raised in the mining town of Linden, Solomon has always had a passion for designing and creating things from scratch.

But, he realised his true potential when he migrated to the United States of America (USA) where he observed how people represented their country with different products, especially during festivals.

“One of my brothers who is a very talented artist, was hand painting the Guyana flag on canvas sneakers for his family and friends as they requested. I decided to link up with him and invest to start up on a larger scale to create and customise more sneakers. I started to market on a larger scale to promote and help build his creativity and generate funds,” said Solomon.

Although hand painting was tedious, the demand for the products grew but, Solomon and his partner discontinued the business.

Solomon was, however, determined to continue making his dream a reality so he started to design, create and manufacture his own brand of sneakers, from the sole up.

“Guyana is the land of my birth and I wanted to continue to make more products readily available to be worn while showcasing our heritage,” he said, adding that his brand.

“Signature Moov” was born.

Signature Moov became his biggest accomplishment so far. He manufactures sneakers, slides, watches, t-shirts among other things.

Some of his products have been worn by talented Guyanese who reside in Guyana and abroad. International Tennis Star, Sacisha Vickery showcased her “Signature Runner” at the 2018 Wimbledon championship in Paris, France.

Those achievements would, however, not be possible without the help of his mother, Gem Solomon, a seamstress, who created and recreated a number of Quince’s personal and professional fashion styles.

Their combined effort has given him the opportunity to work with large clothing retailers in the USA. “The Fashion industry is very lucra-

tive, which can be demanding, competitive and requires lots of strategies to succeed…You always have to be creative and trendy to meet the needs of your customers,” Solomon advised.

Although he has been doing well, he still faces challenges in the form of costs to ship to Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom.

One of his biggest challenges is not having a storefront readily available in Guyana.

Launching his business in Guyana is, however, one of his aspirations.

He hopes to one day open a big store and showcase his products in the arrival and departure lounge at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.

Like him, many persons have similar dreams and aspirations, so he encouraged persons to educate themselves about the business industry before getting involved.

Quince Solomon

“Don’t be ashamed when you fail, dust yourself off and keep trying to achieve that goal,” he said, noting that perseverance is failing 19 times but succeeding on the 20th try.

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NAREI

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

hosts Open Day ON October 19, 2018 the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) hosted its annual Open Day activity. Exhibits showcased works of NAREI that are helping to promote green agricultural practices. As such, they coincided with this year’s theme for Agriculture Month: “Shaping Agriculture for a Green Economy.”

Here are some photos from this year’s activity.

Turn to page XXXIX►►►

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

XV

Oral cancers more often than females.

PROTECTIVE FACTORS FOR ORAL CANCER INCLUDE: Dietary factors: Eating a diet high in fruits

DURING this time of Cancer Awareness I received an e-mail recently, the contents of which saddened me for most of the day.

A school mate of mine died in the USA from oral cancer. Now, as surprising as it may sound most of the cancers we humans suffer from, directly or indirectly involves the mouth. Smoking is a typical example.

You could only smoke, chew tobacco or betel nuts with your mouth and oral and lung cancer accounts for nearly a quarter of the total of the victims. This is without considering that there are numerous other instances of either ingestion, infection (such as oral sex–HPV) or irritation in which the causative agent is implicated by the oral structures.

Oral cancer is any malignant growth occurring in the oral cavity, lips or oropharynx (throat). In the early stages of oral cancer’s development, it often is painless, and the physical signs may not be obvious. This makes it a very dangerous disease. Regular screenings by a qualified dental professional, combined with a person’s knowledge of the warning signs and symptoms will allow its discovery in the earliest possible stages when cure and survival are most likely. Early indicators include red and/or white discolourations of the soft tissues of the mouth, any sore which does not heal within 14 days or hoarseness which lasts for a prolonged period of time. Whereas, advanced indicators include a sensation that something is stuck in your throat, numbness in the oral region, difficulty moving the jaw or tongue, difficulty in swallowing, ear pain which occurs on one side only, a sore under a denture, which even after adjustment of the denture, still does not heal or a lump or thickening which develops in the mouth or neck.

Most oral cancers start in squamous cells (thin, flat cells) that line the lips, oral cavity, and oropharynx. Cancer that forms in squamous cells is called squamous cell carcinoma.

Lesions on the mucous membranes (the lining of the mouth and throat), including leukoplakia (an abnormal white patch of cells) and erythroplakia (an abnormal red patch of cells), may develop into squamous cell carcinoma.

Oral cancer prevention is any action taken to lower the chances of developing oral cancer. When preventing oral cancer, one needs to focus on risk factors and protective factors for oral cancer. Risk factors are anything that increases your chances of getting oral cancer,

whereas protective factors are anything that decreases your chances of getting oral cancer.

We should, therefore, reduce our risk factors and increase our protective factors for oral cancer prevention.

SOME RISK FACTORS FOR ORAL CANCER INCLUDE: Tobacco use: In all its forms, tobacco is the largest contributor to the development of oral cancers. Not using tobacco is the single most important thing you can do to avoid oral cancers.

Excessive alcohol consumption: More than 15 alcoholic beverages per week may put you at greater risk. If you must drink, do so in moderation.

The combined use of alcohol and tobacco: This significantly increases the risk of oral cancer more than either by itself.

Excessive unprotected exposure to the sun: Unprotected exposure to the sun will increase the likelihood of lip cancers. Use at least SPF 30 sunblock on your lips.

Low intake of fruits and vegetables: A diet that does not contain the protective nutrients of these foods increases the risk of developing a variety of illnesses including oral cancers.

Use of Betel Nut: When chewed or smoked, these are causative agents of mouth cancers. Avoid their use.

Age: Older individuals tend to develop more disease in general, including oral cancer, as their immune system becomes less efficient.

HPV viral infection: Increasing numbers of young, non-smoking individuals are being diagnosed with oral cancer. The most likely causative factor is HPV viral infection, the same virus responsible for more than 95 per cent of all cervical cancer.

Race, ethnicity and economics: There are socio-economic factors that influence the development of cancers in different groups of people. For instance, blacks are diagnosed with oral cancer two to one over other races.

In addition, people who live in areas with poor access to health care, or for economic reasons do no routinely visit a dentist or doctor, are also at increased risk.

Recurrence: Previous head and neck cancer patients have a higher risk of a cancer recurrence which may occur in the mouth or other areas of the aerodigestive tract.

Gender: Statistically males get oral cancer

and fibre-rich vegetables may lower the risk of developing oral cancer.

Chemoprevention: Use of drugs, vitamins, or other agents to prevent or delay the growth of cancer.

XVI

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018 ◄◄◄ From page XII

Most students usually write General Mathematics in Fourth Form, so that they can write Additional Mathematics in Fifth.

It makes it easier to adjust to the higher level Mathematics at the Sixth Form or University level.

But Rajiv didn’t write General Mathematics in Fourth Form. He shared, “I genuinely did not like Maths, I thought it was boring.” Yet, he did both General and Additional Mathematics the next year.

By then, he was working alongside his colleagues who had already overcome one hurdle. To this end, he explained, “I had to prove myself worthy and work twice as hard.”

Working twice as hard and exposed to a new type of Maths proved to be a boon in disguise for him.

“Doing Maths at that level, revealed the beauty of Mathematics. It wasn’t memorising formulas, learning how to cram stuff in my head, but it was understanding Maths and what it does at the higher level,” Muneshwer highlighted.

That’s where the love for Maths was birthed.

“I think Maths is art,” he said, “Art is a way you think about life and it is something that requires imagination and when I look at Maths and the things that it can do- especially by describing something so complex with just a few letters and symbols- I feel the same.”

But his sheer love for Mathematics was not what caused him to cop his recent award.

Rajiv advanced: “I didn’t expect it really. I thought I would do well but not to this level because there are a lot of people in Trinidad that are really good at Maths.”

Last year, he made the CAPE Regional Merit List for Pure Mathematics- Unit One. This list shows the top 10 students for a particular subject in the Caribbean region and Rajiv was fifth.

The entire lot that bested him came from Trinidad and he believes that because he knew that there were people ahead of him, he pushed himself that much harder. And in the end, it paid off.

Aside from his math-loving tendencies, he was also the Head Prefect at Queen’s College. During his tenure, he strived for many things for the student benefit, according to him.

“On a bigger level, I tried to fight for the students.”

He helped craft a constitution for the establishment of a Students’ Council, lobbied government ministers for assistance in areas within the school that needed improvement- like the infamous playing field and for the schools feeding programme to be implemented in QC. “One of my fondest memories was getting all the students in the school to sign a petition we sent directly to President David Granger,” he said fondly. This was to request assistance in improving school life.

Another time, he and of senior prefects, accompanied by the school’s headteacher, visited Minister of Public Service, Rupert Roopnarine to also ask for scholarships for students.

That’s because he knows that this is a sore point in college, with almost all students competing for scholarships.

He also dabbled in debating for local civil society organisation, RISE. These were all things that excited him.

At the juncture where he has to decide on the way forward, the young man related that he wants to be a civil engineer because he wants to correct the many infrastructural problems he sees in Guyana. Oh, and an electrical engineer too.

More personally, he shared that his family store got burned down once because of faulty electrical wiring and with it went a plethora of memories and treasured items. And then a family member’s house collapsed because of poor work.

Also, he said: “I want to do it because I have a passion for helping people and this is helping people.”

And even after pursuing these careers, he said, “After all of that, one day I’d like to be a politician- not to make money but to actually change something for the better because when I die I want to be looked back at as someone who did something great, especially for this country.”

