Guyana Chronicle Pepperpot E-Paper 25-09-2022

Moraikobai

Helena Adrian and her husband Edmond Daniels are residents of Moraikobai Village, Region Five. The couple will celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary on September 27. To observe the occasion, Hel ena will prepare meals of curried duck and chicken and invite a few relatives, friends and the village pastor to their home. The couple en joys their quiet, peaceful rural life where they rear ducks and chickens and, while Edmond is ailing, Helena also works on their farm of vegetables, fruits and cassava (Carl Croker photo)

Celebrating Indigenous Heritage Month and the Campbells

THE Nine Indigenous Na tions of Guyana and their cousins in other countries across the Americas includ ing Canada, the USA and Mexico, are spiritually unit ed as they observe and cele brate Indigenous Heritage Month, September 2022. It was still early years here in Guyana after the country became independent, that the month of September was identified and celebrated as “INDIGENOUS HER ITAGE MONTH.” Many of the various celebrations were given official status, and the country’s presidents and ministers of govern ment, as well as foreign diplomats, attended some of the observances and cel ebrations.

Attending the Annual Her itage Village celebrations was always on the calendar of

many of the country’s senior officials, as well as foreign diplomats. September 10 was also selected specially to honour Guyana’s Indigenous hero, the Hon Stephen Camp bell, who was the very first Indigenous Guyanese to sit as a member in the country’s parliament. As an educator, Stephen Campbell taught at many schools across the coun try’s southern Rupununi re gion. He was a staunch Cath olic and also taught Religious Education to young Catholics in many communities in the deep South Rupununi region.

Stephen Campbell’s son, David Campbell, later estab lished himself as an extremely talented and competent singer and songwriter. His song “Ka bakaburi Children,” which implores his people not to forget their culture, is among

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The National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, USA, just before another of his many visits over the years.

Curl Fete is Back!

CREATED with the pur pose to empower women and girls to embrace the uniqueness of their natu rally textured hair, nurture conversations on self-con fidence and celebrate the joy of caring for kinky and curly hair while aiming to eliminate stereotypes sur rounding natural hair, Curl Fete 2022 is set to make an epic and highly anticipated

garden chic with crisp white vendor tents serving as the canvases of bold colourful tradeshow branding and the people hold nothing back when it comes to their sartori al fashion choices, some even coordinating matching, cus tom-made ‘fits’ in groups,” explained 35-year-old Tami ka Henry-Fraser, who is the co-founder of Curl Fete.

She initially founded Curl

starting my personal natural hair journey,” noted Hen ry-Fraser before indicating: “As a result of the challenges that followed that decision, including stereotypical com ments that I experienced and the limited access to information and products specifically designed for my hair texture, Curl Fete was started in 2016.”

vides them with the oppor tunity to develop their small business through coaching, a Curl Fete exhibition booth and cash prize.

“Denisha was my busi ness partner, and more im portantly, a friend who I had known since childhood. She loved Curl Fete and immedi ately saw it as an opportunity to help many young entrepre neurs. This was one of her biggest passions, so much so that she even studied it to become academically quali fied in the field of Business Management and Innovative Entrepreneurship,” reflected Henry-Fraser.

She continued to share that the late Victor had won several awards that included exceptionally managing her own small businesses while working a fulltime job and being engaged in community service work. As such, the team felt compelled to com memorate the valuable legacy she left behind as an example for young business owners.

Natural Hair Extrava ganza

the ‘Big Chop girl’

and get a makeover from Glamour Beauty Shea Mois

return on October 1, 2022 at the Promenade Gardens (Georgetown) after a twoyear hiatus.

Recognised as one of the largest curated annual natural hair, beauty and wellness exhibitions in the Caribbean, Curl Fete guarantees sheer excitement, positive energy and high spirits as it brings together hair and beauty en thusiasts in a diverse and in clusive space to engage with a variety of brands on display by dozens of entrepreneurs.

Another crucial com ponent of Curl Fete is that it provides rich education on cultivating a culture of self-expression grounded on women and girls boldly nav igating their individual hair journeys while persistently overcoming daily societal challenges, particularly in relation to their appearance. At the same time, the event ensures access to the neces sary resources they need to positively impact their busi nesses and lives.

“Curl Fete is a sea of beautiful, incredibly diverse Guyanese women, men and children proudly rocking afros, braids, cornrows, locs, curls and kinks of all shades and textures. The setting is

Fete as a result of her own personal experience and dis closed that the event has evolved to become a dynam ic social movement for the growing natural hair commu

Launch of the Denisha Victor Award

This year, the Curl Fete team launched the Denisha Victor Award to honour the memory of the late co-found

Those who make their way to Curl Fete 2022 will experience an impressive line-up of activities. These activities will spotlight beau ty, fashion, cosmetics, food and beverage, health and wellness, traditions and cul ture and tons more. Hen

nity across Guyana as well as a platform for entrepreneurs to advertise and market their brands and build an extensive loyal customer-base.

“An eye-opening expe rience while competing in Miss Universe led me to doing the ‘big chop’ and

er of Curl Fete who passed away in 2020. Victor’s pass ing has left a heartbreaking void within the Curl Fete community, so to honour her legacy, the award was introduced. One lucky young Guyanese entrepreneur will receive the award that pro

ry-Fraser revealed that during this year’s event, there will be: a BiP Scavenger Hunt to locate vendors at the exhi bition; an explosive Carol’s Daughter Hair Show that will see salons competing to win $300,000 and a segment where one lucky lady will be

ture.

There is also a new sec tion for children adorned with bouncy castles from Haliborange and sample products from Nutribom and giveaways from brands such as Jergens, Biore, Ammens, Kotex, Jamieson and Modern Jewelry.

In addition to this, the Curl Fete 2022 experience will include expert-led work shop sessions such as Yoga on the Lawn that will feature a panel discussion with men tal health professionals and a look at women’s sexuality and taboos surrounding fe male genitalia.

