Guyana Chronicle E-pepper pot paper 10-18-2020

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Pere DeRoy

The East Ruimveldt resident who became a Caribbean scholar

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Pere DeRoy

Caribbean Scholar, policy analyst and social scientist; Pere DeRoy, MA and Doctoral (PhD) Student.

The East Ruimveldt resident who became a Caribbean scholar

By Marissa Victoria Foster PERE Cherise Marlena DeRoy is a name many will remember in years to come as it relates to academia and research. Her academic journey began when she attended the Richard Ishmael Secondary School.

Today, she is a social scientist and is currently honing her skills as an academic to teach and continue in the production of knowledge.

She considers herself a feminist scholar and policy analyst. She is interested in

using policies to reshape how we live, to address inequalities among us that produce oppression and discrimination. “My expertise lies in policy formation and always connecting the relevance of policies to different groups of people regardless of their religion, class, gender identity, sexuality, location (whether rural or urban).” As a child of the Caribbean, she focuses 90% of her research studies on the Region, particularly on Guyana and Haiti. Issues relating to labour, gender and the political economy, housing, maternal healthcare,

reproductive health, services and rights, sexuality, gender and access, and general conversations of creating, monitoring and evaluating national-development goals are all under her radar. She also spent a significant amount of time on understanding global organisations and how the policies are implemented and engaged within local settings.

Growing up with limited resources for education coupled with the feeling of having unwanted opinions motivated her to ask questions about everything.

From income gaps, domestic violence, racism and anti-racism, colonialism legacies on economics, the ways in which racialised people engaged with each other and the access they deny each other. She stressed how her mother always had to calculate sending her to school, being able to afford lessons and provide money to pay for her School Based

Diploma in International Studies from the University of Guyana, a Master of Arts in International Development Studies from York University in Toronto, Canada, a Master of Arts degree in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Master of Arts, and is currently a third-year PhD student in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, PhD with a specialisation in Public Policy and Adminisremember when I was studying in Canada I was at the library tration. from 8am to midnight sometimes. Then I would travel for like an When asked how hour to get home, then I would continue studying. It is an intense she thinks her field process. You are literally reading hundreds of pages a week. A of study is perceived

by Guyanese, Pere good night for me is a light reading of 100-200 pages responded by saying “There is always need Assignments— industry, language and de- Region. Pere published one for persons in my field. We they simply velopment, reproductive and chapter on LGBT and the started making institutional couldn’t afford Law in Guyana, and from change for women because human trafficking.” it.

There are time to time, she’d voice her people have entered into In her childteachers that she probably opinions in local newspapers. this field to study the issues hood teenage still owes money because Pere moved to Toronto, Can- affecting women. There are environment, of lessons fees. They al- ada in 2014 to complete her people who are studying how there was not lowed her to attend their les- first Master’s Degree. She climate change impacts on much to envisons without a hassle to pay. later moved to Kansas, USA gender relations, or gender sion or dream These and many more acts to complete her second and and trade; there is more need of. As soon as of humility from her fellow she is still currently there for people to understand how she woke up gender and race relations afGuyanese paved a way for obtaining her PhD. in the morning At the mo- fect people’s well-being….” her to become the woman she’d witness She continued by exment, she has a few academic she is today. violence in difIn addition to being a achievemens under her belt; plaining how Guyanese ferent forms, third-year PhD student, she is she has a Bachelor of Social h u n g e r, h i g h a Doctoral Research Fellow Science degree in SociolSee page XVII rates of sexual at the Institute for Policy & ogy and a a Post-Graduate

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ment Master of Art Degree in Develop Pere DeRoy after receiving her padoo at the York Kem ala Kam ; olar Sch n bbea Studies alongside Cari in Toronto, Canada.

University Spring Convocation

violence and the perpetual cycle of oppression. Growing up, she never accepted information at face value. She explained that she always had questions about why the social world is the way it is.

“This led me down a path of honing my skills in conducting social-science research.

I have done research ranging from gender and sexuality, the impact of the extractive

Social Research (IPSR), and she is also a Graduate Fellow in Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) which is a federally funded opportunity to conduct language training and pursue research on history, economic and social development in the Caribbean in Kansas.

They are both positioning her as a scholar transnationally and in the Caribbean

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Dr. Shamdeo Persaud A beacon of light in Guyana’s public health

By Vishani Ragobeer When one thinks of the public health sector in Guyana, at least in more recent memory, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud is a name that is all-too-familiar. He has been on your screens, adding a face to the pertinent COVID-19 updates, and behind the scenes getting crafting guidelines for safe health practices.

Dr. Shamdeo is the outgoing Chief Medical Officer (CMO); he has served in this capacity since 2007, and has given about three decades of his life to serving and improving the public health sector.

He was the last of 11 children, born 55 years ago, to today’s date (October 18), in fact. After doing well at his ‘A’ level examinations, where he was keenly interested in science and mathematics, studying medicine seemed to be the obvious choice. He went into Guyana’s National Service and taught for a year before securing a Public Service Scholarship to go abroad and study. At that time, however, the University of Guyana (UG) just established its medical programme and instead of going overseas, the young Shamdeo stayed in Guyana and became part of the first batch of UG-trained doctors, five years later in 1990.

CHOLERA OUTBREAK After graduating, he had to work as an intern for two years before starting his five-year contract at the Georgetown Public Hospital.

In 1992, while working in anesthesiology, he was sent to the North-West District in Region One to help with the massive cholera outbreak that started in Peru before making its way across South America.

Cholera is an infectious, waterborne disease which causes severe watery diarrhea which can lead to dehydration and even death, if untreated. Those riverain communities in Region were particularly vulnerable given their sanitation and hygiene woes. Dr. Shamdeo was out in the field, travelling in the boats, across communities, trying to control this out-

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud

break.

“The need for public health really struck me, you know, working with communities and going out there,” Dr. Shamdeo told the Pepperpot. “I appreciated the importance of public health programmes, like the vaccination programmes, and what struck me too was the number of persons who had conditions that treatments and interventions were available for, but not available to them.”

So striking was this experience that the young Dr. Shamdeo stayed in this Region as the Regional Health Officer (RHO). As the fight against cholera waged on, he also took up additional responsibilities of planning and coordination medical services and activities for the region of about 24, 000 people. And all the while, he did so along with two medexes and one other doctor in the region.

TB & FILARIASIS Eventually, he came back from Mabaruma, and was placed in Guyana’s ‘TB’ programme. Tuberculosis, or

TB, is an infectious disease caused by a type of bacteria, which affects the lungs and can spread to other parts of the body. He recalled that Guyana did not have a huge TB problem, but with the advent of the HIV (a virus that attacks cells that help the body fight infection), at the end of the 80s and early 90s, persons could be even more vulnerable to TB. He recalled being placed in the TB programme “to really boost it” and halflaughed that it almost felt like that was another outbreak, at that time.

A few years later, then came the focus on Lymphatic Filariasis, and he was the programme manager for that initiative. This is a disease that affects the body’s lymphatic system, which functions to remove unwanted fluids from the body and transports ‘lymph’– a fluid which contains white bloods cells that helps to fight infections. It causes elephantiasis (or “big foot”) or hydrocele (or “goadie”).

“As we were tackling this, we got into all this social medicine- learning social marketing as a tool, devel-

oping health promotion and education initiatives (and) distributing the fortified salt,” he related. Then, he really garnered the importance of providing wider health benefits when crafting an health programme.

As part of the filaria elimination programme, persons were expected to use dieth-

ylcarbamazine (DEC)?medicated salt (or “DEC salt”).

However, after discussions with other health sectors, a triple-benefit salt was crafted which included iodine and fluoride. It was not just about fighting filaria, then; it was also about adding iodine to the diet of Guyanese and fluoride for better dental health.

leptospirosis started. After the rat-urine situation was detected, emphasis was placed on treating skin wounds and teaching people how to clean up after coming into contact with the contaminated water.

“The outbreaks are a really important part of my career progression,” Dr. Shamdeo added, with a chuckle.

2005 FLOOD

2007 CRICKET WORLD CUP

Now, by this time you can imagine that Dr. Shamdeo was really ‘in the thick of things’ but evidently not ‘out of his depth’. He also served, intermittently, in disease control and decided to pursue a Master’s Degree in Epidemiology, in Jamaica at the University of the West Indies (UWI). It wasn’t long after that the infamous 2005 flood struck Guyana and Dr. Persaud was tapped to serve as the Director of Communicable Diseases- which essentially meant that he led the (medical) charge against the waters.

There was an outbreak of leptospirosis, a bacterial infection, caused by the contact of exposed human skin (through cuts and lesions) with the waters contaminated with the urine of rats.

“We had converted the whole ministry to respond to that effort,” he recalled. The personnel department of the Ministry was converted to a pharmacy, medical response teams were formed and the prevention programme for

Then came the 2007 Cricket World Cup, in Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean. It wasn’t an outbreak of a certain disease, but boy oh boy, did it require the same effort. Dr. Shamdeo explained that there are numerous risks associated with the mass gathering of people, and health services had to be prepared to deal with any eventuality.

The games went smoothly, unless of course you count the West Indies inability to make it to the semi-finalsand the then Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Rudolph Cummings went on to work with CARICOM. Coming to the crease was the ace batsman, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, who managed to anchor the innings, until now.