The next step that he will take is to move to the United States of America (USA) to study because he believes tomorrow’s technology lies there, and he’d want to bring that back to Guyana.

Another reason for wanting to go there is because he wants to study how the Americans built a society on heroes- their founding fathers.

In his opinion, “It keeps the morale and the spirit in them at all times. The constitution and the declaration of Independence are embers that keep burning on and on for them.”

And coming back to Guyana, he noted that he’d like to be a hero someday. A hero that unifies his people and helps effect some positive change.

With the Math award in the bag, he is aiming to go overseas and conquer that too, before returning to Guyana and be a hero!

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Quality time alone

I WANT to thank everyone for consistently emailing me topics to discuss. It really excites me that I am writing on topics that actually interest people and I promise to cover every suggestion as the weeks go by.

I wanted to start with this particular one as I wholeheartedly relate to it.

A reader wrote in and explained that he likes to be alone a lot of the time, really dislikes going out and only does it when he is pressured by his friends. It broke my heart when he asked: “what’s wrong with me?”

There is absolutely nothing wrong with you or me or anyone else who likes to keep to themselves.

He used the word ‘anti-social’ which has a pretty negative connotation to it, but even the more positive options such as introvert do not really have much of a difference.

Many people call me anti-social for lots of reasons; I don’t like to go out much and when I do, I don’t talk much unless I’m extremely comfortable with the group of people or environment that I’m in. If it’s with people I don’t know, a lot of the time, I’m in a corner.

I’m going to talk about the benefits of this so that all of you who feel this way can stop being so hard on yourselves for simply being who you are.

It’s not that I don’t like people or anything like that; it’s that the days are sometimes so overwhelming that time alone is needed to just recharge. What’s wrong with that?

We are around people most of the day, needing to be as productive and energetic as possible. Not to mention all the other sources that can bombard us with information and many of it negative - news, social media platforms or any gatherings/meetings that you are pressured into attending.

Many people need to take alone time to regroup, collect thoughts and build a fresh set of patience. This is important to really process what’s happened throughout the day and how we really feel about it.

Many people equate being alone with being lonely but those are two very different things.

It may sound cliché but only when you spend quality time alone can you really know who you are and what you want out of life.

You are open to clear, uninterrupted and

un-influenced train of thought. I promise you, that all your important realisations, logical thinking and decision making happen when you’re alone- or maybe in counselling; it does not happen when you are out liming and possibly drinking.

One of my favourite sayings is “you’re not missing anything when you’re getting your act together” You build friendships that really matter.

You know those people who seem to know everyone? It does not mean that they are not lonely simply because having lots of acquaintances or even friends does not mean it is the quality ones we need in our lives. These healthily and important relationships are only built and flourished during one on one time and in the right environments. This means that if you choose a more ‘anti-social’ life, it can actually consist only of meaningful relationships and conversations. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I really dislike small talk- which drastically increases the more you go out. There is a theory claiming that in a two-hour long conversation, there are only 10-15 minutes of quality information being shared.

I live a much healthier life during my anti-social periods. We all know that when we go out, we are more likely to eat unhealthily, consume more alcohol than intended as well as have less sleep than intended. All of this contributes to having low energy and motivation the next day - whether there is an official hangover or not. For example, I rarely go to the gym or do any additional work the day after a night or even late afternoon out. You also save lots of money. I don’t know about you guys but most times when I go out, I spend more money than I plan on things I really don’t need.

It aids in a drama free life. You will always have some kind of drama in your life but when you go out, you may either make it public or get sucked into other people’s stories. May sound cool and funny but have you ever tried peace instead?

Something I’ve noticed is that people trust me more because I don’t go out. They feel more comfortable opening up to me because they don’t see me with lots of people all over the place like I don’t have a house. This aids in another point, when I go out, people are always excited to see me as they rarely see me out. You know those people that are out so much that you almost get tired of seeing them? Yea I don’t have that problem.

If you are hard on yourself because you aren’t as social as most others, that’s okay too. Not only is Guyana an extremely social culture but our generation is the most social of all with social media and other technology that allows us to easily have friends all around

the world.

I’m also not necessarily pushing anyone to spend more time on your own- if being around people all day make you happy then good for you.

I’m simply trying to get people to simply accept who they are.

If that is not you, that’s fine either way Actually, next week I am going to discuss

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the positive sides of being social as you can really argue both sides of anything.

Thanking you for reading. Please continue to send any topics you’d like to talk about to caitlinvieira@gmail.com Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always!

Suicide Prevention Helpline – 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444 or 600-7896 Do not be afraid to reach out!

XVIII

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

XIX

E S FILES A C T R U CO Three convicted of attempted murder lose appeal Appellate Court refused application to call fresh evidence IN 1960, Seetal, Bharat and Pooran charged with attempted murder, were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment.

On trial, no use was made of matters contained in the depositions to impugn the reliability of certain witnesses’ identification of the persons charged with the offence.

After conviction, and on appeal, application was made to call fresh evidence touching on the matters disclosed in the depositions.

The Federal Supreme Court – Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction constituted by Chief Justice Hallinan, and Justices of Appeal Rennie and Marnan which heard the appeal, held: the material that formed the subject matter of the application was available at the trial and it is unusual for an appeal court to entertain an application because of the lack of professional skill with which the defence was conducted.

THE APPLICATION WAS REFUSED. Mr. Shakoor Manraj, Attorney-at-law, had appeared for the appellant Seetal, Mr. E.V. Luckhoo for the appellant Bharat.

Pooran conducted his own defence.

Crown counsel, Mr. E.A. Romao appeared for the Crown and Chief Justice Hallinan delivered the judgment of the court.

According to him, the three appellants were convicted of the attempted murder of Alfred Stephens on June 21, 1959.

Seetal and Pooran, who are brothers, were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment and Bharat to 10 years. All three appealed against sentence and have been heard on the same ground.

In addition, Bharat applied to call fresh evidence which if admitted, his counsel submitted, would be grounds upon which the court might order a new trial.

Counsel for Seetal intimated that if Bharat’s application is allowed, then Seetal would apply to amend his grounds of appeal, so that he too would ask the court to order a new trial for him also. Apart from the grounds which the application for fresh evidence disclosed, counsel for the parties abandoned all grounds of appeal, except that as to sentence.

The circumstances upon which the application to admit fresh evidence is based, relate to the identification of Bharat by Stephens and the witness Ibrahim. Stephens was a ranger on Plantation Lusignan and Ibrahim assisted him. Part of his duty was to prevent cattle trespass in the cane fields.

Stephens and Ibrahim were attacked on a railway line about 5.30 p.m. by three assailants with sticks and cutlasses, and from statements made by the assailants, during the attack they were seeking to kill Stephens because he had impounded cattle belonging to them or their relatives.

Ibrahim escaped, but Stephens was very badly beaten and wounded. At the trial, Stephens and Ibrahim identified the appellants as the assailants. Stephens said that he had known all three since working on the estate for the past three years; Ibrahim said he had

known them since they were small –about 14 years.

Going on, the chief justice had said, in order to attack the credibility of Stephens’ identification of the appellants, this court is asked to consider two matters which are mentioned in Stephens’ deposition at the preliminary inquiry (PI), but which were never mentioned at the trial.

Continuing his judgment, Chief Justice Hallinan said that the deposition shows that at the end of the cross-examination by counsel for Bharat, the counsel, (by leave of the court) changed Bharat’s position in the dock. Stephens went up to the dock, but apparently because of his impaired vision due to the attack on him, he said he could not see the appellants’ faces well and could not identify them.

In his deposition, Stephens, probably as evidence of motive, referred to an incident which occurred before the attack, the subject of the charge: Seetaal and Bharat had met Ibrahim and himself driving cattle to be impounded and Seetall had attacked him with a stick and took away two cows.

The prosecution at the trial never led evidence of this incident nor was Stephens cross-examined about it. After the trial, the appellant asked the police for a copy of the complaint which Stephens had made to the Police about the incident. Apparently, this record had been destroyed and all the police could supply was an entry made by Constable Campbell in the records dated May 25, 1959, recording a complaint made by Stephens against one Maga, and an unknown man, and spoke of blows with a stick and a threat to shoot.

The appellant Pooran is known as Maga, and counsel submits that this report weakens Stephens’ credibility, as the previous incident in May concerns Maga and someone unknown, and did not concern Seetal and Bharat.

Chief Justice Hallinan said that the attack on the credibility of Ibrahim’s identification is based on the fact that Ibrahim gave the name of Roopchan also called Rama as the name of one of his assailants - this was on the day he was attacked, June 28. The next day in a further statement he corrected this, saying that it was not Roopchan but his brother Bharat and the mistake arose through his knowing Bharat as- Rama a name by which Roopchan is called.

In a statutory declaration, Roopchan, since the trial , has stated that on the morning of June 29, Ibrahim saw Roopchan in the lock-up and affirmed that it was he, Roopchan, whom he had seen attack him.

The first thing to be determined, on an application of this kind, is to enquire how much of the material by which the defence seeks to attack the credibility of Stephens and Ibrahim was available at the trial. The depositions of both these witnesses were, of course, available for the defence. It could have been put to Stephens that he failed to identify the appellants when in the dock at

the preliminary inquiry. Stephens, at the trial, never repeated his allegation that Seetal and Bharat had attacked him on another occasion prior to June 2.

Since the trial, the defence has procured the report recorded by Constable Campbell on May 26, but we cannot say that this report is correct or whether it refers to the same incident, as that to which Stephens referred in his deposition. The prosecution were under no duty to supply unasked a copy of this report; indeed, since it was not a statement required to show the inconsistency of anything Stephens said at the trial, we do not think the police were obliged to

By George Barclay

supply Constable Campbell’s record even when asked to do so.