Patrons attending the up coming event can also look forward to discussions on management and care for different textured types as well as beard and haircare

for men and a presentation on acne and scarring from Bio Oil with renowned Dermatol ogist Dr Heather Morris-Wil son. Additionally, Itel CX will be hosting a recruitment drive to offer employment to young people and there will be a dance competition to the ‘Girls with Curls’ theme song and even curly dogs on display.

Team Work Makes the Dream Work

Henry-Fraser emphasised that to successfully execute annual Curl Fete events in volved organising the team into different committees. Each team comprises of ex perts with backgrounds in public relations, science, banking, healthcare, market ing, carpentry and hospitality. The teams are able are able to provide key support in areas such as public relations, ven dors, entertainment, décor, content production and secu rity, to name but a few.

“I am incredibly proud of the team of young people that make up the Curl Fete family, who are committed to giving back to our com munity, as much as they are invested in creating a oneof-a-kind event,” she noted before stating: “Our approach to planning and leadership is collaborative and decisive at the same time. One of my fa vourite things about the team is our willingness to take risks in planning and adver tising Curl Fete, in ways that are not typically done.”

For the Curl Fete team, the progress made throughout

— The renowned natural hair and beauty expo makes official 2022 comeback and launches award in memory of late co-founder

Curl Fete set-up in 2019 at the Promenade Gardens (Photos by Curl Fete)

Tamika Hen ry-Fraser

Curl Fete usually features loads of fun and interactive activities

The late Denisha Victor, co-founder of Curl Fete

Play-based therapy works wonders for kids with speech development delays

WHEN Aretha Forde ob served that her two-yearold son Aiden suddenly stopped talking mid last year, she initially thought nothing of it and decided to give him some time. When she finally took him to a doctor, though, he was di agnosed with Speech Devel opment Delay and referred for speech therapy. What has been the best piece of advice she would’ve re ceived to date? Play with the child!

“Play is therapy,” experts agree, and Aretha couldn’t be surer of the soundness of those words. Ever since she began to take her son for therapy last February, she’s noted some improvements and she has been incorpo rating play in almost every aspect of little Aiden’s life.

Aretha was among other parents who recently bene fitted from a workshop called “Play Intervention as an Ear ly Stimulation” that was or ganised by the Ministry of Health’s Speech Therapy Department in the ‘George town’ hospital.

It couldn’t be timelier

for her, especially as over seas-based Guyanese Speech Language Pathologist Shar len Livan explained the valu able role of play in therapy

and the practical things that parents can do to help their little ones.

Livan was on vacation at the time, but knowing of the constraints in the department especially re garding the shortage of speech therapists, she was happy to share in the event with her colleague Sonia Fredericks, who is a Speech and Language Therapist attached to the Health Min istry’s Rehab Services.

“The workshop was time ly,” Aretha shared, adding, “Play for them is everything, so rather than have it be a quiz for everything or always trying to elicit a response, we should just play with them.”

Based upon her re search and what was taught at the workshop, she has increased her efforts to incorporate play in the family’s daily activities. “I’ve worked it into every thing; for breakfast, bath time and so on. I try to be as descrip tive as possible to ex pand his vocabulary. When we’re out in the yard doing laundry, I would describe his clothing and we would talk about things in the yard. We also do a lot of sing-along with action and songs that would encourage him to talk,” she shared.

Aretha believes

that it is imperative for par ents to be proactive and to keep in tune with their child’s developmental mile stones that can be found on their clinic card. “Check ever so often and if you notice something is amiss, there’s nothing wrong with asking; accepting that your child may not fit into the bracket of what’s accepted normal development and that there’s help available.”

While there are many things that other family members and teachers can do to help children with a speech delay, the reality is that many do not know what to do.

Livan, who has been working in the field for eight years with the Rock away Care Centre in New York, reported that the num ber one concern that was raised by parents during the workshop she conducted was the limited number of trained teachers in the schools. “Some of the par ents said the school will take in the child with a speech de lay but when the child goes to the school, they really don’t understand how to handle him or her.”

It is for this reason that Livan, who also teaches an online class at the University of Guyana, was happy to help out with the workshop so that she can help to raise awareness on the subject. “I work closely with Sonia and I told her I was coming for vacation and she said lets plan an event. I was really excited to do it because we have a limited number of therapists in Guyana; one of the biggest things for us

is collaborating with parents and teachers.”

At the workshop, she said the focus was on playbased therapy where toys and games are used to get the child to speak and engage in communication. “Play is therapy. It doesn’t have any structure; it doesn’t have any rules, so you can engage in a lot of language with the

thing they do with their kids. “You’re in the bathroom you can start describing the color of the soap or the smell of the soap, the splashing of the water, the texture of the towel, the bubbles.”

She reminded the par ents that the child is always supposed to lead during play

children and you don’t have to ask many questions. You just do a lot of descriptions,” she shared.

She encouraged the par ents to involve play in every

while they follow. “A lot of children learn easy that way because it’s not so struc tured. When a child is two years old, we do not want them sitting down at a desk answering questions about colors. When you’re in the kitchen you can say, ‘Look the yellow banana.

Mommy’s gonna eat the big red apple.’ Play with them and make it fun,” the language expert, formerly of Henrietta and Daniel stown, Essequibo Coast, advised.

Livan said she always makes herself available to answer questions from parents and teachers and even shared her email ad dress for those who would like to reach out to her: sharlen.livan@uog.edu.gy

Another workshop is expected to be hosted next year with many more parents.

Overseas-based Guyanese Speech Language Patholo gist Sharlen Livan

Livan address ing parents at the workshop recently

Little Aiden

Speech and Language Therapist Sonia Freder icks

KRISTIE Emily Rambharat didn’t initially believe that she was ready to take on any major pageants, especially as she was preparing to write CSEC (Caribbean Second ary Education Certificate) but a little nudging from her village folks in Karrau went a far way in motivating her to represent them in the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs’ “Miss Amerindian Heritage Pageant 2022.”