When asked what made him the man for the job, he nervously laughed. His ability to anchor the Guyana Public Health team was evident, but he was too

See page XIV

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Roshan Khan to launch new book

Roshan Khan with a copy of his new book, “My Words, My Vision, My Thoughts”

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OPULAR businessman Roshan Khan of RK’s Business Group is all set to launch his new book titled, “My Words, My Vision, My Thoughts,” which he described as not simply a book, but a record of his public activism for the development of his beloved country Guyana.

For over two years now, the book has been in the edited version and was recently published, awaiting its launch later this month or early in November.

“These are my thoughts, my vision, and my words spanning more than a decade, which has been published in the form of letters to the editors, in special ar-

ticles and magazines,” Khan expressed.

It was his family and business-management team who suggested to him that it might be a good idea for him to compile some of this activism into a book in order to inspire people, particularly youths and those who might not think much about patriotism.

“My ambition is to teach and inspire for the development of our country and people. I hope it helps to make our people more patriotic …

I hope that my story of how I began with $7.50 cents, as published in this edition, will provide inspiration and wisdom to our young people, particularly for the uplifting of their morals, faith,

Khan with his family.

and personal achievement, regardless of their life difficulties,” Khan said.

Part Two of the book is currently under preparation, and Khan is also working on several other books including his autobiography. “I am also concentrating on a thesis that will take the form of a book on the ‘Unification of Religions,’ a Doctoral thesis, possibly in Ambassadorial Diplomacy,” he explained.

Khan recently obtained his Master’s Degree in Ambassadorial Diplomacy and just last year, received his Bachelor’s degree from Atlantic International University in Human Development.

“It is the make-up of my soul and my very DNA that

The third edition of ‘Living Tribute to Love of Mom’ is currently underway.

I am a lover of all cultures, all races, ethnicities, and all faiths. I see no divisions or differences between religions and society. All of us are interlinked as one human family under God. I cannot believe that I am 66 years old because of the fact that I am bubbling with energy, vibrancy, ideas and thoughts — all of which I bow down to the Creator Lord God of the world to be blessed with this universal energy.”

As the national chairman of the Universal Peace Feder-

ation, Chapter Guyana, Khan said he supports the wisdom and ideology of Sun Myung Moon and Hak Ja Han Moon, the founders of the Universal Peace Federation.

In this capacity, he said it has helped to make him a greater and stronger lover of humanity, of the earth and of the universe. “At this juncture, I would also like to call on all our citizens and peoples around the world to please protect our environment. Realise that the earth is our mother and the source

of our living. Let us protect our Mother Earth.”

In the past, Khan had written and launched, ‘Living Tribute to Love of Mom,’ in which two editions were published (First Edition: Printed in 2007 and Second Edition: Printed in 2015. The third edition is currently on the way, as he has been inspired by new ideas and wisdom about women and mothers, particularly his own mother, Hajin Latifan Khan.

CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

After 55 years of serving the community Duckie’s Shop is closed

By Telesha Ramnarine FROM the moment you mention to the Route 47 mini-bus conductor that you’re stopping at ‘Duckie,’ you have nothing to worry about; he knows where you’re going. And that has

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strength back,” he tells the Pepperpot Magazine. It is the only thing he can hope for because no one can explain his condition. “I am asking god for one chance; there’s still so much left for me to do.”

Given a second chance,

Duckie’s General Store at Russell and Sussex Streets, Charlestown.

Randolph ‘Duckie’ Singh.

been the case for the past 55 years since Randolph ‘Duckie’ Singh opened his shop.

Sitting on the corner of Russell (continuation of Camp Street) and Sussex Streets, Charlestown, Duckie’s General Store initially opened to the public opposite its current location. The shop, turned general store, was the first to feature many things, including a television for the public and its signature cold milk and buns.

Singh, now 68, has decided to close the business because it hasn’t been doing well financially for some time now. He blames bad management for this, although it was something that he could’ve controlled once he was sitting in the shop.

And even though hiring staff, he made it a point to be on base each and every day.

But his health continues to deteriorate too, and doctors, local and overseas simply cannot make a diagnosis. At the moment, he says he simply cannot move; not even in a wheelchair. So lying on his bed, with all his conveniences in the room, Duckie reflected on his life as one of the community’s most well-known businessmen.

“I’m only hoping that god will give me my

Duckie would not think twice about getting back into business. It’s in his blood, so to speak. At the tender age of eight, he remembered going to help his relative with a business at the Albouystown Market. The business was stationed in front of Twin’s Pharmacy, and was quite huge, stretching many stalls down.

Four years later, at 12, Duckie, together with his mom Elise Appiah-Baksh (now deceased) and siblings went to rent the building

‘Duckie’ in his younger days.

opposite where he currently lives for $300 a month, starting up the shop there. He later bought the land opposite and started construction.

“We came from nothing and made ourselves something,” he expressed, as he remembered how his mom would make pastries and he would walk around the communities and sell.

Being in business for practically all his life, Duckie knows exactly what it takes to be successful. For one thing, he said it’s a must for the boss to be actively involved in the business. “I was always in the shop. When the boss is around is one thing; when he’s not, it’s a different

thing.”

Perhaps his insistence on looking over the business is what kept him from migrating to New York when he was offered a ‘green’ card, even as the majority of his siblings accepted and went away.

It’s been one month since Duckie decided to close, but when persons offer to rent or buy the property, he still finds himself undecided. He gets emotional each time the thought of letting go comes up. “For years, I would just wake up, bathe, go in the shop, and start the day.”

“You have to know to speak to customers. Make them buy. If they come for something and you don’t have it, show them something else.

And we stocked anything you can think of, from a bicycle part, to a paste, to a cotton wool. I knew the price for it all, where it was, when it needed to be replenished, etc.”

And in all of his 55 years of running the shop, Duckie said he has never had a robbery. He feels that this is because of how well he got along with people in the community. “I was very well-

known. Everyone grew up knowing Duckie. I mix with the bad, the good, the ugly,” he said, as he reminisced on the olden days when everyone came together in the streets for Phagwah and other celebrations.

“Some nights we would close as late as 2 pm because I was the only man with a TV showing boxing on a Saturday night,” he remembered.

Duckie is married to Mavis Singh, and together, they have helped several kids in the community to attend school.

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

More than just a teacher

Devon Gibbons is also a philanthropist and youth activist

By Naomi Parris Our teachers are considered to be the most unsung heroes of the world, their dedication and hard work to the profession moulds some of the world’s greatest artists, doctors, engineers, lawyers and so much more.

One of those heroes is Devon Sherwyn Gibbons.

Mr. Gibbons, a champion of youth development, disclosed that his burning passion for children came about after remembering the struggles he faced and guidance he received at the hands of others in the quest for self-identity.

He strives to work to help others, even his peer.

He believes strongly in the concept of youth reaching youth-peer partners.

Mr. Gibbons born in September of 1993, spent most of his childhood in the village of Beterverwagting, before moving with his parents to Paradise also on the East Coast of Demerara.

Now at the age of 27, he is married and the father

Mr. Gibbons photographed with one of his students

of one. He attended the Annandale Secondary School before starting his teaching

career in 2010 just three months after completing his secondary education.

In total, Devon Gibbons has taught at three public schools: Hope Secondary on the East Coast (2010-2016), St. Winefride’s Secondary (2018-2019) and even in the only indigenous village in Region Four- St. Cuthbert’s Secondary (2016-2018).

A transfer he has never regretted as he wanted to experience teaching youths in those area, given his indigenous background (his grandfather was from the Arawak tribe).

He has taught in the areas of English, Literature, Art and the Remedial Programme.

In 2017, Mr. Gibbons began working closely with Ms. Evadney P. Wilson teaching English to villagers in Beterverwagting at the Education Culture and Welfare Organisation.

In his every lesson, the patience and morals being taught expressed his true motivation and enthusiasm for the work he does. Mr. Gibbons often reflects on his invaluable contributions of service to youths since 2010. He was also in the process of helping to organise some educational programmes like debates and impromptu speech for the same organisation.

Mr. Gibbons with his zeal for youth empowerment and creative leadership skills have served twice as youth leader of his local church and director and deputy director of the Pathfinder Club for a number of years. In addition, Gibbons finds himself participating and helping in every youth programme brought to him and continues to reach out by offering free lessons.

In February 2014, with

Devon Sherywn Gibbons

much passion and grateful donations, but limited resource and support Mr. Gibbons established a library through the church to enable all school aged youths to read.

To d a t e , M r. D e v on Gibbons has assisted many youths on the East Coast, Georgetown and St. Cuthbert’s Mission. He has served in many social departments in school activities for National Programmes, Science Club

and once even pioneered a flag raising ceremony in the village.

The proactive teacher continues to do presentations, make speeches, emcee and contribute to other impacts through his church’s youth programme.

Mr. Gibbons currently serves as a Youth leader in the district of churches stretching from Paradise to Plaisance on the East Coast of Demerara. He is still engrossed in teaching at the School of the Nations, imparting knowledge in the Language and Humanities departments and participating in youth related activities and Counsellor in church related clubs in the Seventh day Adventist Church.