Dismissing the appeals, the Chief Justice had said, “The attack, the subject matter of the charge, was savage and unprovoked; Stephens, with 15 wounds, was left for dead by his assailants. He spent four and a half months in hospital and his sight is permanently impaired.

Seetal and Pooran each received two years imprisonment more than Bharat; the reason being that Seetal was the ringleader and Pooran has had many previous convictions, two of which were for wounding.”

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

#SupportCreativity

By Subraj Singh

A Star is Born THE formula for “A Star is Born” is one that has created magic in Hollywood three times before its present incarnation. The film was first made with Janet Gaynor in the title role, followed by Judy Garland as the titular star, and then Barbra Streisand later. There was even a Bollywood film (“Aashiqui 2”) with a plotline remarkably similar to the formula eschewed in this string of Hollywood films that are all essentially telling and retelling the same story, but always in a different way, designed to cater to the people of the time period in which it is set. Therefore, the Judy Garland version released in the 1950s is heavily a musical that came off of the Janet Gaynor version (released earlier in 1937), which was not a musical and focused

instead on the titular star being an actor instead of a musician. The 70s version was set in the rock and roll scene, while 2018’s incarnation which stars Lady Gaga in her first lead role in a feature film, is set in the modern day world of pop stars, Grammy awards, and celebrities who go on world tours and do embarrassing things at award shows.

Our generation’s “A Star is Born” is as good as any of the others that came before and this, somewhat surprisingly, is due in part to the strong lead performance of Lady Gaga. I say that her performance is surprising simply because I do not think that anyone expected her to do so well. Sure, Gaga had already won a Golden Globe for her wonderful lead performance in “American Horror Story:

Hotel,” but that character, a villainous, vampy, vampire was so full of camp that the entire performance, excellent as it was, felt somewhat easy given that throughout her illustrious career, Lady Gaga had always entertained her fans with various versions of her own campy, theatrical, over-the-top persona, costumes and artistry – whether it be in her music videos or on the red carpet at an awards ceremony.

Lady Gaga in “A Star is Born,” played a character that must have been much more difficult to essay simply because the actress, starting off as a singer herself, could have relied too heavily on her backstory and veered the character into territory where Gaga would have shone through rather than the character in “A Star is Born.”

A lot of this, of course, has to do with Bradley Cooper, sitting in the director’s chair for the first time and playing the leading man opposite Gaga – two roles that he relays meaningfully and tactfully throughout the entire film.

Even though there are times when Cooper is so good onscreen that he steals the spotlight from his co-star, which in some sort of metaphysical way is the opposite of what the film is about (a female star stealing the limelight from her fading male partner), Lady Gaga always manages to drag our attention back to her. Her performance is so good, so honest, so revelatory in its simplicity, that for many days after watching the film, you will find yourself thinking about the fact that the “Rah Rah Bitch” who brought Millenials everything from a meat dress to a blatant disregard for societal norms, to a universal underdog anthem in “Born this Way” and a whole new wave of sexual awakening, is the very same woman who appears in “A Star is Born,” without much make up on, flawlessly playing a waitress, a simple girl with big dreams, a girl socially conscious about her looks but believing in her skills nevertheless, working hard, singing in a gay bar, trying to get her art out there into the world. The girl’s name is Ally, and Lady Gaga does such a good job in this role, portraying her growth from waitress to YouTube sensation to pop star to a wife and then a woman finally granted a spotlight that is all her own, empty of the shadows cast by Bradley Cooper’s ageing, alcoholic crooner, Jackson Maine.

Gaga displays great tact in each phase of her character’s life, bringing that kind of funny verve to her waitress bit that instantly makes the audience want to be her friend.

Gaga as Ally, as a girl caught up in a whirlwind romance with a celebrity, is every one of us being granted that rare wish that makes all of our other wishes come through. Her wide eyes and fear being replaced with disbelief and then confidence as the narrative moves

along is everything. When Ally is embarrassed at the awards ceremony, Gaga does not overplay the moment, choosing instead to let the horror of what is happening sink into the audience by using rigidity in her body in a moment that another actress might have chosen to play wild. Gaga presents us with horror and shame that expresses itself through the body language that only true horror and shame can bring. The bathtub scene is the one that might get her the Oscar nomination for Best Actress, however. In this scene we see Ally retaliate for the first time, lashing out, but not only in defence. She goes for the kill. She spews venom, the rage coalescing in her eyes and face as she snaps with the anger that cleverly masks a great deal of pain. It is a remarkable scene, one of many glorious moments that deservedly makes Lady Gaga one of the contenders to watch out for in the 2019 awards season.

Of course, there are many other amazing things in the film besides the lead actress’ performance. Bradley Cooper is just as good as (some might even say better than) Lady Gaga. He is sure to pick up a slew of Best Actor nominations next year and he deserves all of them. The scene where Jackson apologises to Ally will make you tear up in the theatres and it’s all because of Cooper’s bringing to life of his character, a process when played out on screen is at once extremely realistic, charming, sweet, sorrowful, and sometimes scary. Sam Elliot, as well as drag superstars, Shangela and Willam, also turn in strong performances.

The music is divine and will sweep you up and transport you to another world when Ally and Jackson fall in love. It heaves you into misery when the splinters arise in their relationship, and it caresses you in those moments when the starcrossed duo find their way back to each other again. The film is simply remarkable and the story has not lost any of its beauty, essence, relevance, or melodrama, even as it is played out before the world’s eyes for a fourth time.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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Alzheimer’s disease could be reversed “HEALTH” was often regarded as being largely physical, that is, if one’s body was strong and well and the organs of the body, as for example, the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and intestines were fully functional and without any diseases, then one was regarded as being in the pink of health.

Of recent times, however, it has now been realised that mental health is as important as physical health and that a decline in mental health could be more disastrous to the quality of life than a decline in physical health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has defined mental health as “A state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her abilities can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully and is able to make a contribution to his or her community”. Mental health disorders are therefore the antithesis of good mental health and include ailments and disorders such as major or mild depression, stress, bipolar disorder, panic and phobias. Phobias, for instance, are as common as allergies and occur when the individual is subject to habitual fear of things which would be considered normal to others. Schizophrenia is one of the forms of mental illness with which Guyanese are familiar since it was long treated at the mental hospital in Berbice.

But the most ubiquitous and dangerous form of mental illness is Alzheimer’s disease with which Guyanese are only now being acquainted.

Alzheimer is growing in every part of the Western World and so far, there has not been any conclusive cure discovered for it. It is a disease which destroys the brain and there are many theories as to what precipitates it. It usually begins with the loss of memory - one gradually forgets the basic things one routinely did throughout one’s life. For example, one forgets keys, where to find one’s clothes, being lost on the road, or if one were driving a motor car, to be unwittingly breaking the traffic laws. Then the patient gradually becomes helpless - he or she would not be able to operate a bank account or have any control of money or would not be able to go to the toilet.

In Guyana, since there has not been so far much education on Alzheimer, families do not know what to do or what help they could seek if a relative is afflicted with the disease. In most cases, they do not even know that their relative is afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease. This situation causes much suffering and disorientation among families and this is compounded by the medical doctors usually advising that there is nothing that could be done to stabilise or reverse the disease.

The old theory was that each day hundreds of brain cells die and these are never replaced and that the brain in effect becomes smaller and smaller and this was the fundamental cause of Alzheimer. This hopeless and pessimistic theory has been overthrown and it is now known that the brain regenerates itself.

A great deal of valuable research is being done on Alzheimer in the developed countries and there are many instances in which the disease has been reversed and several hopeless patients have been given a new lease of life. Such successes have been the result of experimentations and so far, no one technique or treatment has been discovered which is applicable to all or most patients.

Modern Western medical research has come up with two findings which seem to be universally accepted as valid. The first relates to the patient’s intake of food - there are certain foods and vitamins which patients must consume and other foods which he or she must avoid. The second is that some regular physical exercise would be very helpful. Western medical science may eventually discover an effective treatment or treatments for the disease but this still appears to be far away into the future. And in any case, the results of cutting-edge research would reach Guyana only after several years.

Alternative medicine assumes that any ailment should be treated holistically since all parts of the body must be considered as being linked to every other part, and being interconnected, affect each other. Alternative medicine, and especially the Ayurvedic System, has held out three treatments which many Western groups are beginning to gradually adopt since they have been able to cure, stabilise or reverse the disease.

Research into the medical journals and on the internet gives many accounts of sufferers who have been cured by these

ancient treatments.

The three Ayurvedic treatments or preventatives which are

usually mentioned are, one full teaspoon of turmeric powder sprinkled on food or taken with milk every morning; Then there is one tablespoon of coconut oil to be taken daily in any form, as for example drinking, eating with bread or frying an egg. And thirdly, there is meditation in any of its forms. One common form of meditation which is known in the Western World and also available in Guyana is Transcendental Meditation. These treatments are available in Guyana and cost very little, unlike the cutting-edge scientific research and experimental cures achieved in the developed countries.