The beautiful 16-year-old, who hails from the Region

and pageantry. As for being on stage, it all started when she was just 13 years old and achieved the second runner up place in a beauty pageant in school.

So when the most recent competition came on stream, her cousin Shane Cornelius, who is the Toshao of her village, encouraged her to participate. He told her that there was no one to represent their village in the pageant and that she should consider doing so. Due to her busy schedule with school and

Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) village, has been living on the West Coast Demerara for some time now, but it was a visit back home that inspired her to want to pursue a career that would help the people in Karrau Creek, more so the youths who have been dropping out of school.

A former student of Uitvlugt Secondary School, Kristie described herself as an Arawak who loves dancing, cooking

so forth, she wondered how she’d find the time, but she ac quiesced and decided to get on board.

“I said I will go and try my best,” she shared with Pepper pot Magazine, “But I kept telling myself that I have to win this; I have to take home the crown to Karrau.” So said and so done. Despite being the first major pageant that she partic ipated in, Kristie made herself and village proud, eventually taking home the crown.

“It means the world. I felt to myself I need to bring this crown to Region Seven and I put my all into it. There were sleepless nights. During the time there was also CXC,” she reflected. She also had to leave home and stay with friends to be able to participate.

When school closed, she seized the opportunity to travel home and get prepared for the pageant. “That’s when everything started. That’s when I picked my platform, started my talent, my introduction, etc.” she recalled.

Explaining why she chose “Indigenous Women Empower ment” as her platform, she said: “When I visited Karrau the last time, I observed a number of girls who dropped out of school and then these boys who would take advantage of them. I felt to myself that they can be given opportunities to help around the village.”

Her cousin too had told her that she could become a role model for those girls and that

Crowned Miss Amerindian Heritage Queen -- Making Karrau Village proud her relatives Karrau

she stand a chance of being someone to help them to pick up back their studies.

Her uncle, Mikel Andrews, who is a dancer from the vil lage, helped her to get prepared for an indigenous dance, even as she also prepared a spoken word performance. All of the work that had been put in paid off when Kristie won the pag eant. “They said Karrau made history and they are very proud of me,” she said about her village folks. (Approximately 500 people live in Karrau Creek).

Offering a word of advice to youths, she said: “Be bold, brave and confident. Make sure when you’re doing something, it’s something you love. Make sure no one would down talk you. Just be yourself.”

Kristie will now be working along with the Karrau Village Council to help create programmes for the school dropouts and to help them get more opportunities in the ICT hub and so forth. “Since there’s no opportunity for them right now, I will look to see how I can help them create and find employment and continue their studies,” she offered.

Kristie Emily Rambharat (Photos courtesy of Kristie Rambharat)

Her uncle Mikel Andrews helped her learn an indigenous dance

“I kept telling myself that I have to win this.”Kristie Emily Rambharat

The Miss Amerindian Heritage Pageant was Kristie’s first major pageant

Beautiful

Moraikobai

- The perfect tourism destination to enjoy nature at its best

LAST week the Pepperpot Magazine visited the re mote village of Moraikobai in Region Five (Mahai ca-Berbice) to highlight the way of life of the locals and their preparations to usher in their Amerindian Heritage Day celebration on September 24, 2022 in

observance of Amerindian Heritage Month.

The trip started from Esau and Jacob Branch Road, Ma haicony and was a two-andhalf-hour journey via boat.

On the way to Moraiko bai Village which is located 76 miles up from the conflu ence of the Mahaicony River,

you would certainly be in awe at the breathtakingly beautiful landscape of flora, fauna and the glassy black water which looks like a large mirror with a reflection of the trees and plants on both sides of the river.

The village itself is iso lated, making it very remote

and it is the only Amerindian Mission in Region Five.

The landing is at the cen tral point of the village which has the Moraikobai Rest House, benabs, the Village Council office, the teach ers’ living house, the ICT Hub, the nursery and primary schools, the Health Centre,

to get away for a weekend of relaxation.

At the landing there are benabs on both sides of the river and there is a connect ing wooden bridge with the welcome signage and make shift wooden steps from the boat.

The people of Moraikobai

ing and doing the dishes.

The Rest House has black tanks with rainfall water for guests.

There is no cell phone signal in this village and the only form of communication is via whatsapp messages and calls and Facebook mes senger.

the large community centre ground with two pavilions and many dwelling houses scattered around this square and the entire village which is quite large in size.

Moraikobai is within a heavily forested area and it is the ideal location for hunting, bird watching, fishing and nature walks.

The village is a pic ture-prefect place which is beautiful and the right place

are self-sufficient. They rear their own chickens, ducks, and grow their own veg etables, fruits and ground provision.

They have a solar farm and a generator station but the village only gets electric ity for a few hours at nights. Previously the village was powered on a 24-hour basis.

There is no potable water supply and locals rely on the river water for bathing, wash

Moraikobai Village also has the Hubudee Eco Lodge which is located 20 min utes by boat from the central point of the community and it is a very lovely place with self-contained rooms, water and electricity.

The British High Com mission donated a photovol taic solar system that pro vides 24-hour power to the

The benab at the landing of the village (Carl Croker photos)

A common every day happening in Moraikobai, washing of dishes and bathing at the river side

Life in Morakobai

By Michel Outridge

HELENA Adrian has lived most of her life in remote Morakobai Village, Region Five and she is certain she will remain there even af

self and ailing husband, Ed mond Daniels, 76, by rearing and selling her chickens and ducks.

Adrian is looking for ward to celebrating her 56th wedding anniversary on

celebrate this milestone. I also want to give thanks and praises to God and celebrate with the people that are close to me and have been supporting me in my small business. This is a time for

ter time.

The 74-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that she enjoys a quiet, peaceful rural life as a poultry farmer rear ing ducks and chickens and she has a farm of vegetables, fruits and cassava.

The elder supports her

Tuesday and her 75th birth anniversary in November.

To observe the occasions she will prepare meals of curried duck and chicken and invite a few relatives, friends and the village pastor to her home.