Outside of his teaching profession and volunteer work, he has participated in Literature distributions, health fair and organised health initiatives running off two successful health races on the East Coast of Demerara from Nabaclis to Paradise in a bid to promote and keep youths in that area healthy.

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Long Creek

Tranquil And Serene Long Creek

Long Creek Assembly of God Church.

By Michel Outridge This week the Pepperpot Magazine visited Long Creek, it is a large size village along the Linden/Soesdyke Highway.

The entrance to the community is a small one-vehicle trail, which leads to several areas, including the creek itself on a private property and other occupied land.

Long Creek Village is located between Haurauni and St. Cuthbert’s Mission and is home to about 300 people of mixed race.

The area was once a Jamaican/English migrant settlement. Foreigners came, constructed houses and began to reside; as such, they had relations with locals, which birthed the mixed population.

Locals are scattered over the vast land that

Wolvis Hinds

stretches from the highway, way down to the creek and beyond.

The community has a nursery and a primary school, which is housed in the same building with a teachers’ living quarters close by. There is also a well-kept Assembly of God Church not far off.

The village has one small shop and the people

The Long Creek Primary School. (Carl Croker photos)

are warm and friendly.

Long Creek is a very picturesque place, which draws people because of its tranquil beauty.

The people of this community are farmers, coal-miners, small business owners, teachers and security guards etc., who See Page XXVIII

Village.

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Dr. Levi Percival:

Dr. Levi Percival.

A patient-friendly healthcare provider

By Michel Outridge THE patient-friendly health centre at Long C r e e k Vi l l a g e , S o e s dyke-Linden Highway, is under the stewardship of a very humble healthcare provider, Dr. Levi Percival.

It is probably because of his welcoming disposition that patients feel a sense of relief when visiting for check-ups or due to emergencies.

Dr. Levi told the Pepperpot Magazine that he is in charge of the facility and treats his staff and patients the same. He listens and he is able to deliver the professional healthcare they need.

He has been there for the past three years and from the look of it, he really likes his job, especially with his open-door policy.

Dr. Levi said that the Long Creek Health Centre oversees three health posts:

Silver Hill, Moblissa and Dora. He revealed that the facilities are responsible for about 3500 residents, who are dispersed over 80 kilometres.

Dr. Levi added that at Long Creek they offer numerous services, including antenatal clinic, adolescent clinic, outpatient, chronic diseases, child health clinic, infant clinic, dressing, family planning and outreaches between the hours of

08:00hrs to 16:00hrs from Mondays to Fridays.

The Long Creek Health Centre has 10 staffers, all professional and capable of dealing with patient-intake The building which houses the health centre.

in the event he is not there.

Dr. Levi disclosed that back in the 1970s the health centre used to be a cottage hospital, and it opened its doors after the first stone was laid on November 21, 1976 by the then Minister of Health, Dr. O.M. Harper.

MATERNAL HUB This health centre will soon boast a brand new Maternal Hub for expectant mothers.

“The Maternal Hub will serve as a waiting room for mothers who are two weeks away from delivery to be safely transferred to have their deliveries done at a regional hospital,” he said.

Even though the facility

which is located in the compound of the Long Creek Health Centre has the capacity to deliver babies, that is not their foremost objective.

The building is 90 per cent physically completed, but it has to be fully equipped before it is ready to admit late-stage pregnancies.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY “I really appreciate the doctor/patient time when ill people come here to seek medical attention. I get to interact with them and am able to diagnose them properly and bring about medical intervention to make them get better,” he said.

Dr. Levi added that his primary goal as a health professional is to assist people to achieve a long, healthy life.

“As a doctor the opportunity presents itself to give yourself to humanity and even though I am paid, it is a gift to serve people, which is my personal motivation as a healthcare worker.”

Dr. Levi added that he is a resident of Soesdyke and the daily commute is taxing, but it is all in a day’s work.

He pointed out that as simple as it seems, a smile from a patient or a quick talk brightens his day and makes it worthwhile, no matter what kind of a day he is having.

List of services offered at the Long Creek Health Centre. (Carl Croker photos)

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

a s a e l o r r e h g n i l l Fulfi s e g n e l l a h c e t i p s e teacher d -Education during a pandemic at Long Creek

By Michel Outridge

D

ESPITE not having internet access, the highway community of Long Creek is doing its best to homeschool children during the pandemic.

Shavina Hibbert is attached to the Long Creek Primary School and has been instrumental in distributing learning materials given by the Ministry of Education.

The 28-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that manoeuvring around educational needs during the pandemic has not been an easy task.

She explained that when schools were closed in March, the teachers tried assisting the children with classwork. It was done via a Whatsapp group, but some parents simply could not afford to pay for data on their mobile phones, so that aspect was short-lived.

The Grade Six teacher said that she would visit the school and try to print out work, which she would then deliver to her pupils,

so that they could continue their studies at home.

The mother of two reported that textbooks given by the ministry were also handed over to the children to accelerate their homeschool learning.

“More than often pupils would come to my home and I would ensure they can do the course work correctly, because I enjoy serving my community. I signed up for this.”

Hibbert, who initially had no interest in becoming a teacher, has now clocked two years in the profession.

“I didn’t really want to be a teacher, but I was looking for work and I was qualified and I applied and got the job and over time I became passionate about it,” she said.

Teaching might not have been her desire, but it was in her blood. Her mother is the retired acting head teacher of Long Creek Primary School.

“I was dejected after successfully completing two years of agriculture school, then when I applied for jobs in that sector I did not even

get a response; so I turned to teaching as a last resort to earn and I liked it very much.”

Hibbert added that having her pupils grasp her lessons brings her a lot of job satisfaction. She said that having an ICT hub at the school, which would allow the children access to the internet via computers, would definitely be a plus for the students.

She explained that the children hardly ever leave the village, so they do not have exposure to the outside world.

The teacher related that most pupils have a difficulty writing compositions and expressing themselves on paper.

Despite the challenges, Hibbert revealed that the school has had success stories.

She stated that five pupils wrote the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) exams and they all did relatively well.

Those who passed with good grades will be attending Dora and Friendship Secondary Schools.

Teacher Shavina Hibbert with one of her two sons. (Carl Croker photos)

Shavina Hibbert.

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Guyana, a pot of amalgamated stew Though mindful that I might sound a tad bit eccentric this week, I am of the opinion that Guyana is one big pot of ‘amalgamated stew’- even if we sometimes let the cook(s) ‘sour’ the pot.

This past week, I visited a few places along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) with two men: one was doing some research

for a book he is writing on Guyana, and the other was our community friend and de facto guide.

We visited the Success squatting area and spent some time speaking with the squatters. We were told the same heart-wrenching stories I have been told over the past weeks while reporting on the

matter.

Persons feel as though they have no other option, so they came here to squat, some lost their jobs and (rented) homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic and some, some of them just wanted a place of their own to rest their head.

The Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) has plans to restart sugar production at the Enmore estate, and that would require a supply of cane from this Success field, inter alia. GuySuCo said that the field is currently being flooded, to prepare for cultivation. While I was at Success, on that day and over the past week, I saw the water rising more and more each day. I saw people pack up and move further and further away, trying to escape the oncoming flood. I understand that the local sugar industry is being revitalised, but I also understand that many of these people (if not all of them) are in a position of need.

After visiting Success, we went into the “office” in Buxton, which was a roadside shop and a space for people to cool down.

We sat at the side of the road just “gyaffing”.

We touched on our politics, the way these cornershop and bottom house conversations almost always go, and we touched on whether our local politics has been the true cause of the real or perceived racial differences.

We spoke about how we join hands to get through hard times- like the 2005 flood, or now, the COVID-19 pandemic (and all the ramifications of each of those- like squatting, for example). The larger-than-life woman who ran the shop and managed the “office” branched off of that main conversation to tell me that I should try what she termed an “amalgamated stew”. This stew, she said, was something she made when she didn’t have enough of one ingredient to make a full pot of stew.

“You could throw in two ochro, some bora and whatever you got with a lil fish head, and you mix it up in yuh pot and stew it down. Duhs de amalgamated stew,” she said.

I sat there in the office and I wondered: was Guyana some kind of amalgamated stew?

Over the past week, working alongside the researcher, I’ve been thinking a lot about our history and how it has

shaped our present-day realities. I feel as though the different people that make up Guyana are like the different ingredients thrown together in a pot of the amalgamated stew. Each ingredient is different from the rest (the ochros tastes very different from the tomato) but those different ingredients come together to make a good, full pot of stew. And the reason for the “amalgamated” part of the amalgamated stew is because the pot wouldn’t “lash” with just a little bit of one ingredient.

I’ve written before (and I remain thoroughly convinced) that race and ethnicity are not the issues here in Guyana. I believe that our problem lies in how we interface with race and ethnicity. Experiences like these- Indo-Guyanese, Afro-Guyanese, and a British Jewish man sitting together at a roadside shop Now, let me hasten to add that I do believe that this “gyaff and laff” rhetoric of togetherness can be superficial. We cannot assume that we are one people living in unity, striving towards a common destiny simply because we can indulge in these manners. My conviction, however, is that we do not dislike each other just because of racial or cultural differences.

There is something else, and something simply sinister, that has been spoiling this pot of stew.