These treatments, especially, the use of turmeric and coconut oil, have achieved many cures and is supported by the example of the experience of India. India has the lowest dementia and Alzheimer rate in the world and this is attributed to the fact of the Indians eat curries daily where turmeric is the main spice used.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

WhatsApp Reportedly Testing ‘Vacation Mode’, Linked Accounts; Tweaks Notification Behaviour for Muted Chats WhatsApp for Android has apparently tweaked how muted chats are handled It is also seen to be testing a Vacation Mode Some users may soon be able to link their Instagram account to WhatsApp Alongside actively working on curbing the circulation of fake news, WhatsApp is looking to improve the end user experience by adding new features. WhatsApp recently brought Picture-in-Picture mode for Instagram videos and a ‘Swipe to Reply’ gesture to its users on Android devices. Now, the Facebook-owned company is reportedly planning to introduce a Vacation Mode, as well as a “Linked Accounts” feature. Additionally, WhatsApp seems to have changed how notifications are handled for muted chats.

WhatsApp beta tracker WABetaInfo is reporting that WhatsApp for Android has already included a “Silent Mode” that hides the notification dots for muted chats.

This means if you mute a chat on WhatsApp, you won’t see how many new messages you’ve received in that chat directly from the WhatsApp icon on your Android smartphone. Previously, notifications from muted chats also counted towards the count of unread messages. It is said that the new feature is already enabled by default.

However, it isn’t available in the form of an option in the Settings menu so there’s no way to disable the feature manually if you want to go back to the old behaviour.

Additionally, WABetaInfo reveals that a “Vacation Mode” is in the pipeline that has apparently been in works for some months. The feature is said make archived chats that have been muted to remain archived when a new message arrives in those chats. At present, WhatsApp automatically unarchives an archived chat once a new message is received in that chat. This behaviour will apparently be controllable via the Notifications settings on WhatsApp for iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone.

WABetaInfo has evidenced the upcoming feature by showing a screenshot that appears to be taken on a build of WhatsApp for iPhone.

WhatsApp is also reportedly working on a Linked Accounts feature that will let users link their account with external services. While the option appears to be mainly focussed for WhatsApp Business users, it could also reach the standard WhatsApp version. It is said that the Linked Accounts option will be available under the Profile settings on WhatsApp and will initially support Instagram as an external service.

You will need to insert your credentials once by tapping the Instagram listing from the Linked Accounts option. This will link your WhatsApp account to your Instagram profile.

It’s possible the Linked Accounts feature will mainly help WhatsApp users recover the password of other Facebook services. Furthermore, it could help the users share their WhatsApp statuses on Instagram. The latter use case might be helpful for enterprises using the WhatsApp Business app.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Mexican Embassy pledges support to Guyana as the country navigates its emerging Oil and Gas Sector

AS we approach the end of 2018, it seems concerns over the emerging oil and gas sector are on everyone’s mind given that the first oil is expected in 2020. Citizens share skepticism on what exactly this means for Guyana and what framework the country will use to manage this industry, given that it’s new to the country. In response, stakeholder organisations are rapidly drawing up robust policies and strategies to cater to this new industry with an emphasis on strengthening technical capacity to regulate and monitor the sector.

SHARING EXPERIENCES In an effort to share relevant experiences and jumpstart the transfer of skills for capacity-building among Guyanese stakeholders, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with members from critical organisations involved in the extractive and natural resources sectors, were invited by the Mexican Embassy to take part in a two and half day workshop with experts from the Mexican Agency

for Security, Energy and the Environment (ASEA). Executive Director of ASEA, Dr. Carlos de Regules and his team travelled to Guyana from Mexico to share their experience in the petroleum industry. The Executive Director shared that he felt privileged to be able to witness, first-hand, how Guyana is preparing for the oil and gas industry, “It is a personal satisfaction for me being able to be here with you, and feeling a little bit of the same feeling we had four years ago when we were launching (ASEA) in Mexico.”

The team noted that Mexico has been managing their oil and gas sector since 1904; however, four years ago the organisation underwent a major reform placing an emphasis on environmental regulations and safety in the sector.

MEXICAN AGENCY FOR SECURITY, ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (ASEA) ASEA was established in 2015 as a regulatory agency

within Mexico’s Ministry of the Environment to oversee industrial safety, operational security and environmental protection regarding the extractive industries in order to foster sustainable development. In its short time of operating, ASEA has managed over 300 oil platforms, six refineries with over 60,000 km of pipeline, and more than 100 oil and gas storage facilities. Since commencing operations, Dr. Carlos de Regules said, 107 contracts have been awarded US$200B, and committed for future investment 74 companies from over 20 countries visited Mexico to seek investment opportunities.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER The ASEA team discussed their organisation’s regulatory model for industry safety and environmental protection in the oil and gas industry. The executive director noted that, “Our lesson four years later is that regulatory certainty is a good deal for the industry.

This is what we have found out and we have been working closely with different stakeholders to build these regulations.” Presentations were also made on insurance guidelines, risk management,

best practice principles for regulatory policies and monitoring and enforcement. The Executive Director also delivered a presentation on scenario thinking on the best practices in managing oil, which addressed how the EPA and other key stakeholders can move forward in strengthening its capacity and sponsorship.

AS GUYANA MOVES FORWARD The ASEA Executive Director, emphasised that Mexico’s recent experience can be of value to Guyana in deciding how to better harness this oil and gas industry, to make it positive for the country and Guyana can benefit significantly from best practices and lessons learned from countries who have been involved in this sector. As the regulatory body, the EPA is committed to staying vigilant and ensuring that companies are in compliance with the Environmental Protection Act, Cap 20:05, Laws of Guyana. To this end, the agency continues to work closely with partners both local and international to ensure it is adequately prepared for first oil in 2020.

Mexican Ambassador to Guyana, H.E. Ivan Sierra expressed optimism that the event was a launching pad for future bilateral partnerships with the Government of Mexico.

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O ECEA Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, Georgetown, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail. com or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

SOURCES DPI (2018) Guyana to benefit from Mexico’s oil and gas experience Kaieteur News (2018) Mexico to help Guyana strengthen regulatory capacity for oil sector- expert says nation has key opportunity to “get it right” Guyana Standard (2018) Leading Mexican Agency engages Guyana on how to best regulate oil sector Demerara Waves (2018) Mexico shares oil industry safety expertise with Guyana Stabroek News (2018) Mexican regulator helping with oil and gas training

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

folklore

NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK

OLD man Liverpool looked at his youngest son and sighed. He had listened patiently as the boy explained why he was going home to Africa. The reasoning was not only faulty it was laughable. Being black and conscious meant different things to different people. To some, it meant that the only thing good was black. Cyril was one of these. He had decided to become a Rastafarian and was now returning to his roots.

When the issue first surfaced everyone in the family took it as another of Cyril’s crazy impulses. The next thing to happen was the change of name. He suddenly announced that his name was now Kwame Inkomo. He then moved out rather than being evicted because as he put it, ‘marijuana was now a daily rite in his religious ceremonies.

Berthram Liverpool was 60 but even at that age, he could be an imposing figure if need be. His response to the marijuana rite was an emphatic, “Not in this house!” Cyril had wisely moved out.

Old Bertie felt his age as he watched his son sitting across from him in the huge sitting room. The boy-actually 24 now-was explaining his decision. As he continued his monologue, Bertie’s mind drifted back through the years to some of Cyril’s past actions.

He recalled how Cyril; he refused to call him Kwame, had asked to drop out of school during the mid-term of his final year of preparation for the CXC Examination. Bertie had suspected then that he was afraid of failure and hastened to reassure him that, his best effort was all that was important to everyone.

This didn’t work. He stopped studying and bluntly refused to continue school. With much encouragement, he was enrolled in a technical institute. He excelled with the computers and aced all his exams.

Suggestions about university were rejected so his old man put him to work in the family business. The Liverpool Pharmacy was a chain of Drug Stores that served communities in all three counties of Guyana. There were three outlets in Berbice, two in Essequibo and four in Demerara, including one in Linden. The family had been in this business for three generations now and had made a good name for themselves along with plenty of money. They were moderately rich: All the things they needed they could afford.

Elizabeth, Bertie’s wife, had died eight years ago. She had been his soul mate and her death had a crushing impact on him. For a while, he had let things slip. His children had been neglected and the business left to run without him. With professional counselling and loving support from his two daughters, he had picked himself up from deep depression and immersed himself back into work. That left little time for his family. He felt guilty now realising that it was during his time of crisis that Cyril had begun to act up. How could he have been so blind?

He had failed to notice that the death of his wife had adversely affected their son too.

Angry at himself he wished he could turn the hand of time backwards. His son had slowly grown apart from him. He had been too busy to notice this and had had many angry confrontations with the boy. It got so bad that they both tried their best to avoid each other. The boy had easily won the battle.

“Cyril, think this over. You know nothing about Africa.

What will you do there? How will you finance this new life?”

Bertie tried to sound reasonable but was sure it would be interpreted as being skeptical.

“I don’t have anything to think about.” Cyril was adamant.

“I have enough saved for part of the fare. When I get the rest I’ll go.”

“If I can’t change your mind at least listen to your sisters.”

Bertie sounded feeble because he realised that he could no longer reach his son. “They’ll be calling tonight from the ‘States.’

Maybe you could wait and speak to them?”

“No! Tell them I’ve made up my mind.”

“But…..”

“Daddy, I’m going now. I just wanted to tell you.” He rose to go.

“Wait!” There was panic in his father’s voice now. “What about the business? I was hoping you would take over from me and run it. I am too old to do it for much longer.”

“Not my thing. Sorry, Dad.” He walked out with a quiet goodbye.

As the door clicked shut behind him, his stunned father sat in silence. He was angry that his son chose not to listen to him.

His head sank slowly and his shoulders shook. He was relieved that the boy did not see him cry.

The conference call between Bertie Suzie and Pamela was Turn to page XXX►►►

XXVII

By Neil Primus

long and centred exclusively on Cyril. If he wanted to go so be it. They would send him some money to help out. Daddy should stop worrying. He hung up after promising to visit them later that year. He had to start grooming the next General Manager. Sigh!