“It is a time to share and

giving praises to God as well as, I would every day,” Adrian said.

She has a lovely little house and very clean sur roundings and when the team visited that day, she had just finished preparing some potato wine.

The wihad she planned to sell at the heritage day event, September 24 in the village at the Community Centre Ground and she also planned to prepare some wild-meat pepperpot and some tuma pot with fish and meat.

The mother of six ex plained that she has the sup port of her grown children, but lives alone with her ail ing husband, who needs care and attention due to his failing health.

She is administering some herbal medicine and so far, they have seen good re sults and will be continuing the ‘bush medicine’ treat ment.

Adrian told the Pepper pot Magazine that she would often be left to tend to the farm of eddoes, pineapples, cassava and she would sell the produce right in the com munity.

She is originally from St. Cuthbert’s Mission (Pakuri) but relocated to Morakobai with her father when her mother passed away, as a child.

Adrian got married in 1966 to Edmond Daniels, who is a simple man, who worked hard as a farmer and made canoes for a living.

It is due to his ill health he is unable to do things as he used to and given his advanced age he is still on the go and refuses to give up on life.

Adrian is a very humble woman who credits her long life to God and the way she lives as a believer in the faith. She is a member of the Church of Christ in the village.

“I am happy here, a sim ple way of life and we don’t have to pay endless bills and I get to travel to visit my

children in Suriname and all across the country, but Moraikobai is my home,” she said.

Adrian is also happy that her daughter, Shevon Lambert, who is residing in Suriname is in the village visiting with her children.

Morris Dick, the wooden paddle maker

Meanwhile, in the same village is the home of Mor ris Dick, whose wife makes craft for a living and he makes wooden paddle to earn from his home.

Dick is a hunter and a fisherman as well, and would do just about any job to bring in an income.

He is also a local singer, a talented musician who would participate in village events and functions sere nade the gathering.

Further, the 56-year-old is also a gifted joiner and he would make any piece of furniture and is also a logger.

His wife, Elizabeth Dick is versed in the Arawak dia lect and used to participate in school sessions in the village.

That day, she was away in the city to be a part of the Amerindian exhibition to showcase and sell her craft pieces.

This couple resides in a traditional cottage and they have a very unpretentious way of life, utilising what is in the environment to earn.

Their home is located deep within the community and they enjoy the simpler things in life, in a wildlife environs with trees.

Helena Adrian and her husband, Edmond Daniels(Carl Croker photos)

Freshly made potato wine

Morris Dick with his newly made wooden paddle

Edmond Daniels

Kudos the teachers of Moraikobai Village in observance of Education Month

By Michel Outridge

BEING away from home and your family is often a difficult move but when it comes to your career,at times we act simply off of the interest and love for work. This is the case with Natasha Spencer who moved from Region Three to the remote Moraikobai to fill the position of head teacher for the Nursery School.

Spencer left her home village of Stanleytown where she taught at the village school and took up the Head Teacher position at Moraiko bai Nursery School, three years ago.

She resides in the teach er’s house which is located a stone’s throw away from the school. It is a tidy well put together place which has creative teaching aids, flowers , swings, slides and a play area.

Spencer describes her three-year stay in the village as interesting. She said that the change of environment was good and today, she has blended in quite well in the community and has the sup port of the locals.

She has been in the teach ing profession for the past 25 years and it is evident she loves what she does for a living by her demeanour and the effort she puts in.

Spencer told the Pepper pot Magazine that she enjoys moulding the minds of the young because it brings her joyand seeing them grow academically is rewarding.

“The key to a good future is education and as a teacher, I would give every child the same opportunity to grasp what is taught in the class room so they can develop into qualified professionals to take up jobs,” she said.

Spencer explained that being a remote village has its disadvantages because textbooks and other materials needed would often arrive late but they do benefit.

She stated that there are 24 learners on roll and she would ensure the school doesn’t lack the basic tools needed to promote face-toface learning.

Spencer is supported by two other teachers, Bernita

take charge of the teaching in sessions.

Salomie Calistro and the Moraikobai Primary School

Just next door is the Moraikobai Primary School

She has on roll 97 pupils which is managed and taught by seven teachers.

Calistro explained that they have a special needs class with six children and two teachers are specially attached to that class leaving

sessions due to the shortage in Grade One and Two and it is challenging.

She reported that Mo raikobai Primary School is a multi-grade school and they have a feeding programme for lunchtime where a meal

kitchen and it was a good ini tiative which saw an increase in enrolment.

“If we get a teacher for every classroom our service will be boosted because we can concentrate on special ised teaching,” she said.

France and Crystal Henry, locals of Moraikobai Village.

“It was my dream as a child to become a teacher to serve my village and it hap pened and I am very pleased about it,” France said.

Meanwhile, the young

which is headed by the Head Teacher Salomie Calistro, a local of the village who is passionate about teaching.

She has been a teacher since 1992 and it was a career path she took due to inspira tion and encouragement of

teacher, Crystal Henry rea soned that she always took a liking to small children and her way of giving back is by becoming a teacher.

She has been on the job for only two months but so far, she is loving it.

The three teachers divide the children into groups and

others and coupled with the fact the community needed teachers she took on the chal lenge was successful.

Today, Calistro has no regrets becoming a teacher because she got to like the job and being back in the classroom is just what she prefers.

them in need for two teachers to work on a full time basis.

The Head Mistress told the Pepperpot Magazine that teachers would often multitask in terms of teaching in

and a beverage are provided through the Ministry of Ed ucation.

The feeding programme was established in 2019 with three cooks in the school’s

Calistro added that elec tricity and an internet-ready computer is needed at the school for research and re ceiving emails and work sheets as a remote village.

She reported that the pu pils would benefit from ses sions with the Guyana Learn ing Channel but as a result of their electricity woes it would only take place when they get power for two to three hours during school hours.

In addition to Amerin dian Heritage Month, Sep tember is also designated Education Month and the Pepperpot Magazine ex tends kudos to all teachers across Guyana for going beyond the call of duty and their invaluable contribu tion to society.