In another conversation we acknowledged that whenever there is some disastera bus plunges into a trench, for example- we don’t stop to see if we like the race or the ethnicity of the persons in the bus. No. You will find people gathering quickly to try to save those persons. While these squatters are struggling to find a better situation for themselves (and hopefully, one that is less contentious) you better believe they are going to band together- regardless of who is who- to figure something out.

It makes me wonder, do we really have a race and/or ethnicity problem? Or is there something else that has been keeping us from healing and reconciling? Who or what is spoiling or ‘souring’ this pot of amalgamated stew?

If you would like to discuss this column or any of my previous writings, please feel free to contact me via email: vish14ragobeer@gmail.com

CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

XI

Follow the rules: Fight COVID-19

W

E live in the troubled age of COVID-19, where normalcy is a distant memory. This disease is a killer and its prolonged existence has changed not only our day-to-day activities, but our outlook on life.

The realities that continue to envelop our sleeping and waking minds are the first of its kind for our generation. The challenges have resulted in job losses, or in many cases reductions in salaries both at home and abroad. Additionally, it has created an atmosphere of fear and distrust around the world.

The ultimate challenge though is the seriousness with regard to the presence of COVID-19 and the complex gauntlet it has thrown before us. What is necessary to understand is that ‘viruses’ are not dust caught in the wind; even in science it seems that the earliest impression was that viruses were lifeless, inert pockets of chemicals, then it was realised that they have genes, they reproduce and they evolve through natural selection, thus, they live.

In addition, evidence of the fact that viruses are alive has been observed: read Discover Magazine (April 2010). what we face is a living organism with an agenda to integrate itself in our bodies and move from body to body; so contaminating and evolving, there are parallels for this behaviour in nature, some bizarre and frightening.

Some years ago I penned a script on an aspect of our local ‘folklore.’ When I finished the pencil layouts, I proceeded to explore the natural world for parallels of the lore. I found an article on a study in the November 2014 edition of National Geographic, which I had bought from Universal Bookstore owned by my friend [they closed doors early 2015]. The topic of that issue was “Real ZOMBIES: the strange science of the living Dead,” an article that introduced the study of insects and bacteria that invade the bodies of other living creatures. They use their victims by taking over their minds and bodies and compelling their actions to serve the single purpose as carriers and defenders of their young (implanted in the bodies of their victims), a macabre report on a unique, natural study—but an eye opener.

My mother worked in the Health Ministry and she once identified some communicable infections; in some cases, persons were accused of deliberately attempting to infect others. It does make one wonder if the pathogen itself can distort some humans based on their mental temperament to act contrarily to the principle of being a brother’s keeper?

COVID-19 is not just a pandemic, it is a shroud of social gloom which causes people to act differently and not in the public interest.

In 1997 I began the process of writing and illustrating a graphic magazine on HIV-AIDS, it was published by UNICEF. One of my tasks towards its development was to interview persons who were infected. There were two popular names that I was directed to, one male, the other female; those were two angry persons, with a ‘get-back’ philosophy to infect other people. She picked up victims at the Astor/Globe cinemas and wooed them to a hotel that existed then on North Road, west of Wellington Street; he had a car and went after teenagers looking for a ‘Sugar Daddy’; the name written on his car was the Star-name that we called a top crooner, ‘Jerry Butler,’ back in the day. On the other hand, there were other people who told persons they engaged that they were sick, condoms were relevant and still are, and they followed ad-

vice and are alive today. Human nature is contradictory, but nothing can be taken for granted. For example, some people learn from an article like this, while others need a poster with grim graphics to be convinced through fear.

COVID-19 is not an infection that can be identified by any obvious signs such as the common cold, measles, mumps or the many infections we know, that result in rapid weight loss. One cannot tell a person’s temperature by looking at him/her; most people who tested positive for COVID-19 were unaware that they were infected. That makes taking things for granted very dangerous.

So wear your mask and fulfil the other social behavioural instructions. I have seen people who should know better without masks. What is scary with this infection is that we have no idea about the long-term physical impact it may have.

We cannot be sure what are the debilitating side effects of this lethal toxin that the Fourth Horse Man has concocted this time upon the human world. So as the Scout-Cub motto goes, ‘Be Prepared.’

To the best of my knowledge, the references used in this article are all facts related to infection, human and other mysterious species of nature.

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Joannie: Finding beauty from within She stood alone by the street corner, her short hair pulled down to shield what it could of her face, a sad look in her weary eyes. She wore a cheap dress, being a poor girl, but it accentuated her slim body and smooth skin.

Her simple looks could have been a beautiful picture, except there was a flaw that caused her to stand hidden in the shadows while the other girls laughed and chatted with their boyfriends in the outdoor country bar. No one wanted to be her friend because of her perceived ugliness. “Why was I born with this ugly look?” she often wondered, “Is it a curse, a sin?” She couldn’t say, not at the beginning as a child nor now as a young girl. She had lived with the hope that one day when she woke up and looked in the mirror, the ugliness would be gone.

The unkind taunts followed her everywhere, for no one stopped to think it could be hurting her. In the eyes of the community, she was just a poor girl who assisted her mother with their small street food business. She finally built enough courage and stepped out of the shadows to walk down the street, for her mother had sent her to buy a bread. Immediately one of the boys called out to her, “Ay Joannie, you want a drink or you waiting for Chucky?”

She stopped to turn back, then changed her mind and as she passed the bar, two other boys tried to block her path. “Chucky’s bride, sure you don’t want a drink?”

The girls all laughed as she stumbled while attempting to See page XXVI

CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Colourful Tales from Kiskadee Village

By Francis Quamina Farrier The reality is that we are living in some extremely challenging and uncertain times. Some of us are resolute in ensuring that we stay on top of the COVID-19 pandemic situation, which is testing us to the very core. While most of us in Guyana obey the COVID-19 protocols, sadly there are those who do not, resulting in the constant increases in cases and deaths.

Recently, I interviewed a few residents of Kiskadee Village on a few burning issues of the day. But first let me alert you that Kiskadee Village is a mythical community. However, the people who I have interviewed for this article, are real people. Kiskadee Village is the creation of celebrated Guyanese-born, Holland-based, authoress, Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra.

By invitation of the Mayor, I visited and have this special report from Kiskadee Village.

Though not a Utopia, the residents of Kiskadee Village live in a community in which there is Peace and Harmony, Love and Unity, resulting in genuine development in their multi-racial society. On entering Kiskadee Village you will see the sign, “KISKADEE VILLAGE. Everyone is welcome here. Enjoy your visit.”

You would then see villagers milling around. Drivers are extremely courteous and obey the traffic laws.

You would also see small business establishments such as restaurant, auto repairs, beauty parlour, butcher shop, barber shop, beer garden, general store and others flourishing. Although not as popular as it used to be in colonial British Guiana, “box hand” is still practiced in Kiskadee Village. People trust each other and there has never been an occasion when someone ran off with the money. Kiskadee Village though mythical, reflects a few real communities in Guyana.

You need to know that while Kiskadee village is a mythical place, the people who I have interviewed for

this feature article are real Guyanese. The first person I interviewed commenced by saying, “My name is Clara Mittleholzer. I have a few family friends that are currently battling the coronavirus. Another set of my family friends have recovered with the help of God’s grace.” Clara Mittleholzer has not tested positive for the coronavirus herself. However, she has been affected by the disease beyond physical illness.

“The virus has affected my relationship with one of my family members. Sometimes we get into arguments because he gets tired of being at home all the time, but in the end, he always makes the right decision.”

Clara Mittelholzer does not recommend people running around seeking excitement in order to ease any boredom which they may experience at this unusual time. “I would just like to say to everyone to stay at home and stay safe.” And that is with good reason.

“It is with a great sadness and a heavy heart, I have to say that two of my friends passed away because of the virus.”

Ester Moore spoke of how she is coping. “Most day ah does force meself fuh be positive an optimistic an tell meself dat dis lockdown gun end jus now.

But den a see de numbers climbing and nuff mo people dying and ah start to panic.” However, her faith pulls her up. “Ah get extra religious, always whispering a praya and suh.” Like so many others, life is like a rollercoaster. “I had bouts of depression. A couple of my friends and relatives got COVID-19. When my friend died in April, that was my first bout. But I am still hurting.” Her ups and downs are on-going. “It didn’t last too long because by nature I am a cheerful person.” She has since taken up Karaoke as therapy.

Also an increase in reading books. All to help her stop worrying about her elderly grandmother. On the up side, “Ah have extra time now to hone my cake decorating skills.”

Another person who I interviewed was Alison Buchanan, who is taking the current world health

situation in her stride. “I don’t feel pressured to get things done as quickly as I did before.” She emphasized. “If the lockdown is still in place for Diwali, I will celebrate it at home.

It can be done. It’s just See page XVII

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This Kiskadee was singing with all its might on the roof of the Kiskadee Village Office.

(Photo by Francis Q. Farrier)

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Dr. Shamdeo Persaud...

From page III modest to admit.

However, he did say that he developed a good relationship with all of his colleagues, whether they practised in the public or private sector, and his relationships were heavily based on respect. Having played many high-intensity matches before, he was confident that

he had the ability, as well. In the stands, he had his large family- his wife, three children and 10 older siblings (six sisters and four brothers) supporting him even when things got turbulent.