When next Cyril called, his father asked him to collect a packet sent by his sisters. He came the next day and got the package and an envelope with cash from the girls and his dad.

Bertie dared not let him know that the cash was not from his sisters alone. He feared that it would be refused.

Cyril seemed in better spirit than the last time they met. Bertie was convinced that his son meant business. Stubbornness ran deep in his family. He was disappointed but tried hard not to show it. When Cyril left that evening Bertie knew that it might be the last time he would ever see his only son. This time he cried unashamedly.

A month later Cyril travelled to Africa. He e-mailed Suzie and Pamela telling them that he was in Ghana. After a series of sporadic communication, the contact ceased.

A year later part of Africa along the ocean coast was devastated by a tsunami. Ghana was one of the worse affected areas. Over 70,000 people were reported dead or missing. Cholera

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Repositioning the police force to deal with security challenges in a new economy PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE ECONOMY THE Guyana Police Force is the principal agency of the State concerned with ensuring law and order. The Force, by virtue of Section 3 (2) of the Police Act, Chapter 16:01 is tasked with the responsibility of preventing and detecting crime, preserving law and order, maintaining peace, repressing internal disturbance, protecting property and apprehending offenders.

To understand and appreciate the role of the police in society, one must first understand the intrinsic link between law and order and public security, and public security and economic development. So the Force, with a current strength of 4,546 officers to serve from heavily populated urban centres to the most remote of hinterland villages, is indeed heavily tasked. And as the country gears for an oil future, the security risks and challenges increase significantly.

Economic and/or financial security would be impossible to achieve without that national safety and the maintenance of law and order.

This statement, simplistic and rudimentary as it may appear, bears more weight than we realise, especially in developing countries with limited human and other resources. It is for this reason that the Government of Guyana has been working assiduously over the past three years to reform the sector; putting it in a state of readiness to deal with the ever-evolving face of crime, so that as the economic opportunities emerge, the country will be a safe investment destination for all

stakeholders.

Shortly after taking office in 2015, President David Granger outlined five points to strengthen the Force’s capacity and capabilities to fight crime and make Guyana a safe place to work and live. These were: improving police administration, re-organising and enhancing training, effective deployment of ranks throughout the country, improving communication, and the acquisition of assets and equipment.

The President has also stood firm on the

view that the Force must be officered by professional, incorruptible men and women, who take the job of intercepting criminal activities seriously. Speaking at the Annual Officers’ Conference earlier this year, he said that, “Crime and criminals are an impediment to human safety and economic prosperity.

Crime must be curtailed if the people are to be safe and if the State is to be secure. The control of the eradication of crime will protect citizens’ right to life and will permit them to enjoy the rewards of their labour.”

REFORMS The issue of reforming the GPF has been high on the President Granger’s agenda, so much so, that shortly after assuming office in 2015, he lobbied now former United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister, Mr. David Cameron and sought and acquired the support of the British Government to re-introduce the Security Sector Reform Action Plan, which the former Administration had rejected.

This process has started and with a new Commissioner of Police, four new Deputy Commissioners and a new five-member Police Service Commission (PSC), the Force is on the right track to reposition and realign its focus in keeping with changing demands of the nation.

These vital reforms will see the reconfiguration of police divisions, increasing them to 10 to correspond with the Administrative Regions in Guyana’s regional system. The reforms will also strengthen partnerships between the Force and communities.

In his most recent address to the National Assembly, the Commander-in-Chief assured that his Government will do all that is necessary to give the Police Commissioner and his team the support that they need to correct the abuses which have afflicted the Force.

“Your government is reforming the security sector to ensure safer communities and to protect investments. We do not underestimate the gravity of the public security challenges which we face but, equally, no one should underrate our resolve to make our country safer,” the President said.

Meanwhile, Police Commissioner, Mr. Leslie James, who took over command of the Force in August this year, disclosed that the Force stands ready to implement the recommendations in the Russell Combe report, which came out of the UK-funded Security Sector Reform Programme, particularly as it relates to human resource management, training and infrastructural development.

“The recommendations will be taken on board, in fact, we have commenced actions.

We have sought permission to re-establish a training board which will allow for better management of the training institutions- the Felix Austin Police Colleges at ‘A’ and ‘B’ Divisions and the Richard Faikall Police College in Division ‘G’ in Essequibo,” he said.

INVESTING IN EFFICIENCY The reforms that are underway will be complemented by the investments that are being made under the Citizen Security Programme (CSP), which is an Inter-American Development Bank-funded project. Only last week, a $117M police station was commissioned at Mackenzie in Linden, Upper Demerara-Berbice (Region 10) under this project and according to Commissioner James, 17 more stations across the country are earmarked for rehabilitation. These

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018 rehabilitated facilities will allow for better witness protection and confidential handling of domestic violence and other sensitive cases. There is also a fully automated case management room, a spacious waiting room and a training room for ranks.

Under the CSP, work has also been done with at-risk youths in various communities and to improve the efficiency within the GPF and the Guyana Prison Service.

The availability of vehicles for patrols and response to calls by citizens has always been an issue of contention that is recognised by the management of the Force. The Police Commissioner said that the Government and by extension the Force, is fully committed to improving this situation in the 2019 fiscal year.

“We will, as a matter of priority, be procuring more vehicles, two-wheelers, four-wheelers and ATVs, to deploy them throughout the police divisions so that we can enhance our mobility and our response to crime. Our main concern is reducing the time

in Guyana. We cannot have a secure country if our borders and our territory is being violated by criminal of transnational crime…

An efficient, well-equipped and well-trained Force is needed to confront these threats to human safety. Our country must be secured against local and transnational crime and interpersonal violence,” he said.

CONSISTENT DECLINE At no time in the history of independent Guyana, has the GPF been on better footing as a law enforcement agency than it is today and this is proven by the statistics, which show consistency in the overall decline of crimes in Guyana. It should be noted however, that the current crime rate leaves no room for complacency but waged against a period of intense criminal violence, which saw the death of 1,431 Guyanese between 2000 and 2008, the stability, politically and otherwise, which we now enjoy, is a welcomed change.

In his address to the National Assembly, President Granger said that, “the security

Offence

2016

2017

2018

Murder

110

91

76

Robbery

33

32

40

Robbery under arms

Fire arms -572

485

470

Other instruments- 239

226

178

75

113

118

Robbery with aggravation 50

52

39

Larceny from person

94

108

95

Rape

205

186

194

Burglary

171

165

151

Break and enter larceny

985

809

725

Kidnapping

0

0

0

Total

2,534

2,277

2,086

Robbery with violence

it takes to arrive to the scenes of crimes and road accidents, we want to be fully-outfitted with vehicles so that we can respond more efficiently,” he said.

Back in 2017, the GPF benefited from a donation of vehicles and equipment to the value of US$2.6M, owing to the long-standing bilateral cooperation between Guyana and the People’s Republic of China. The items included 56 pickups, 44 motor cycles, 35 All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), five buses, 550 pieces of protective gear, 40 desktop and 30 laptop computers, 10 scanners, 10 printers, 10 photocopy machines, 30 decibel meters and five generating sets.

On that occasion the President explained that Guyana’s security infrastructure is inadequate to meet the country’s geographical challenges, as well as the threats it faces; noting that support from international partners is critical when budgetary allocations alone are insufficient.

“We do not have enough aerodromes.

We do not have enough bridges, highways and stellings. Yet the Police Force must cover this entire country. How will it do so?

The vast areas, long distances and limited communications and transportation assets available to the Police Force restrict its ability to effectively enforce the law everywhere

XXIX

sector has not yet fully recovered from the damage done during the period which I refer to as ‘The Troubles’. Your government is committed, through security sector reform, to restore integrity to the Police Force.”

Nevertheless, the process of reforms and retooling of the GPF has been paying dividends. Below is a table showing the figures under the different categories of crimes between the period January 1 to October 8 for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Where security is concerned, the President’s vision for the Guyanese society remains unchanged.

“Our children must be nurtured in a safe environment. Our young people must be protected from the allure and the dangers of drug use. Citizens must be able to move around their communities free from crime, free from the fear of crime. Citizens must be safeguarded from attacks on their persons and property. They must be safe at home.

They must be safe at work. They must be safe at play. They must be safe on the street.

Human safety is necessary to ensure our country’s stability. Our country must be secure against trafficking in drugs, guns and people. Public security will signal to investors that Guyana is a safe destination for their investment,” he said.

The GPF, a 179-year old institution, shares the responsibility of ensuring that that vision is realised.

XXX ◄◄◄ From page XXVII

and other deadly diseases began spreading rapidly. The UN and the international community responded instantly. Aid and Aid Workers moved into the affected region.

Bertie watched the macabre footage on CNN and felt sick. Countless were dead and many more missing. Among the casualties were thousands of children. How tragic. How could a continent that suffered so much remain standing proud? Slavery, colonialism, apartheid, civil wars, genocide, globalisation, and now the tsunami.

As he stared at the TV screen he half expected to see the corpse of his son among the many who were killed. Where was Cyril? Was he dead or injured? Once before, he had been negligent with the welfare of his children. He would not make the same mistake twice. He reached for the phone and started

dialling.

His daughters were alarmed when he told them that he was heading for Ghana. They tried to persuade him to put off travelling there until they could make some enquiries, but he declined their suggestions suspecting that it was a tactful way of trying to make him give up the idea. He would pass through the US on his way to Accra and visit them before heading for the Dark Continent.