Head Teacher, Natasha Spencer of St. Francis Nursery School (Carl Croker photos)

The teachers with the children in the classroom

Teacher Crystal Henry

Teacher Benita France

Head Teacher, Salomie Calistro of St. Francis Primary School

The people of Moraikobai

By Michel Outridge

BEING a boat captain at tached to Regional Admin istration of Region Five, Mohamed Sookhu has 14 years of experience on the river and he has been ferry ing schoolchildren for many years in the riverine villages along Mahaicony River.

The 58-year-old is well known and he is very famil iar with the riverine villages and the people. Transporting students and people is his job, one he takes seriously to preserve safety and lives.

Sookhu is a resident of Bara Bara, Mahaicony River and he is an employee of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and on weekdays he would take only secondary school students from Pine Ground to Wash Clothes

students.

He transports 21 students five days of the week and he is familiar with the turns and bends in the river and he would manoeuvre the boat quiet skilfully.

Sookhu would often transport people to and from Moraikobai Village which is 96 miles up the Mahaico ny River, a remote Amer indian community passing many villages such as Wash Clothes, Esau and Jacob, Governor light, Bara Bara, Yarrow Creek, Mora Point, Pine Ground, Gordon table, Cook Tom, First Savannah and Yaura.

Captaining a boat to Mo raikobai is a challenge and one has to be very familiar with the tree stumps, fall en trees and over hanging branches on the way.

her home.

The mother of seven would get up very early in the mornings and prepare snacks to sell at the school and would return home to make lunch and dinner for the guests at the Rest House and she would cook based on orders.

Bonaparte is also a farmer and makes craft in whatever spare time she has for the lo cals and her customers.

She is currently making some craft in the form of fruit baskets, bowls, jewel boxes, chains, bands, outfits, hats, bags, all made from tibisri straws.

With four under age children to send to school, Bonaparte told the Pepperpot magazine that she could not sit by and let her husband alone work.

at least a comfortable one,” Bonaparte said.

Aulenda Adrian, the housewife and craft maker

In addition, to doing all the household chores and tending to the children, Au lenda Adrian would earn

have to get craft on display. Adrian reported that she was preparing a few things for the Heritage Day in Mo raikobai on September 24, 2022. She would use tibisri straw and other materials to make hats, outfits and fruit baskets, bowls and jewel

ident is Colin Adrian, who is the former Toshao of the community, who still serves on the Village Council with the responsibility for forestry and tourism.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that they are hop ing to promote their vil

twice daily.

The father of three told the Pepperpot Magazine that he would start his day ear ly because he is a farmer, who has some ducks, sheep, chickens, goats and he would tend to them first before leav ing home for work.

Sookhu would be gan picking up students at 06:30hrs in the morning and at quarter to four in the af ternoon he would collect the

There are also a lot of twists and turns along the river and it takes skill to drive a boat especially with all the blind ‘S’ turns.

Ophelia Bonaparte, the talented woman

Ophelia Bonaparte is the wife of the Vice Chairman of the Village Council of Moraikobai Village but she is an independent woman, who does many jobs to support

“I wanted to earn my own money and I decided to use my talents to many things to bring in my own income to the home. Even if it is a few dollars it is mine,” she said.

The Moraikobai resident stated that would ensure there is food in the house at all times being a cook it is a must.

“This life is all about hus tle and hard work but it must be done to have a good life,

from home making craft to sell.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that since she was a young girl growing up she used to watch her mother make craft using tibisri and she told herself she wanted to learn.

The mother of seven stat ed that she would make craft pieces based on orders or if there is an event and they

boxes among other things. She related that they plant their own vegetables and fruits and they eat fresh fish and meats but they need some basic amenities to im prove their life such as elec tricity, cell phone, landline services and internet.

Colin Adrian, former Toshao Meanwhile, also a res

lage via daily tours and their Hubudee Eco Lodge.

Adrian disclosed that a package will be in place with the Guyana Tourism Authority (GTA) which will include bird watching, ani mal spotting at nights, creek tours, trekking, and nature walks which are ideal for a weekend stay.

He added that they have the annual safari and savan nah drive and they are selling the community as a tourism package for visitors to pro mote development.

That day, when the team visited, Adrian was oversee ing the process of making cassava casareep, cassava bread, wines and other things for their heritage day, in the village.

His spouse will also make tuma pot, pepperpot with various meats and fish.

Hubudee Eco Lodge (Carl Croker photos)

Ophelia Bona parte displaying her hand icraft

Former Toshao, Colin Adrian

Bringing increased development to Moraikobai

By Michel Outridge

DEPUTY Toshao Jeff Bonaparte of Moraikobai Village Council has lived all his life in the community and he is passionate about community-based development.

He said in Moraikobai they have access to fresh foods, fish and wild meats and they enjoy a simple way of life bathing at the river side, washing clothes and dishes there too and utilise their skills to earn.

Bonaparte added that they do their own farming for both

Bonaparte stated that they have a total of 1,000 villag ers in central Moraikobai and 200 in the smaller satellite village in front of the actual village making it 1200 locals.

He added that the people of Moraikobai earned from fishing, logging, hunting, the guesthouse, the Hubudee Eco Lodge, poultry and traditional and non-traditional framers and a handful of self-employed people, who have shops and other small businesses.

Bonaparte disclosed that the ICT Centre is completed but it is yet to be furnished with computers and internet.

He point ed out that they have a WIFI sys tem which was provided by the government and while it is utilised by the residents, it is overwhelmed causing a slow connection.

The Vice Chairman of the Village Council who is also the pastor for the Church of Christ told the Pepper pot Magazine that the Hubudee Eco Lodge was built

home use and selling their produce and soon they will be embarking on a large scale agricultural project where more lands will be available for cultivation.

The Vice Chairman reported that the Village Council has since received a tractor with ploughs for the agriculture project in the savannah lands right in the village.

by the locals and is controlled by the Village Council.