“We work in a very complex environment, balancing between technical persons but also with principals who are politicians and you have to balance that equation very

delicately as CMO,” he said, speaking about the demands of the job. “There were some rough moments… but what I always try to do is put people first in this equation.”

Putting persons first is how he got through his career, really. As CMO, there were heightened concerns for the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic Chikungunya, Zika and even Ebola. Maternal

deaths were also a concern, and one of those health issues which really hit the CMO. Crafting guidelines and protocols, or coordinating services were all integral parts of his job, but he could never divorce the human interest aspect.

“Nevermind if they are five or six children with a (type of) cancer, you might say that’s a small number,

Dr. Persaud, when he graduated from the University of Guyana

but to the family, and to that child, that the most important thing- that’s the largest thing to them,” he said, emphasising again that it was not about the statistics but it was about real people.

COVID-19 Of course, this summary of Dr. Shamdeo’s work thus far would be incomplete without mention of the current pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. At the end of last year, this was flagged as an emerging problem in China, and while preparation was underway across the globe, who really knew what devastation it would eventually bring?

At the beginning of January, Dr. Shamdeo finally used some of his long-accumulated leave to attend a few family engagements, out of Guyana. For him, personally, that was the calm before the storm.

As soon as he returned to Guyana, in mid-January, he went straight to the Woodlands hospital, where there was a potential case of COVID-19. He recalled meeting with the team, who weren’t quite sure what to do, save for keeping the person isolated. And, Guyana did not yet have testing capacity, so the samples had to be shipped abroad.

From then, the preparation intensified- getting the ports of entry prepared, drafting guidelines and pro-

tocols, procuring protective equipment and the whole works. Then on March 11, Guyana had its first case which, according to Dr. Shamdeo, did not start off on the “right foot” as the woman lost her life, unfortunately. Eventually, seeing the need for someone the person can look towards for credible information, he became the face of the daily briefings.

“I was eager to get the message over and no deaths to report was always the thing we kept our fingers crossed for. We hoped for a low number of cases each day,” he said. The CMO also explained that striking the balance between providing credible information but not “overloading” persons was vital.

Now, the pandemic is still a long way from being over and Guyana still has to catch up on the time and concern lost to the infamous 2020 election. The country will not be doing so with its long standing CMO, who has reached the age of retirement and will be leaving his post.

“The task is still a big one,” he said. While he believes that he left the health sector even if just a tiny bit better than it was before, he knows that there is much more to be done. Dr. Shamdeo highlighted that he will be focusing on the more private aspects of his life, but like the true trooper he is, he remains ready to serve Guyana’s public sector once called upon.

CHRONICLEPEPPERPOT PEPPERPOT――Sunday, Sunday,October October18, 4, 2020 CHRONICLE 2020

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A project to change our justice system

I

HelloIEveryone, ple ancanongoing get physical if they Today would like to discuss project that I believe many of you do not find knowout about.

It’s a project they have been that I’m so proud to be a part of. hope this week has betrayedBank (IDB) project It’s an International Development that focuses on the proper rehabilitation of our prisoners. treated you well.

- End of ait marriage/ reI’m very anti-prison in the sense where, does not deal with the rootI of the problem. recently re- Locking lationshipsomeone in a cell is not in any way effective in reducing the future possibility of a request - Broken relationships robbery, ceived sexual assault, substance abuse or murder.

However, IDB has teamed up with Dr Brian O’Toole to discuss adultery with children and other famfrom Guyana to normalise proper rehabilitation- the kind its effects ily members that will and actually make a on difference in reducing crime and improving the life of prisoners- inside and when released. mental well-being.

- Financial stress Below is some information on the project from Dr. O’Toole himself.

A woman had written - Medical consequences Maybe, like us, you are exhausted by the daily diet from aboutmedia, her husband’s such acquiring a sexually the both hereinfideliin Guyana andasinternationally, about racial tensions, conflict and violence.

The Youth Can Move ty and the anguish it brought transmitted disease (STD) the World programme from Nations is trying to respond to her. Ichallenge. think it is an important - Pregnancy (themselves that The racial divisions in Guyana continue to curtail detopic to discuss, as it is so or the outside person) velopment in this country. Successive governments have had limited throughout success in finding prominent our long-term solutions to this challenge. Like so many countries, Guyana is plagued by society.disunity, I myselfconflict know very Now,thewhat doesis left racial and violence. If challenge unchecked it will lead to an ever-polarised country with a few relationships that are cheating do to the significant percentage of the youth disillusioned, apathetic monogamousmeans tangible tovictim? and indifferentwhich with nothing channel their idealism into. Despite, our recent emergence as a petroleum to be married to or to be in a It causes extreme hurt, producing economy, racial tensions and conflicts continue to hold relationship out little forwith young the trained and sexual justpeople lowespecially self-esteem and selfskilled, who continue to seek their future overseas. oneApartner. doubt.dependent It ruins theon trust for new future is fundamentally the role the We’re youth going of Guyana choose to take.

Nations is presently to talk about not only the current, but also involved in a large scale, IDB funded, prison reform project. beingaspect unfaithful for future relationships.

This One of this in is ageneral reintroduction of the Youth Can Move the World (YCMTW) programme that Nations introduced as only married people can is called projecting, when throughout Guyanas over a 15-year period. The YCMTW programme explores youth; commit adultery, butissues you oftheconcern victimstoare moreracism, often poverty, conflict resolution, sexuality, protection of the do not have etc. to beThemarried than olds not on afraid, insecure environment 16 to 25-year the programme explore these issues through the arts. in order to be devastated by and untrusting in their new that betrayal. relationships. This can lead For the religious, adul- to high anxiety, depression tery is a sin; the word from and even suicide. its Latin heritage ‘adulterCheating will also affect are’ means to corrupt. It is the children if the family is one of the major causes of split apart. Typically, trust breakups/divorce world- issues are also passed on to wide. However, its effects them, affecting both their fuon both individuals are ture friendships and intimate widespread. relationships.

Unfaithfulness/cheatI know many people who Louisa Mancey, a key member of thebeen YCMTW ing causes many problems have never cheatedteam, on also is the Program Manager for Youth of Solutions for withinboth the cheater and We the World. This youth-focused program has (to their knowledge), butbeen are working with networks of youth to explore ways in which the victim, ranging from terrified of it because one of

or not; there are people who cheat and people who do not. It’s simply a personal choice. There will always be other problems to ‘blame’ the cheating on, but despite temptation, we as humans have the capability to choose whether we hurt someone deeply or not.

The main reason always cited to me is a lack of atyouth can step into leadership roles in their communities and apply frameworks tention.

The partnerand has tools felt to create the transformations they want to see in diverse and varied settings, such as their ignored significant schools by andtheir other training institutions, their communities and workplaces. other which has lowered In response to the challenges outlined above, Nations their self-esteem self-programme are collaborating on and the We in theand World this initiative. worth.

Therefore, they seek Over recent weeks, we have organised a series of prominent speakers to present Zoom sessions on racism, conflict, attention elsewhere. a violence free society etc.

There manyhave ways These are sessions included Zoom sessions by Gordon Naylor, Director of Hatts to give attention to yourOff, a very successful treatment programme for troubled youth in Ontario, Canada, Terrence spouse.

Some examples Simmonds, Senior Project Manager, The Human Brain Project, Geneva, Switzerland, are constant communica- Mam Yassin, Director of Starfish, an NGO in The Gambia, West Africa. Future speakers include Somav, CEO of the NGO, We in the World tion of the Dr problem—not and Mick Campion: a senior Prison Warder from Ireland talking, ignoring and holdwho worked for many years on UN peace keeping missions in the Balkans and Lebanon: ing a grudge solves nothing.

Moving forward the YCMTW programme is planning a Other are being nation examples wide campaign to develop a youth movement across this country.

We will begin physically and mentallywith a survey exploring the kind of country that the youth of Guyana want to live in. The goal for the survey is to get 1,000 respondents from as wide a present and affectionate, cross section of the country as possible. compassionate, patient, em The survey will ask participants to ; pathetic and sexually ac· describe the Guyana you want to see tive.· what Human beings long could youforand your peers do to create this visiontypes of Guyana? these of connections. · what support would you need? · who wouldisyou need this help from?

Basically, cheating an ex· why is this change important to you? ternal The reaction anthe internal resultstoof survey will help define the direction in which this programme problem. Participating in theshould focus.

The diaspora will also be approached to see how it above examplestoarethis internal can contribute youth movement.

Once the results of the survey have been analysed, a solutions.

National Youth Conference will be hosted where the youth will share the survey results. It will also be an opportunity to showcase the creative work of the youth in terms of art, What films, happens after posters, poetry on the Guyana they want to see.

In small groups the Conference, the youth will formuyou have found atout? late a Plan of Action on how to move towards the creation

Well, there is a big deci-

of a violence free society. Potential funders will be invited to attend to hear the plans and hopes of the Guyanese youth.

A key feature of this plan of action is the holding of a video competition. The video competition will have two themes: one on ‘racism’ and the other on ‘this is the Guyana I want to see’. Motivational prizes will be sourced. Nations is offering scholarships to some of their tertiary courses as prizes. A workshop on simple mobile phone, video production will help to introduce the competition. The mass media will be encouraged to give coverage of the process and the event.