The New York visit was brief yet crucial. He found out that searching for his son amidst all the ensuing chaos would be like finding a needle in a haystack. It was even more difficult because he had no idea where the boy was.

Pamela worked at the European Union’s office in New York as a translator of Spanish and French. She made a few calls and set up a meeting between him and a UN official who

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018 would try to assist him in his search.

They met at the office of Mr. Peter Snyder who had responsibility for disaster relief. He listened to Bertram without interrupting and when he was finished said, “What you are doing is understandable for a father. If my son were in the same situation I would probably be doing exactly what you are. What I can do is pass the word to our people there and as they go into the affected areas they would keep an eye out for him. I suggest you stay in New York until we find something.

Ghana is no place for you now.

“I am going to Ghana, with or without your help Mr. Snyder. Could you give me a letter of introduction to your people so that I could go with them into the devastated regions?”

“Sorry man”. Snyder was apologetic, “that’s not allowed.

Maybe you could volunteer and I would give you letters explaining your situation.” “They would help you in any way possible. You are an experienced Pharmacist and could be of great help. Bertie jumped at the offer and the next week saw him travelling to Ghana as a UN Relief Worker.

Accra was a hive of activity. Long convoys of trucks with relief supplies were slowly snaking their way towards the affected areas. Work was hard but that was nothing new to Bertram. The letters he carried allowed him to be attached to the medical supplies unit. Because of the vast number of sick these trucks were given priority status and ushered onwards by the military.

The convoy passed through an area with luxurious houses belonging to the very rich. These structures reeked of power and money. Ten minutes down the same road they encountered a poverty-stricken community where the people lived in shacks or out in the open. This made Bertie very angry. Here were people starving and homeless and a few yards down the road people living in the lap of luxury. It reminded him of home and he felt a bit homesick.

In Guyana, it was hot for most of the year but never had Bertie experienced such intense heat. He consumed water at an astonishing rate and tried his best to keep in the shade.

It took them three days of driving to reach the town of Wa. Nothing could prepare him for the terrific carnage caused by the tsunami.

There were very few buildings still standing and those lucky ones were badly damaged and unstable. Wood, zinc, and other debris were scattered over the area as if a huge structure made of playing cards was blown around at will. The most striking thing about the situation was the smell. It gripped your nose and throat and clung there. The stench was so bad that many vomited from time to time. The smell of death was everywhere and clung to everything like a thick fog.

The UN set up camp and begun work. Teams of volunteers were combing the wreckage for corpses. For the next three weeks, Bertie was so busy helping people with tragedy written all over them that he had little time to think about Cyril.

Among the volunteers working in the ravaged areas were Ghanaians. People gravitated to the UN for help, advice and assignments. It was while speaking to a young volunteer that Bertie heard about the strange ‘Jamaican.’

Quamina Assinga was a university student studying Social Work at the Accra University. He had applied for Leave of Absence to do voluntary work. He, then hitch-hiked, walked and slept wherever night found him in order to get to Wa quickly.

On his way there he had gone into a remote village to ask for water and to buy foodstuff with the little cash he had.

There he had stumbled onto an unusual situation. A Jamaican, as the villagers referred to him, had come to their small community and offered his help. After a few meetings, it was decided that he would teach the students how to use computers. Visits were paid to officials in Accra and two computers were acquired. The classes started soon afterwards. Pretty soon youths from neighbouring villages were walking the five miles to learn this new technology.

Quamina explained that the young Caribbean national was extremely popular and efforts were being made to get more computers. The village council had started building a bigger centre for him to work in.

Bertie dropped the glass he was drinking from and it shattered with tiny fragments falling all over. Quamina couldn’t understand how Bertie could know the Jamaican but he didn’t argue. These volunteers were a strange lot. One had just appeared in a remote village, now another miraculously claimed to know him even though they were from different countries.

One thing they had in common, they were both nuts. He left a smiling Bertie and went back to his assignment. Bertie rushed back to Accra and bought four computers.

The next week a team went into the village. He was looking forward to meeting the young volunteer. He hoped to make the right impression. There was one last chance to make things right. He would be grabbing this with both hands

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

iPhone XR

released on Saturday as Apple prices and new deals revealed

The Apple iPhone XR became available to pre-order on October 20.

The wait for the new iPhone XR is almost over.

Having been announced last month at Apple’s keynote in Cupertino this new device will finally be available to pre-order from today and it’s an exciting proposition.

This phone features plenty of new technology including a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina edge-to-edge display, wireless charging and new A12 Bionic processor which is currently outperforming all of its Android rivals in speed tests.

The A12 Bionic features a six-core fusion architecture with two performance cores that are up to 15 percent faster, four efficiency cores that are up to 50 percent more efficient meaning an improved battery life.

Despite there only being a single 12-megapixel camera on the rear glass case, the XR is fully capable of adding depth effects to your photos.

And the new Depth Control feature allows users to adjust the depth of field both in real-time and after the image is taken.

The camera also packs a f/1.8 aperture wide-angle lens with an all-new sensor, delivering faster auto-focus, while larger and deeper pixels improve image fidelity and lowlight performance on photos and videos.

Other features include Face ID - which unlocks the phone simply by looking at it - and a water-resistant design which should cope with daily perils of your life. “iPhone XR helps us reach even more people with the latest iPhone innovations. It is packed with the newest technologies including a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina display that goes edge to edge, the latest TrueDepth camera with faster Face ID authentication, new 7-nanometer A12 Bionic chip with second generation Neural Engine and a 12-megapixel camera that takes advanced Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting photos,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.

“The new iPhone XR has a gorgeous new aerospace-grade aluminium and glass enclosure that has IP67 protection from liquids and dust, long all-day battery life and comes in six beautiful finishes. “iPhone XR makes it possible for even more people to have the great experience of the latest iPhone X technology, in beautiful new designs, at a more affordable price.”

Apple says the iPhone XR will be available in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB models in white, black, blue, yellow, coral and (PRODUCT)RED starting at £749 from apple. com and Apple Stores.

Customers can pre-order iPhone XR with it physically arriving in stores from Friday, October 26.

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Facebook has a fake news ‘war room’ – but is it really working?

Facebook is promoting a new “war room” as a part of its solution to election interference, unveiling a team of specialists working to stop the spread of misinformation and propaganda.

It’s unclear how well it’s working.

The Silicon Valley company, which has faced intensifying scrutiny over its role in amplifying malicious political content, opened its doors to reporters to tour a new workspace at its Menlo Park headquarters on Wednesday. Engineers, data scientists, threat investigators and other Facebook experts from 20 teams recently began collaborating inside the so-called “war room”, a term that political campaigns typically use to describe operation centers.

The press briefing provided minimal new information about Facebook’s specific strategies and impacts when it comes to combatting foreign interference and false news. The corporation has been eager to publicly demonstrate that it is taking abuses on its platforms seriously amid an avalanche of scandals. That includes a vast data breach, government inquiries across the globe, new ad fraud allegations, and the continuing stream of viral fake content and hate speech.

The stakes are high as the US approaches critical midterm elections in November and the 2020 presidential race.

WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service, has also been linked to widespread false news stories that have led to violence and mob lynchings in India. The platform has further struggled to mitigate harms it is causing in Myanmar, where an explosion of social media hate speech has contributed to violence and genocide. American hate groups and far-right activists have also weaponized the site.

On Wednesday morning, a group of journalists crowded outside a windowless room, snapping iPhone photos of a closed door with a small sign stuck to it that said “WAR ROOM” in red letters. Inside, digital dashboards displayed real-time information about activity on the platform. CNN played in the background, and the wall displayed a large American flag and motivational posters saying “Focus on impact” and “Bring the world closer together”.

Some screens were “off the record” and could not be photographed, Facebook communications representatives said. The names of employees inside the room could not be published.

“We don’t have a crystal ball. We’re not going to be able to predict every tactic,” said Nathaniel Gleicher, cybersecurity policy chief. “Having all these teams in a room together will help.” He said Facebook had seen an uptick in interference efTurn to page XXXIII ►►►

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forts surrounding the midterms, but did not provide specifics.

The Facebook executives outlined a range of the company’s tactics, including making political advertising more transparent, targeting reduced distribution of false news, detecting and taking down coordinated campaigns by “bad actors”, preventing spam and fake accounts, and launching “rapid response” efforts when election misinformation escalates. In advance of the midterms, Facebook has also adopted new practices banning misinformation specific to voting, such as fake stories about long lines or voting requirements that could lead to voter suppression.

In recent Brazilian elections, for example, the war room discovered and removed a false story about the date of the election changing.

Pressed about evidence of rampant misinformation in Brazil, where a court ordered Facebook to remove links to 33 fake news stories, the executives said there was more work to be done.

The court order was “proof of why we want to have these partnerships and be working with partners across government”, said Katie Harbath, director of global politics and government outreach. “It’s showing that we have set up our systems to be able to react to these things as quickly as we possibly can.”

One study, however, found that out of 50 of the most widely shared political images on WhatsApp in the lead-up to the election in Brazil, only 8% were considered fully truthful, and many were false, misleading or unsubstantiated. There has also been a growing problem of fake news videos, which don’t face the same scrutiny as articles.

Samidh Chakrabarti, Facebook’s director of elections and civic engagement, said WhatsApp had been “doing quite a bit of work to try to stay ahead of any sort of emerging issues”, adding: “They’ve been cracking down on spamming accounts on WhatsApp – and they’ve removed hundreds of thousands.”

Facebook also noted that it has a fact-checking partnership with the Associated Press in all 50 states for the midterms.