It was opened in August last year and it offers a nature stay for visitors in a secluded part of the village.

Bonaparte noted that they have an open air benab at the landing of the village for visitor’s comfort and a larger one a few doors down which is used by cultural events, meetings and workshops.

He added that the Moraikobai Rest House has eight rooms and it is a project by the regional administration of

dants of the Arawak tribe and they are a peaceful people, who are skilled in many ways and they lead a very simple way of life using what is around them to earn.

The Moraikobai Health Centre

The Moraikobai Health Centre is headed by Nursing Assistant Carla Daniels, who has been in the noble nursing profession since 2016.

She told the Pepperpot Magazine that living and working in the same village has its ‘ups and downs’ and at times it is challenging.

Daniels stated that there are two Community Health Workers (CHW), a part-time worker and one cleaner attached to the Moraikobai Health Centre and they provide primary health care.

She explained that serious cases that they cannot handle at the facility are forwarded to the nearest hospital which is at Mahaicony and she would accompany the patient in the long commute via boat.

She related that there is a need for an in-house doctor and there is a visiting doctor, who comes every month or so.

The Nursing Assistant stated that the child health clinic is the largest unlike their chronic disease clinic and they see a lot of seasonal ill cases due to the change of weather.

Daniels explained that they also need a water ambulance given the fact they are a remote village and the commute via boat is more than two hours.

She stated that in the case of an emergency the patient can be rushed to the nearest hospital for medical attention having been stabilised in the water ambulance.

The Moraikobai Health Centre I a neat and clean facility which is adequate with a ward, delivery room, an unused dental room which needs a dental technician, the pharmacy, the triage/waiting area, vaccine room and wash room facilities.

When the team visited a health team was visiting and they were conducting COVID-19 vaccination for both adults and children.

The Moraikobai Health Centre is strategically locat ed in the central part of the village and sits comfortably uphill.

Region Five but is managed by the Village Council. It was constructed in 1992 by the current administration.

Bonaparte disclosed that they had an old guesthouse which was in disrepair and was infested with bats until the new building was con structed.

He reported that the locals of Moraikobai are descen

Vice Chairman of the Moraikobai Village Council, Jeff Bonaparte

The Moraikobai Health Centre.

Carla Daniels with members of the visiting COVID-19 vaccine team.

THE BLACK PEARL

IT was a beautiful morning, the golden sunshine, the refreshing breeze and the songs of the kiskadee, on the Wisteria tree, in the garden below.

The young boy, robust and lively, threw open his bed room window and shouted, “Hello, everyone,” startling the birds, which took off in noisy flight.

Dravid was truly excited.

He was having a great vacation with visits to the mag nificent waterfalls, the amazing rainforest and he was com pletely fascinated with the wildlife, birds and flowers. This wondrous land, once a British colony in South America, was the birthplace of his parents and he had always been intrigued with its history and its people. Today was a trip to the back dams in the Estate conservancy on the West Coast to fish in the creek. He packed his binoculars, his fishing rod and the hunting knife his father had given him last birthday. It was a long drive and, along the way, in the smooth, dark water of the canal, he saw two caimans. The sugar-cane plants danced in the breeze and wildflowers lined the way side in their untamed beauty.

The journey up the creek was to Dravid, real awesome. He marvelled at the wide expanses of the serene, cool, black water and the different species of fish. It was almost dusk, when they pulled up at the colonial guest house, where they planned to spend the night. Dravid was tired from the hours of fishing and swimming and all he wanted was a good night`s sleep. He looked out the bedroom window and saw an old, long wooden structure that stretched to the creek. It was a logie, from the Colonial days, where the indentured servants, brought from India, lived as they worked for the master. “This is so interesting,” he thought. He went to bed with the exciting thought of exploring in the morning.

It was a full moon and the small estate yard was ‘bathed’ in moonlight. The soft growl of a dog came from somewhere near the creek, breaking the still silence. A young Indian boy was standing there holding three hunting dogs on a leash. He stood for a long moment, staring at the house and in a low tone, he said to the dogs, “The time has come.” He had waited for such a long time, that he had almost given up hopes that for eternity he would have to stay in this land. It was the accident that destroyed all his hopes in life that day, during the hunting party, when the master accidental ly shot him. His father had already died, making him the guardian of the traditional stone, but when he died the duty of guarding the stone was left unfulfilled. His mother and sisters had left, but he couldn`t leave, until the guardianship was handed over to another. At dusk that day, he saw the boy. As the night wore on, Dravid couldn`t sleep. He was restless and hot. He got up and, looking through the window, saw something really strange.

A young Indian boy stood at the door of the logie,

staring intently at the house.

He was tall and dark with thick, black hair down to his shoulders, a mysterious figure, indeed. Dravid, curi ous, as was his nature, crept stealthily out of the house, but when he got to the logie, the boy was gone. The moonlight shone on a tombstone that read, “Rohit, 1848 – 1862.”

“Who is Rohit?” he asked softly.

“I am,” said a voice behind him. Dravid turned around, al most startled and stared at the boy, not sure if he was real or a ghost and not wanting to be afraid.

“Hey,” he said brave ly, “What are you do ing here so late?” “I live here,” said the boy.

“I’m not sure I under stand,” Dravid said, stepping back a little.

“I lived here a long time ago.”

“Why are you still here?”

“I died and can’t leave because I have to guard the st one.”

“What stone?”

The boy turned and walked to the logie. Dravid fol lowed, hesitantly and watched as the boy knelt down on the earthen floor, removing a thick layer of dirt and in his hand, Dravid saw a big, glistening black pearl. “It has al ways been in this family as a tradition,” said the boy, “The stone has to be protected even with your life. My father, when he died, passed it on to me. I have been waiting here, a very long time, to pass it onto another so I can go home.” The boy rose to his feet and held out the stone to Dravid. “You, Dravid, is the new guardian of the black pearl.”

“How can that be? I’m not family.”