To help stimulate input for the films we will offer a series of 8 weekly talks, via Zoom, on the major themes. These talks will then be offered to the TV and radio stations across Guyana to ensure as many persons as possible are engaged in the process. A series of 10 weekly articles will also be offered to the major newspapers featuring the talk of that week.

Anyone who would like to be involved in this exciting programme should email Dr Brian O’Toole; otoole.nations@ gmail.com Thanks for reading everyone. Please continue sending the topics which you would like to be discussed to caitlinvieira@ gmail.com Also, if you would like personal counselling sessions, please call or message +592 623-0433

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Colourful Tales from...

FROM PAGE XIII different. Isn’t life about learning to do things differently?” she remarked rhetorically. Meanwhile, she has embraced technology with both arms, so to speak. “I’m all zoomed out...and have zoom meetings every day, as well as a couple of fortnightly meetings with friends.” Asked about ‘lockdown’ reading she stated, “I’m into steampunk, fantasy and space operas at the moment. Oh, and I’m supporting independent authors who otherwise can’t get published in print form.”

Tony Phillips recently moved into a new phase of his life. “This pandemic has not affected my wife Schavana and I very much because we both had already retired before the COVID-19 hit.

We had already set ourselves up with our pensions. For us it is very much normal life in an unusual kind of way.” I have to admit that Tony Phil-

lips surprised me with what he said next. “I have been able to finish the book about the Dome Mural and will be starting to source an editor soon in order to move to the publishing stage.” The Dome Mural referred to, is the one with the images of six Guyanese personalities painted in the dome of the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (formally Barclays Bank) on Water Street, Georgetown, Guyana. If you think that Tony Phillips is doing terrific in his retirement years, his wife Schavana, also a retiree, “Continues to work at home on the completion of her PhD thesis.” he informed me.

Aunty Kay was so relaxed when I interviewed her! “Well, wha me go tell yuh? Me a try. Wha yuh go duh?” That was fundamental. “Well, abi a keep church service pon zoom, becase yuh know, de virus!” She reads and also goes online and downloads material of

interest to her. She keeps her spirit buoyant even though she has been receiving bad news from time to time.

“Five a me family in de States bin get coronavirus.

Thank Gawd everybaddy pull throo. Waan, waan time me a walk Regent Street fa buy lill ting wah me need.”

Aunty Kay admitted to being depressed from time to time. “But me read Bible, me pray, me lissn lil music an ting.” When asked about celebrating The Festival of Lights, her eyes lit up like two bright diyas. “Diwali?

Why natt!” And at the end of 2020; “Christmas a de birth a Chraise we a keep up!”

In closing, I have to reiterate that those interviewed for this article are all real Guyanese, and even though Kiskadee Village is a mythical community, it is based on some real areas and communities within The Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

Pere DeRoy FROM PAGE II perceives the idea of PhDs, “Sometimes I can’t say if I would be taken seriously in Guyana with a PhD because sometimes I get a push back. There is a question of ‘what I am going to do with a PhD?’ Sometimes people are proud of you in terms of these big accomplishments, while not seeing the connection to how more learning and engagements with a topic can help us to think better and do better.”

Her sage advice is to do what you like, what brings relevance to you, the world you are from, or a problem you are witnessing. For her, she entered a world of knowledge and people she wouldn’t have had access to.

Her confidence and ability to speak intelligently about a problem, concern or ideology is a result of all this studying.

Graduate school forces you to think, think big, think deeper and wider at the same time. Studying for a PhD is no joke. “I remember when I was studying in Canada I was at the library from 8am to midnight sometimes. Then I would travel for like an hour to get home, then I would continue studying. It is an intense process. You are literally reading hundreds of pages

a week. A good night for me is a light reading of 100-200 pages with no distracts from emails, students, family or desiring delicious Guyanese food. Then I would prepare for a good night’s sleep like if I were preparing for an event”, said DeRoy. She had no experience living outside of Guyana.

As such, there was a lot of additional burdens while studying abroad. She had no family members with her, had no experience with winter and its harshness and she had no close friends around. Even food and not knowing where to get spices that she is accustomed to negatively affected her mood and resilience to complete her education at a specific time. Nonetheless, she volunteered with the Red Thread, a local organisation that has a network of women in Toronto. Without that support system of women in the network, she expressed that she probably wouldn’t have survived. They took her in and provided great mentorship. They were her family. DeRoy is also filled with gratitude towards people like Kamala Kempadoo. She is a renowned Caribbean and international

scholar and was also Pere’s professor at the time. She was there as a mentor and guide for her in times of need. Kempadoo even attended her graduation as a family member because her Guyanese relatives were too far away.

With only two more years of school left, she is more focused on getting into conferences, passing two more very important exams that lead to her doctorate and collaboratively working with amazing professors from the Caribbean. Her success in graduate school is not only an individual journey, but definitely a collective process. Obtaining a CSEC certificate is a major accomplishment for many, but Pere has pushed and persevered beyond social boundaries.

She went from growing up in a working-class household in East Ruimveldt to becoming a Caribbean scholar. She hopes her story can inspire the youth of Guyana who may want to pursue and further their studies at the tertiary level. Even with all of her accomplishments and the commitments in studying, Pere is simply living life one day at a time.

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Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra, First Prize winner of the GCA Godfrey Chin Prize for Heritage Journalism and creator of Kiskadee Village. (Photo by Francis Q. Farrier)

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Retired head teacher promotes community development in Long Creek

By Michel Outridge SINCE the formation of the Community Development Council (CDC) at Long Creek on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway last month, retired head teacher Gwendaline De Jesus has been leading from the front.

The veteran educator, who is the secretary of the 300-member CDC, has used her organisational skills to create a development plan for her community.

She crafted an emergency and a long-term proposal, which she submitted to the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development for guidance and approval.

De Jesus said that she is currently awaiting a response. In the document, she asked for a resource centre to be constructed for skills training of youths.

The venue could also serve as a meeting place for village activities.

Also on the cards is a storage facility and farming relief in the form of equipment for the residents.

“We want youth development, so the young people in this village will not have to leave the village to look for work; they can stay and be employed through their own small businesses and other entrepreneurial aspects in this community.”

Along with developmental aspects, the plan also highlighted the need for

Fenton Hibbert

Gwendaline De Jesus

potable water and electricity.

HISTORY IN THE COMMUNITY Community development is important to De Jesus, more so, due to her many decades in the area.

She said that her father was the head teacher at St. Cuthbert’s Mission Primary School and her mother was a resident of that village.

As a couple, they later decided to move to Long Creek.

De Jesus stated that she

Home of Gwendaline De Jesus

has been living in the community since 1981. Ten years later, she started her teaching career in the village. In total, she served 35 years in the profession before she retired as acting head teacher in 2016.

During that time, she started a family with the only remaining Jamaican living in the community.

Long Creek was once a settlement for English and Jamaican migrants.

CAREGIVER

Gwendaline De Jesus and her family (Carl Croker photos)

When she is not engaged in community activities, De Jesus is taking care of her bed-ridden mother, Ida Dundas, who is 88 years old.

In 2011, Ida Dundas was in good health and had travelled to the city to uplift her pension and reportedly fell, which caused her to get blood clots in her head; she suffered a stroke and never regained the use of her limbs.

Ida Dundas in her younger days worked as a housekeeper, but she was also a craft-maker and was much sought after because of her talent. She also worked for the late President Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham’s wife Viola Burnham, making tibisiri carpets for government buildings, including State House.

Sadly, her active lifestyle was brought to an end when she fell.

In her spare time, De Jesus would make cassava bread and sell it to supplement her income. She also has a kitchen garden in her yard where she grows most of her food.

“Being a mother, a caregiver, a community activist and a farmer is a lot to handle, but I have the will to make it happen and I will not give up, because this village needs to be developed for our lives to get better,” she said.

THE ONLY MIGRANT JAMAICAN IN LONG CREEK Meanwhile, Fenton Hibbert is the only remaining Jamaican migrant who left his homeland many years ago to settle at Long Creek.

The 74-year-old is a farmer and would tend to his crops early in the morning after which he would take a shower and go for a walk at his sister-in-law’s shop for a

much-needed drink.

That routine is repeated daily, after which he would return home to have a nap.

Although he did return to Jamaica a few times, he told the Pepperpot Magazine that after he got children in the village he decided to stay.

He is the father of seven and is satisfied with the community’s quiet way of life.

Hibbert likes hunting in his spare time. He would gather up his friends and they would go on an expedition in the forested area along Mabura.

The elderly gentleman said that in his youthful days he was advised to go to the ‘gold bush’ to earn as a miner and he invested his savings to buy a dredge and other equipment, but he was unsuccessful.

Financially, it left a hole in his pockets and he decided to stick with what he knew -- farming.

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SQUATTING MUST BE EXTIRPATED

QUATTING is one of the worst social ills that has afflicted Guyana since independence. Squatting, until the 1950s, was a comparatively rare occurrence and wholesale squatting of many scores of squatters descending on private and public property was unknown. Squatting of the type which recently occurred when hundreds of squatters invaded GUYSUCO’s lands on the East Coast of Demerara first had its parallel during the racial disturbances of the 1960s.