The continuing collaborations with third-party factcheckers, however, have been controversial, with some partner journalists expressing frustration over the seemingly minimal impact.

Asked how Facebook has been measuring the success of the factchecking and if the company had new data on its effectiveness, Harbath told the Guardian that it was “one piece of the puzzle” and cited “automated work” to reduce the reach of “clickbait” and “ad farms”.

The new political ad moderation system has also had major hiccups. Hours after the briefing, USA Today published a report showing that Facebook had removed ads after incorrectly labeling them “political”, simply because they used descriptions like “African-American” and “Mexican” or were written in Spanish.

Asked at the briefing what ways Facebook may be falling short in its efforts, Harbath responded: “This is really going to be a constant arms race. This is our new normal.

Bad actors are going to keep trying to get more sophisticated in what they are doing, and we’re going to have to keep getting more sophisticated in trying to catch them.”

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We have 12 years to save the world.

WHAT DO WE DO NOW? We have until 2030 to prevent the dangerous destabilisation of the Earth’s climate - less than 12 years from now - according to a new UN climate change report, but does this tell the whole story, and what do we do about now?

Now that we’ve had some time to process the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on 1.5°C, it’s time to face some harsh realities.

Harsh Reality #1: Based on the best scientific evidence available to date, we currently have less than 12 years to mobilize a complete conversion from fossil fuels over to green energy, or we risk dangerously destabilizing Earth’s climate.

WHAT EXACTLY DOES THAT MEAN? Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, from 1880 to the present day, the globe as already warmed by more than 1°C. Annual global average temperature records, from NASA, show the planet has warmed by over 1°C since 1880. Credit: NASA GISS As a result, we are already seeing the consequences of the extra heat now trapped in the oceans and atmosphere.

The Great Barrier Reef, for example, which has weathered countless El Niño events in the past, was decimated by the latest one, due to the added heat in the water. Hurricanes and typhoons are being ramped up to extremes by warmer surface water. The latest, Hurricane Michael, went from near nothing to a devastating near-Category 5 storm when it made landfall. Florence, although it weakened significantly by landfall, stalled on the Carolina coast, flooding the area with torrential rainfall, similar to how Hurricane Harvey drowned Houston in 2017. NASA is now reporting that the Arctic has lost nearly all its multiyear icedue to global warming. Meanwhile, ice sheets in the Antarctic are quickly headed towards destabilization.

Year after year, we are seeing record-breaking heat inundating parts of our world, and this is spreading, causing record droughts and heatwaves. Wildfires, as a result of extreme drought conditions, are consuming our forests and destroying our homes.

So, things are bad enough, right now. We’re not at the brink of catastrophe, but there are enough alarming trends that we can clearly see the danger.

The break point that we’re looking at now is that, by 2030, the planet’s average temperature is going to reach 1.5°C above what we saw in pre-industrial times. That’s another 0.5°C on top of the warming we’ve seen so far, but in less than one-tenth of the time, and according to the UN report, it will only worsen the risks and impacts of what we’re already seeing.

Harsh Reality #2: Human activity is the cause of the warming we are seeing. There is no doubt.

Based on the overwhelming scientific evidence collected, ever since carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide were first confirmed by laboratory experiment to trap infrared radiation and thus contribute to the greenhouse effect, over 120 years ago, the billions of tons of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere each year due to the burning of coal, oil and gas, is the primary driver of the warming we have seen already.

This increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere not only traps heat on its own, but the rise in temperature that results also increases the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere, and water vapour is a much more powerful (if shorter lived) greenhouse gas.

All other considerations - natural or otherwise - have been investigated and ruled out.

The only truly meaningful debate about climate change, itself, is just how bad the impacts will be.

So, since the warming will continue as long as we continue to burn fossil fuels, the only way we can stop this problem is to stop burning fossil fuels.

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need to do it now.

Harsh Reality #3: Even with the dire warning delivered by this report, as with all IPCC climate reports, the warning is not strong enough.

Yes, that means that, even as dire as this report’s message is, our situation is - more likely than not - even worse.

This is not hyperbole. It is a simple fact, based on how these reports are compiled. With each report put together by dozens of scientists, from across the spectrum of climate research, as with all IPCC reports, the final messaging must satisfy them all. Thus, the final warning may contain some of the urgency demanded by those who’s research shows evidence of the worst possible impacts from climate change, but it must also take into account those who’s research causes them to take a more moderate stance, even if those researchers only represent a minority. This causes the final messaging of the reports to skew towards the weakest form of warnings.

Since the report’s release, we have already seen responses that say, without a doubt, it is understating the danger we face.

THERE IS HOPE It’s rough going through these points, but there is one positive point the report delivers.

“Anthropogenic emissions (including greenhouse gases, aerosols and their precursors) up to the present are unlikely to cause further warming of more than 0.5°C over the next two to three decades (high confidence) or on a century time scale (medium confidence),” the report states.

What that means is, if the world stopped burning fossil fuels right now, by transitioning to clean energy, the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that have already been released into the atmosphere up to this point are not likely to warm the planet the additional 0.5°C, either by 2030, or 2050, or even by 2100 (although the confidence of that statement does weaken, the farther into the future they look).

So, it’s up to us now. We can avert disaster if we act, and act quickly, to make the necessary transition without delay.

WHAT DO WE DO? WHAT CAN WE DO? There are numerous small things that we can all do, in our day-to-day lives, that can help.

Drive less, or switch to driving an electric vehicle, or ride a bike, or take mass transit. Reduce the amount of air travel we do. Eat less meat, especially less red meat, as raising livestock is a significant source of greenhouse gases. Buy locally-grown foods and locally-produced products, to cut down on transportation. Buy energy-efficient light bulbs and appliances. Support green energy companies. All of these things are good, but they are not enough.

Some attention has been given to the idea of geoengineering, such as solar radiation management, however these could have unacceptable impacts on the environment, and they would not address the problem of ocean acidification. Other technologies that directly remove carbon from the atmosphere, known as carbon sequestration and storage, may be required to help us reach our goal, but we cannot rely on these ideas to pull us back from the brink.

We will not make the necessary transition unless we stop burning fossil fuels and switch over to using solar, wind and other forms of clean energy, and large-scale government action (along with support from the public and industry) is the only way we’re going to make this change, as quickly as we need to make it.

The very first step is for the government to hold polluters accountable for their pollution, by putting a price on carbon.

This idea is not popular with some sectors of government and industry, however, a ‘revenue neutral carbon tax’ has been, so far, the most successful method, as we’ve already seen in British Columbia.

This method provides the strongest incentive to companies to change their behaviour, by impacting their bottom line. At the same time, it drives innovation as industry seeks lower carbon solutions.

Additionally, while there have been concerns that carbon pricing will cause more economic hardship for lower-income households, as companies pass on their higher costs to the consumer, a revenue neutral carbon tax actually benefits these households, through tax credits and lower tax rates.

Meanwhile, money from carbon taxation can also be used to advance green energy projects, such as solar and wind power, and provide incentives for the public to transition to driving electric vehicles.

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The father said that his son cannot walk nor can he digest solid food. He is being fed soups and porridge.

“My son makes me happy, he cannot balance because his feet are twisted facing each other. We have to lift him most of the time. We have to strain his soup to mostly liquid, but we find joy in doing this. Jaden is a pleasant soul,” the father said.

Jetendra said that he only attends school half day and the other half day he spends with his grandmother. He is currently receiving physiotherapy at the Suddie Public Hospital, and according to the parents, he has shown signs of balancing.

On October 19, Jaden was fortunate to be amongst some other special needs children in Region Two who benefited from an outreach conducted by the Ministry of Education through NCERD. The Special Education Needs (SEN) Clinic was hosted in order to access children who are suspected to have a special education need and those who are at risk.

National SEN Officer attached to NCERD, Miss Savvi

Hopkinson said that there is help available to teachers who have special needs children in their classrooms, as well as the children’s parents. Hopkinson said that a special assessment is conducted with the children and based on the results special recommendations are done to assist them and their parents.

Hopkinson said that often times the group of children may have excellent sight and hearing but are pejoratively labelled as “dull”, “backwards”, “dunce” and even “slow”.

She, therefore, calls on parents not to be embarrassed but to work and give support to the child.

Regional Education Officer for Region Two Miss Nicola Matthews said that the Ministry of Education through NCERD has a special SEN Unit which caters for such children. She said that the SEN clinic was the first of its kind to be held in Region Two on October 19.

Miss Matthews said that Region Two has a total of 28 special need children. She is hoping that the Region will establish its own Special Need Centre to provide for the children.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

A diagram displaying Jaden’s condition

Jaden at the recent SEN Unit clinic held in Region Two

National SEN Officer, Savvi Hopkinson speaking at the recent SEN clinic in Region Two

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

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Let’s LIVE2LEAD

Beyond the Runway

with Dr. Sonia Noel

... Inspiring lives through fashion PHASE Two of my Living with Intention Motivational Mission is going pretty well. One of the highlights was John Maxwell’s LIVE2LEAD in Atlanta. I have been in the room with my LIVE2LEAD mentor, John Maxwell, before but this time we chatted. I also met Mark Cole who is the CEO of Maxwell Enterprises.

He is a great listener and I had the opportunity to tell him how much his teaching has impacted my life and some of the projects I am working on, including my books.

This is my second year as a volunteer at this event and it has benefited me tremendously. I have learnt so much from the behind the scenes operation, but you have an up close and personal view to what the public doesn’t have access to. Both years I was assigned to serve in the platinum and VIP area. It is always great to reconnect with old JMT family and meet new ones. It was great to turn around to calls like “Miss Sonia Noel in the flesh”, “Miss Glamorous Guyana,” “Here is Sonia the great motivator” or “Sonia the energiser.”