“Yes you are, from a long line of descendants.”

Dravid was stupefied. It seemed so unreal, but the Black Pearl in his hand was as real as life. He stared at it, mesmerized and said, “I will do my best, to keep alive this tradition.”

The boy smiled, free now, after so many decades to return home. When Dravid looked up, the boy was gone.

The guardianship was passed on and the tradition of the black pearl was now in his hands until…

Tea in the Lion’s Den

TEA in the Lion’s Den at Oasis was another highlight for this new month. We hosted ‘Dining with the Ea gles’ a few months ago, which was phenomenal. These two events were created for participants who have grown through my personal development courses.

I have with many people developed that eagle’s mindset and Lions attitude and now taking action to be the best they could be

They have taken action and experienced the results, and I encourage you to take action to give the world the best version of you.

I challenge you to register now for these empowering programmes and take advantage of the special discounts. You are your best investment and you are worth it. There are only two animals the creator identified Himself with, the first one is the eagle and the second is the lion. The lion and eagle are kings in their domain. The eagle is the king of the bird kingdom and the lion is the king of the animal kingdom. The lion has what I call the “spirit of leadership” and this word spirit here refers to “attitude”. A leader has an attitude that makes him or her different from their followers. I loved my front-row seat because I got to experience the life-changing transformation of so many lions and eagles.

The lion is the king of the jungle, but the lion, to many, is a great source of encouragement because he is the best in many areas.

1. The lion is not the tallest in the jungle

2. The lion is not the largest in the jungle

3. The lion is not the heaviest animal in the jungle

4. The lion is not the smartest or most intelligent in the jungle

And yet when the lion shows up, they all run away. So there are no excuses not to push forward and nurture your seeds of greatness.

I can detect the hungry ones from the orientation, and those are the ones with best results from the programme. When you are hungry, you become stronger than your excuses. I am happy we have three guys in this current programme and one works in the interior where the internet connection is weaker than in the towns. He travels for 2 hours sometimes just to be in a position to connect to this programme, and from all reports, this programme has shifted his mindset. The things he listens to in the camp are causing the other people in his environment to also listen. He told me that they are now requisitioning him to play it. We can influence people inten tionally and unintentionally in a good or bad way.

The participants refer to this group as a family, which warms my heart because the intention is to provide that safe space for people to grow, share and collaborate with anyone judging them. Some of them met for the first time in person at the tea, and it felt like it was years of friendship with how they interacted. We left way past closing time at Oasis because no one was in a hurry to leave. The hugs, laughter, jokes and great conversation sharing the moun tain top and valley moments in a peaceful, relaxing and classy environment with jazz music in the background is priceless. Most of the people who register for this programme are a result of someone sharing their transformation. We also had cases where past participants registered co-workers or family members as gifts because they believed they needed them. I have experienced

emotional testimonials of people realising what the gift did to their lives. The best gift is a gift that can last you a lift time. The holidays are coming up and think about a gift that will not depreciate and will benefit someone forever. The courses people register for the most are Confidence Become You and Healthy Thoughts Challenge. Confidence, faith, and healthy thoughts are some necessary tools for our toolkits for success.

Positive thinking is one way to build our confidence!

I have experienced the power of thoughts, words and the power in prayer. I recommend we all start our day by giving thanks to God for giving us another chance on earth and an other day with endless possibilities. Praise him for his faith fulness and ask him for guidance to lead you to your purpose and the most authentic versions of yourself.

Time alone with God can recharge us and give us clarity for the many challenges we face daily.

It brings things into perspective whenever I put God first, and when I don’t, I experience chaos and confusion. It is believed that great things happen in the brain when we acknowledge God.

As we focus on our thoughts, we need to be specific. We will receive better results when we are specific because the more specific we are, the more we bring the actual root cause into our conscious mind, making it weak and easier to break down. The brain is designed to respond to the mind; the mind is the centre of our soul, which is why it is so powerful because it influences our belief system. I have shared my experiences; many have tried it and had great results.

“Attitude is a product of belief. You can not have an attitude beyond your belief. Your attitude comes from your belief system. The lion is the king because of what he believes about himself.” I encourage to ponder on this profound quote as we continue to celebrate the beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.

WHY COMPREHENSIVE LITERATURE SHOULD BE ON THE PRIMARY TIMETABLE

WITH the commanding presence of aspects of hu man weirdness, showcased in entertainment and freely expressed on social media today, as a potent part of what will be witnessed by young and old alike, there must have alternate sub stances to edit and dismiss mentally. What can be eas ily digested as a topic when it is not? I’ve seen some things on TIK-TOK that just alert the fact that some people may be trapped in self-created situations or were imposed upon them a long, long time ago. Those things were consid ered weird, off the limit, to use an old school term, for transgressing accepted norms of decency. While some are pretty cool and humorous, some are like, “Damn, is wuh going on deh?”

However, there can be no censorship when these mod ernisations rebuke the rules of another tainted memory that echo to other pretentious times. Looking at it square in the face, many of the person al social problems we have or witness are a result of age-old terms like “Yuh can’t hang yuh dutty linen pon lan tern post”, so crimes behind closed doors are buried and victims are left to invent their own propositions towards who, or what the normal is, for them.

Sometimes to morph on the downside as ‘pri vate revenge institutions.’ Responsibility was denied and became safe for urban or rural adult gossip. Most readers of this article are aware of some indiscre tion that lingers in-house close or in the community that is set free in this age where everything seems to be common to emulate or justify. Where does reading in school come in? Not just

following orders into drea ry reading, but reading that allows participation, where text, whether in sentences or paragraphs, is distrib uted to students to express in the mood required to capture and convey a moral or principled construct as a deterrent to the mixed-up moods and attitudes, that will knock at our mental door, proposing and seek ing justification, sometimes from a foreign suggestion, with a familiar private trig ger.