During these disturbances, Indians who lived in predomi-

nantly African villages relocated to the nearest Indian villages and the same occurred in respect of the Africans. These “refugees” settled on the outskirts of the villages and were convinced that the time would come when they could return to their homes; but such a time never came. Instead, during President Burnham’s long rule, people became obsessed with emigrating and tens of thousands left permanently to neighbouring countries and North America. These emigrants left their properties in the care of any relative or friend who would undertake the responsibility. But soon these attorneys

themselves emigrated, leaving others who would barely supervise the property.

Squatters moved in and in due course claimed prescriptive rights.

Squatters are actuated by greed and by the belief and desire that they could steal someone else’s property with impunity. Indeed, some of them actually convinced themselves that they had a legal and moral right to squat. Almost all squatters would have a hard-luck story to tell about how poor they were, or the six children they have, or their starvation wages and so on. But if one asks them from whence they came, it seems to touch their Achilles heel and they become very aggressive. Their sensitivity is aroused because it would have become clear that they were intent on getting someone else’s property for nothing.

This pattern of occupying state lands after an election first occurred when the APNU+AFC came into office five years ago. The government had not even settled down before hundreds of squatters invaded state lands on the East Coast of Demerara, falsely claiming that the new administration had promised them this land. They were successfully expelled by the police after a vigorous show of force. The same pattern repeated itself when the PPP/C assumed office, but the numbers were far greater.

These squatters invaded East Coast sugar estate lands belonging to GUYSUCO especially in the Vryheid’s Lust, Chateau Margot and Success areas and even aggressively attacked NICIL and GUYSUCO officials. The police were compelled to use tear gas and rubber bullets. When the media interviewed the squatters, they all aggressively declared that they would not move, irrespective of the damage they had caused GUYSUCO and the sugar industry.

They have destroyed sugar cane-breeding nurseries and invaluable scientific research and it is estimated that GUYSUCO would have sustained a loss of $2 billion. Such a loss is a great setback for the sugar industry, which is now being resuscitated and had expected to provide employment for several thousand workers within the next four years.

SQUATTING

Do the squatters care about the suffering they would have imposed on the hundreds they have denied employment?

This squatting problem could be brought under control or returned to its pre-1950 condition, or may even be eliminated if the following are done:(1) The state must vigorously enforce the laws against squatting and trespassing on private and public property.

Despite this squatting on public and GUYSUCO’s land, no squatter has been brought before the courts. Indeed, the authorities have been discussing giving the squatters land elsewhere or even “regularising” them. The squatters are being rewarded for their wrongdoing. Until the state prosecutes squatters and expel trespassers, the problem will never be controlled.

(2) Squatting should be made a criminal offence.

(3) The present 12-year prescriptive rule was adopted from English legislation and is inappropriate for Guyana’s conditions. England is a highly urbanised country while Guyana is still rural and Guyana has one of the highest emigration rates in the world. The 33-year rule should be resuscitated. The state has protected itself by making it impossible to prescribe on state land, but it did not extend such protection to private property. This omission must be corrected and the 33-year rule for prescription on private property should be revived. This would greatly diminish squatting.

(4) Wider knowledge of squatting and its implications need to be disseminated. This could be done via the print and electronic media, at the teachers’ training institutions and in the primary schools.

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Joannie: Finding beauty ...

From page XII

sidestep them. She didn’t stop at the shop for the bread, she just kept walking, not concerned about where she was going, the unkind laughter ringing in her ears. They were always calling her names akin to ugliness and all she wanted as a young girl was to be liked, to have friends, to do the things she loved. Joannie stopped walking, she was breathing heavily and was unaware about where she was. She had walked a long way in her distressed thoughts. Looking around she realised she was next to a cemetery. An old Methodist Church stood in the same

ground; curiosity got the better of her and she walked in and sat on the steps. “I’ll just sit here for a little while,” she said to herself, “At least no one here will taunt me.”

She leaned back against the rails and closed her eyes—her mind was relaxed in the still silence. A long while later, her senses were awakened by an invigorating masculine fragrance. She opened her eyes and jumped up startled.

A handsome young man, dressed in an immaculate black suit was standing at the bottom of the church steps. She looked around to see who else was there, but there was no one. “Who are you?” She asked with a tinge of fear in her voice. It was unusual for someone dressed like that to be at the church at that hour, unless he was a … “Oh, no!” she gasped, her voice muted. He raised his head that he had lowered a little and looking at her; recognition grabbed at her with cold fingers. She gasped, stepping back, almost falling over. “Oh my God, I know you! You’re Damien, you died a couple months ago in a motorbike accident.”

“Yep,” he nodded his head, standing there as though this was normal. Joannie tried to steady herself, taking several deep breaths. He seemed so real, like a living person that if she hadn’t recognised him, she wouldn’t have known she was talking to a ghost. “Don’t be afraid,” he said, “I am here for a good reason.” Her heart was still beating rapidly and she asked in a shaky voice. “Why am I seeing you?” “Because you need me.” “A ghost?” she asked in an incredulous tone. “And I need you,” he continued.

For a moment she didn’t say anything, feeling as though she was in some kind of crazy dream, then she said, “I don’t understand.” “I was not such a good person in life, I was wild and arrogant,” he admitted. “That I know,” she said quietly. “I was also a disobedient child, hurting my parents’ feelings. I did not listen to my mother, that day, when she told me not to go riding on that CBR. She is still crying for me.”

Joannie sat down on the steps, his words seeming to calm her fear. Although he was not of this world anymore, she could understand his pain and she said, “After the accident that day, your friends were saying that death was riding with you.” There was a long moment of silence from him, then he said, “I wasn’t such a bad guy to go to hell, and not good enough for heaven, so I was sent back to do one great good for someone before the doors of heaven can open for me.”

“Why did you choose me?” “I had been looking for someone who needed divine help and found no one until you walked in here tonight, in deep emotional pain.” “Story of my life,” she said, “Don’t think anything can change that.” “Yes it can.

The beauty inside you must be brought to the outside, so you can be seen and loved for who you are.”

“I’m not sure about that,” she said, an uncertain look in her eyes. “We’ll see,” he said. Joannie wasn’t sure how she reached home that night.” In the morning, she did not bother to look in the mirror and walked slowly down the old stairs, not sure what she would see. But there was nothing unusual and as she ate breakfast, she pondered about the encounter with Damien’s ghost. It all seemed so real, but as the day progressed, she concluded, “It was either a dream or I am losing my mind.” Night approached and she stayed at home, not daring to go out in the streets but as the hours wore on, he arrived on a CBR bike. “Oh damn!” she exclaimed quietly, “This is real.” This time she wasn’t scared, maybe it was idea of divine help. He guided her, showing her the fine things in life, how not to be self-conscious of her looks, for in everyone there was something beautiful. She had a beautiful laughter that she was not aware of, given she hardly laughed. He walked with her everywhere, an unseen bodyguard, helping her to build her courage and self-confidence, day after day.

She did not go to the market anymore hiding her face under a straw hat, nor sitting anymore at the back of the church. Her personality changed with a warm smile and confident tone, surprising all those who often ridiculed and scorned her. Her new found self-belief gave her the encouragement to follow a dream she had been nurturing, that is to open her own little snackette thus extending the family’s food business.

Damien advised her to talk to his mother for assistance from the Damien Foundation she had established in his memory, which was the start Joannie needed to elevate her life from poverty.

In the morning now, when she looks in the mirror, she sees that beauty from within and a sparkle in her eyes, Damien had done his great good and Heaven welcomed him as life did for her.

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New booklet available on insects, pests and disease control

C

ROPS Extension Officers now have access to additional information on insects, pests and diseases that affects local crop varieties. The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) recently launched the booklet titled: “A Pictorial Guide to Insects, Pests and Diseases.”

According to Dr. Oudho Homenauth, Chief Executive Officer of NAREI, although the booklet would be made available to the public, it would be most beneficial to extension officers, who often make on-the-spot recommendations to farmers.

This booklet is a compilation of information collected from plant samples submitted to the Plant Pathology, Entomology and Weed Science Department for analysis. It highlights the common diseases (fungi, bacteria, virus, protozoa and nematodes); physiological disorders and insects that play a role in agricultural production.

The information generated will assist farmers and other stakeholders in the identification and management of common problems experienced.

Dr. Homenauth explained that over the years farmers have submitted samples for diagnosis, which NAREI would then use to conduct research. The findings have been compiled in the booklet.

Saved as: booklet

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CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020 The Teacher’s house.

Long Creek...

From Page VII eke out a living with the resources available.

The community was once populated, but due to a lack of opportunities, many people were forced to find employment and a better life elsewhere.

Long Creek, like most villages along the highway, is without electricity and potable water supply. As

such, villagers are forced to improvise. Those who can afford have generators, while some have solar panels.

Residents depend heavily on rainfall, but during

a living.

“I was just 10 years old when my mom came here to work and we settled here because she was earning and it became our home.”

dry spells they are forced to walk long distances to the creek to source water to bathe, wash and do other household chores.

The cell phone signals are weak and the only access to the internet they have is via their mobiles with a data plan.

At times, a fish van would pass through the village vending while most residents get fresh vegetables and fruits from their own farms.

Persons would also purchase groceries from Soesdyke or from the capital city.