A friend at the event was asking me how can I know so many people and not live in the US. I think people remember me for various reasons and one is my signature braids which stand out and set me apart. I was told my positive spirit, authenticity and contagious energy make people gravitate towards me. I had a similar experience at the Florida International Trade and Cultural Expo with more than 200 exhibitors from over 50 countries. So many people remembered me from my participation last year. You are your brand and people do business with people they know, like and trust.

I have learnt so much from John Maxwell teachings which I share every time I have an opportunity. Every time I go on that online university I learn something. LIVE2LEAD was broadcast to numerous host sites around the world, but it is different attending the live event and experiencing great speakers like Tyler Perry, Carly Fiorina, Daniel Pink, Debra Seattle, and of course the number one leadership Guru in the world, Dr. John C Maxwell. Traci Marrow who hosted the programme said: “Be relentless in the pursuit of Excellence.”

The session with John and Tyler had us laughing so much because they both have a great sense of humour. I love when Tyler said, “My biggest shift was when I realised I wasn’t dreaming big enough and when I started to dream bigger, it becomes contagious to the people I was leading.”

Carly Fiorina was named the most powerful woman in Business by Fortune Magazine, and was the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company as the CEO of Hewlett Packard.

Daniel Pink is one of the bestselling nonfiction authors of the last decade. “Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible.

Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one’s sights and pushing towards the horizon”- Daniel Pink.

Debra Searle always thought leadership was about leading

from the front but she was wrong. “There was a whole situation that encouraged me to shift away from micromanaging to empowering and trusting others to lead themselves. I now realise when you train a team to perform well together and empower each individual to be the best version of themselves, you allow them to make a “leadershift” of their own. Leadershift is the next John Maxwell book that will be out and I can’t wait to read it. We all need to learn the art of shift and how to make the changes we need to make as a leader, to ensure personal and professional growth.

I love interacting with the young emerging leaders from across the globe, and one in particular I admire is

Abigail Loncke, who is hosting a leadership event on the November 5 and 6. I am honoured to be on the panel for the empowered leadership conference and I am inviting you to join us. Also join Dr. Colleen Bovell and Neil Mc Phoy, for another discussion on the “Importance of Leadership in our Society” on the Living with Intention Radio Show on 96.1 VOICE FM at 15:00hrs today. You can email us on livingwithintention11@gmail.com if you are interested in joining us on the next leadership mastermind.

Make a decision today to learn more about yourself as we continue to celebrate this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018 ◄◄◄ From page X

Mark Sealy in front of his business at Cemetery Road

Back then Sealey used to prepare seven pots per day, but now, he said, there isn’t the market like before.

“I cook two pots daily and sometimes a portion would be left on my hands and since it is perishable I cannot re-sale the next day, and I lose money because I still have to buy ingredients for two fresh pots daily,” he said.

Sealey related that for him, his business went down by more than 50 percent and he now operates alone to keep the business going, and it was then that he introduced other dog products for sale.

This businessman reported that he started the business in 2012 when he returned to Guyana but before that, someone else used to sell dog food at the same location.

Sealey said, “Dog food ain’t selling like before, there is a lull in business because people ain’t got the spending power and everybody complaining how things bad.”

He is always thinking of new ways and ventures to keep his business going. Presently, he is considering having a

Two pots of dog food on coal pots at Mark Sealey’s place

push-cart hot dog business which he will entrust to someone to operate for him, but he also has a grocery store which his mother manages.

Sealey has a genuine love for dogs and has three of his own, a Pitbull, a Dachshund and a Tibetan Terrier, which are all high-maintenance breed dogs that he has to allocate lots of time to take care of.

Sealey is a very ‘people person’, and is a friendly customer-oriented kind of a guy who is always willing to assist his customers.

For him vending dog food is more than just a business and he ensures that he sells quality products to ensure that dogs are taken care of and fed nutritious foods.

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English

STUDY SUCCESS Dear Student, Outlined hereunder are specific requirements for clarity of explanation at an examination. Adapt your developed writing style and content of answer to fulfill the examiner’s requirements.

Demonstrate knowledge of the required books and the recommended course of study. Choose appropriate terminologies for herein lies the importance of a builtup vocabulary of technical terms used in the subject area. Visualise yourself as the examiner and imagine how you would react to the script if you were examining it. Be wise.

Love you THE PASSAGE

A well-known prose Because the colonies had an unfavourable balance of trade with Britain, they had a constant need for specie to pay for imported British goods. To obtain specie, colonial merchants developed trade through various triangular routes, many of which violated the Navigation Acts since they involved direct trade with foreign nations.

One popular route took colonial-made rum to West Africa where it was exchanged for slaves as well as gold. The slaves were taken to the West Indies and sold for sugar, molasses, and gold. The molasses and sugar were shipped to the colonies and distilled into rum. Another profitable route took colonial fish, grain, and lumber to the West Indies. Here they were exchanged for sugar and molasses, which then went to Britain to be exchanged for manufactured goods

needed in the colonies.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY (From R. Curry, J. Sproat, K. Cramer: “The Shaping of America”) Something to Do A five-part question: i). Give the meaning of the following terms taken from the passage. specie, colonial-made rum, violated the Navigation Acts, molasses, exchanged for slaves, distilled, exchanged for manufactured goods ii). Cite a violation of the Navigation Acts taken from the passage. but) iii). Find on a map of the Americas ii) Although it rained very heavily, the where the colonies in the passage were lo- erection of the concrete fence continued as cated. What new information do you have scheduled. (The first sentence is reduced about those locations? Discuss this with a to a subordinate clause by the use of ‘alstudy partner. though’. Note the comma between clauses, iv). Find a world map and trace routes and that the clauses can be removed.) mentioned in the passage. Discuss with a iii) In spite of the heavy rain, the erecstudy partner, other pieces of information tion of the concrete fence continued as can you bring together about the routes? scheduled. (The first sentence is reduced v) E-mail a four-paragraph letter to a to an introductory phrase.) friend to tell him/her about what you recWhat to Do ognise as the ‘effects of slavery’ today.

Work on the three pairs of sentences Exchange and discuss with a study partner. below.

1. The recently admitted trainee recruits VOCABULARY worked hard to impress their master trainChoose the word that is most nearly ers. The head of the training centre was not opposite in meaning to the underlined word present at most sessions anyhow. in each sentence.

2. The teen contestants were never punc1. The council gave us no indication that tual nor properly attired for the sessions. you were going to demolish this remaining The audience was treated to an interlude section of the wharf. of classical music while the contestants (improve, erect, extend, abandon) prepared.

2. The trainee doctors interviewed 3. Both new and old villagers now seek patients pertinent to the chief surgeon’s plots to plant weed on the embankment. perceived diagnoses.

The law forbade any unauthorised erections (relevant, suitable, irrelevant, decisive) of homes on state land.

3. Petal Kingsley was determined to brew and sell the ridiculous bush medicine STUDY AID to a certain boastful foreigner.

Try this learning log (efficient, arrogant, humble, condeA learning log is what you record in a scending) well-kept note book about any important 4. The board members of the Pente- aspects of your study. You can keep the costal church held diverse opinions about entries going for a week or any length of their bishop’s proposed method of raising time. At the end of that time, re-read and church-building funds. review the entries you have made. Then (different, great, similar, various) think about how the jottings have helped 5. Both locks on the front door were still you understand your class/study sessions intact when I inspected them. and class dynamics. Also, notice what (undamaged, broken, affixed, unex- different forms of record-keeping you pected) have been using. Let’s hope you have been using mind maps or web diagrams, GRAMMAR even flow diagrams or tables). After you Treatment of closely related sentences have done all that, you can then write an Sometimes we find it necessary to show entry saying what you think about your that two sentences are more closely related experience. The main understanding is to each other than to the other sentences in that you begin each note entry with a the paragraph. This closeness in relation- brief summary of the session in question ship can be achieved in a number of ways. – say what it is all about. Even make Today we will look at three ways. mention of any idea or concept that you Examples might find puzzling and you hope to 1. It rained very heavily. The erection overcome, or interesting and you hope of the concrete fence continued as sched- to build upon. End by describing the uled. next class meeting in your own words. i) It rained very heavily but the erection Among the many purposes of this writing of the concrete fence continued as sched- activity is the one to help clarify concepts uled. (Use of the coordinating conjunction, discussed.

Barnadine: “Thou hast committed --” Barabas: “Fornication? But that was in another country: And besides, the wench is dead.”

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (1564-1593) The Jew of Malta, act IV, scene i.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 21, 2018

Vermicelli (Sawai)

Ingredients 1 lb vermicelli 8 ozs ghee 10 ozs sugar 1/2 tin condensed milk 2 eggs 1 oz spice 8 cardamons (ground) 9 cloves 2 pts milk (fresh or powdered) Some raisins and cut cherries Instructions Heat a large pan and parch vermicelli with one tablespoon ghee until golden brown.

Remove vermicelli from pan.

In another pan mix condensed milk and regular milk with sugar.

Heat while stirring continuously. Do not allow to boil.

In first large pot, heat remainder of ghee with spice and cloves until dark brown.

Add immediately, previously parched vermicelli, hot milk and sugar mixture and two beaten eggs.

Stir well, cover and allow to boil with moderate heat until partly solid.

Add ground cardamoms and raisins and continue cooking with low heat until almost completely solid.

Place mixture in pan and decorate with cherries. When cool cut in squares.

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