Unfortunately, Hinds’s mother (who was a single parent) passed away, so her nine children were forced to lead their own lives.

Hinds related that one of his sisters still resides in the village while the other lives in the city.

“I live here alone and do everything for myself but it gets lonely at times, but that is overlooked because I like the quiet and I don’t like a crowd so this setting for a simple life suits me just fine and I get by despite the challenges of living this far off.”

The father of five added that although he never married that thought still lingers in his mind and once he finds the ideal partner, he is willing to tie the knot.

“I does make my own roti and so I am self-sufficient and really don’t need help in terms of chores but having someone around might be nice.”

The mild-mannered man pointed out that he has a small solar panel which powers his radio and that is his company and he would leave it on while he is at home.

Hinds added that he would have data on his phone when he can afford and would browse the internet to keep up-to-date with what is happening in the world.

He reported that he is the rural constable in the community but due to the pandemic, he is not functioning in the post.

Hinds is also fond of plants and flowers, which he planted in his yard to beautify his environment.

HARDWORKING BACHELOR: WOLVIS HINDS Wolvis Hinds, a local who lives alone, works at the school as a night security guard. In his spare time, he tends to his kitchen garden.

Hinds is also a part-time landscaper and would use his brush cutter to do weeding jobs in the community during the day.

The 59-year-old stated that the community do not get much visitors, so he was more than happy to entertain the team.

Hinds added that he grew up in the village and attended school there.

He is originally from Beterverwagting, on the East Coast Demerara, but relocated as a child.

Hinds reported that his mother was a ‘grant worker,’ back in those days they made wallaba posts, paling staves and burnt coals for

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THOUGHT FOR TO

DAY

The Vision of C hri thou dost seest that Is my vision’s g reatest enemy. Thine has a great crooked nose like thin e, Mine has a snu b nose like to m e.

WILLIAM BLAin E (1757-1827 The EverlastiK ng Gospel, a, ) 1.1

October 18, 2020 Dear Student, Welcome, dear friend.

Study smarter, not harder.

Yes, constant use of effective study and learning habits boosts your ability to organise, understand and retain information,

also, to master classroom work load and assessments. Try these smart skills: mnemonics, which aid the retention of lists of information; effective reading techniques, which aid understanding and concentration; and efficient note taking for proper revision and storing of information. Your education advancement will prove that smarter study is the way forward. Be wise.

Love you.

THE PASSAGE Reaching the town, Troy descended into a side street and entered a pair of gates surmounted by a board bearing the words: “Lester, stone and marble mason”. Within, lay stones inscribed as being sacred to the memory of unnamed persons who had not yet died. Troy was so much unlike himself now in look, word, and deed, that the want of likeness was perceptible even to his own consciousness. His method of engaging himself in this business of purchasing a tomb was that of an unpracticed man. He could not bring himself to consider, calculate, or economise.

He waywardly wished for something, and he set about obtaining it like a child in a nursery. “I want a good tomb,” he said to the man who stood in a little office within the yard. “I want as good a one as you can give me for twenty-seven pounds.” That was all the money he possessed.

“That sum to include everything?”

“Everything. Cutting the name, carriage to Weatherbury, and erection. And I want it now, at once.”….

“The best I have is this one. Here’s a marble headstone beautifully crocketed, with medallions beneath the typical subjects; here’s the footstone after the same pattern, and there’s the coping to enclose the grave.

The polishing alone of the set cost me eleven pounds – the slabs are the best of their kind, and I can warrant them to resist rain and frost for a hundred years without flying.

“And for how much?”

“Well, I add the name, and put it up at Weatherbury for the sum you mention.”

“Get it done today, and I’ll pay you the money now.”

The man agreed; and wondered at such a mood in a visitor who wore not a shred of mourning….

Something to Do 1. a) According to the passage, find these literary devices used by the writer: i) One example of simile, and ii) One example of litotes.

2. Within the first paragraph, work with the following: a) “He could not bring himself to consider, calculate, or economise”. In this statement one word means two others put together.

Point out that single word, and then the other two put together. What is this saying about him? b) Give the meaning of the following phrases and clauses: i) sacred to the memory of unnamed persons ii) the want of likeness iii) perceptible even to his own consciousness

3. a) Was the office really a little one within the yard, or was it the way Troy saw it (and the man)? Give your ideas about how the author has expressed it. b) What is called ‘sales pitch’? In which part(s) of the passage is Mr. Lester’s sales pitch found? Were you impressed, or you did not like it? Anyway, describe the way he did it. Was Troy impressed?

4. Look through the passage. Suppose someone sent you to the stone and marble mason’s yard to purchase the goods and services Troy bought for twenty-seven pounds (sterling pounds).

Write, from gathered information, a price list that you think befits the purchase.

Present it to your study group, and then to the sender.

5. Write a poem incorporating the event dwelt upon by the extract. Read it to your study partners, make suitable adjustments suggested by them, and to which you agree, and then display it where many can read it.

THE POEM The Story in the Poem To Be of Use by Marge Peircy The people I love the best jump into work head first without dallying in the shadows and swim off with some strokes almost out of sight.

They seem to become natives to the element, the black sleek heads of seals bouncing like half-submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart, who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience, who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward, who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge in task, who go into the fields to harvest and work in a row and pass the bags along, who stand in the line and haul in their places, who are not parlour generals and field deserters, but move in a common rhythm when the food must come in or when the fire be put out.

The work of the world is as common as mud.

Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.

But the thing worth doing well done has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.

Greek amphoras for wine or oil, Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums but you know they were made to be used.

The pitcher cries for water to carry and a person for work that is real.

Something to Do 1. You and your study group together tell what the story in the poem is. Be sure to include the following: a) What is the speaker’s preference. b) Pointing out the metaphorical use to compare between oxen, water buffalo, and seals. c) Pointing out the skills and confidence of each in their own individual environment.

2. Does the poem find appreciation in all your study partners’ way of thinking? Why? Why not?

CHRONICLE PEPPERPOT ― Sunday, October 18, 2020

Drugs and dentistry Hardly a day goes by without the daily newspaper carrying an article of someone being accused or convicted of either trafficking or using cocaine or marijuana. In fact, Guyana can be considered apocalyptic in this regard.

While drug abusing patients may be difficult to identify, an alert dentist can contribute significantly towards mitigating the problem. The following are general physical or behavioral signs that should alert the dentist to suspect that he or she is dealing with an addict.

1. Changes in normal work habits, attendance or efficiency.

2. Deteriorated physical appearance and personal hygiene.

3. Efforts to cover up arms and wrists to hide needle marks (use of intravenous drugs results in discolored skin).

4. Wearing sunglasses at inappropriate times; addicts may be hiding constricted or dilated pupils or bloodshot eyes.

5. The presence of poorly defined and low-grade fever. The narcotic addict, in particular may approach the dentist posing as a legitimate patient in order to obtain opioid substances. The abuser may attempt to obtain paregoric, from which he can extract opium, by claiming to have a child who is restless and in pain because of cutting teeth.

An addict may fake pulpitis (toothache) or present with an oral abscess, requesting narcotics for temporary relief of pain.

He will usually claim an allergy to weaker agents such as codeine or propoxyphene and helpfully suggest that Meperidine or Percodan has worked well in the past. Narcotic abusers also seek morphine and hydromorphone.

A dentist who accommodates a drug abuser by writing prescriptions for large amounts of drugs runs a real risk.

Having once committed such a criminal act, the practitioner may be blackmailed under the threat of exposure, mutilation

Donuts de Churros (Brazilian) Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter 3 table spoons sugar 1/2 tsp salt 1 cup water 1 cup flour 1 tsp vanilla essence 2 eggs 1/2 cup chocolate chips Oil to fry Cinnamon sugar Method: Place small pot over medium heat. Add butter, sugar, salt, water and essence 2. After the butter is melted, reduce heat to low and add flour.

3. Use wooden spoon to stir until dough is smooth. Cook for three minutes.

4. Take off heat and let cool for five minutes before mixing eggs in one at a time.

5. Add mixture to piping bag to create circles on pan.

6. Add chocolate chips on mixture, then cover with another layer of dough.

7. Freeze for 3hrs.

8. Heat oil and remove donuts to fry.

9. Fry until golden and then cover with cinnamon sugar.

or death into to becoming a perpetual drug supplier for the abuser, his friends or the under world syndicate.

Drugs of abuse are divided into three groups, central nervous system depressants such as morphine, alcohol, diazepam and nitrous dioxide; CNS stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine; and hallucinogens such as marijuana and LSD. It may surprise many to learn that of the nine basic substances classified as drugs of abuse, morphine is by far the worst while marijuana is relatively harmless from a chemical standpoint. In fact, marijuana does not present tolerance nor psychological dependence and only mild physical dependence.

XLVII On the other hand, morphine exhibits psychological dependence as well as tolerance.

These drugs wreak havoc with the social fabric of society.

The dentist’s role as an informed, concerned and empathic counselor in matters of drug abuse, apart from the other relevant professionals, must be assumed as a personal imperative and not viewed as an intellectual abstraction. Whenever we are made aware of the drug related devastation or death of a friend, we discern the immediacy of an ethical responsibility of social dimensions.

The poet John Donne wrote 364 years ago: “No man is an island…Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; and therefore never sends to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”

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