To clarify the term ‘pri vate revenge institutions.’ Most of the definitions for actions that were defined as social abnormalities were not and still in most cases are not understood as subject to genetic causes, but instead to the term, “duh person does behave suh, because of advantage tek pon dem, when deh was small.” The thing with old school thinking is that it’s not all wrong, as traumatic experiences in ear ly childhood do play a part in moulding deviant attitudes. However, modern areas of behavioural studies cannot be ignored. It must be included. So, the old school belief that “yuh got to train de child to

be what it must be” is related in the definition above. But it has to catch up. That’s where the drama of reading can offer parallels, updates and references toward enhanced decision-making. Some time ago our group RESCU (A small anti-Narcotic-unspon sored group) was called by two hands-on headmistresses to talk to students. Because reading is a top priority di rective in our programme, we went ahead to the first school. I attempted to explain that the Inca and Aztec civilisations used cocaine and peyote on human sacrifices, when a teacher interrupted me, informing me that History was not taught in the school. Still, the wise mistress went downstairs while the session was conducted and had col lected sticks of marijuana thrown through the school windows by students, who possibly thought that we might just order a search, not fully aware of who we really were. Had we completed that historical reference, it would have reinforced the idea that no mind-altering substance has been established to be mentally improving for us ers or ‘victims’ in the long run. Every plant, vegetable

and botanical has two sides to its nature, based on how we use it.

The other headmistress insisted that we focus on the males, which we did. It was unbelievable, but real; unfor tunately, the footage for that was somehow destroyed. Our conclusion, mentioned before in a previous article, revolved around the culture of reading and the sphere of inquiry that enters the narrative and the

habit to explore hyped asser tions, and sub-culture dog mas. Literature comes in two forms, present the facts so far… and edutainment (liter ature and drama based on the accepted ‘So far facts’). Most likely, in the age we live, this can be adopted excluding the suggestive source.

What is important is the implementation of mech anisms to include reading and inquiry in Guyana’s

youth culture, as they be come the next potential market of exploitation and to halt the disabling retar dation towards that aim.

Gangster hip-hop videos with false values are point ed to in America as re sponsible for youth value misguidance. Here was the same when TV hit Guyana in the ‘90s -2000s coupled with a still haunting gang ster culture of our own.

ACCREDITED TRAINING FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY PREPARES MORE GUYANESE FOR EMPLOYMENT IN IT

TRAINING is always re quired to conduct any as pect of economic activity successfully. For tradition al industries such as agri culture and mining, which have been operating for centuries, there is always a corpus of trained personnel manning them. Though the

numbers of such trained personnel may be inade quate, there is always time and opportunities to up grade. With the oil and gas industry, it is very dif ferent. Very few countries have oil and gas industries, and their advent is always sudden. This suddenness

results in the absence of locally trained personnel to man the industry, and oil and gas industries in their early years have had to depend on personnel from developed countries. This dependency could contin ue for many years, except Governments would take

concerted action to train local personnel to take over from the expatriates.

The oil and gas industry of Guyana is the most recent in the world, but both the Government and the peo ple of Guyana have decided that they will not repeat the mistakes of others and are determined to have locals manning all aspects of the industry as early as possible. This aspiration could not be quickly achieved because

announced that a US $20 million training facility was launched at Lusignan, ECD by a consortium of three investors, the lead being 3t EnerMech with Oninduik De velopment Inc and Windsor Technologies. The facility began its operations about a year ago and has its first batch of students ready for gradu ation and this graduation is encapsulated in the official launch. Prime Minister Mark Philips did the official launch

ing Board (ECITB). Level One consists of three phases, Pre-learning Assessment and Safe Passport are the first two and the third is done practically. The Government of Guyana would support the Centre by offering schol arships under the GOAL programe to those interested in careers in the oil and gas industry.

no comprehensive training institutions are available in the country. This results in training having to be done

abroad on an ad hoc basis without the possibility of a comprehensive training plan.

It came as a breath of fresh air when it was recently

and several Ministers attend ed the ceremony, attesting to the importance Government has given to the Training Centre.

The training programme provides a Level One qualifi cation from the Engineering Construction Industry Train

Prime Minister Mark Phillips encouraged Guya nese to be involved in the industry as part of its human capital: “A crucial factor to the success of our Nation lies in our people. We must ensure that we uti lise the benefits of the Oil and Gas Sector to build a bright future for this generation, the next and beyond. To do this, we must inculcate a culture of ownership, a culture where our local ownership, a culture where our Local Content, our people, can thrive and that is the workforce itself. As the first entity with approval to deliver OPITO (Offshore Petroleum Industry Training Organization) - accredited training for the Oil and Gas Sec tor in Guyana, our hu man resources are now strengthened at a global standard to actively and competently participate in the building of this new and abundant area of our country. With an industry requiring high skills and knowledge, it is reassuring to know that these capacities can be imparted to our people without leaving their home soil. The launching of the En erMech Training Centre is the beginning of the process of growing the local human capital of the oil and gas industry.”

Beautiful ....

FROM PAGE VI

facility.

The village is led by the Village Council with the leader being Toshao Der

However, several decades ago the name was officially changed to ‘Moraikobai’ in keeping with their tradition as Arawak.

Moraikobai is located 96

peoples from the Arawak tribe.

It was reported that Dor othy Patoir is said to be the first individual born in the village when it was estab

rick John, who was not in the community during the team’s visit but the deputy Toshao, Jeff Bonaparte, was on hand for a tour of the village.

It was said that the com munity was initially called “Moracoba”, a name that was birthed from a combination of two Arawak words; ‘Mora’ meaning tree and ‘Coba’ meaning stump.

miles (154 km) from the con vergence of the Mahaicony River, and is only accessible by the Mahaicony creek by boat, by air with a helicop ter, and by off-road vehicles via the trail which can be accessed on the Linden/Soes dyke Highway.

The village has a popula tion of 1,200 residents, who are predominantly indigenous

lished many decades ago.

The village is relatively large, naturally fertile, and mostly unoccupied. Logging, fishing and farming are the major economic activities of the village.

Moraikobai has a rich religious heritage, and its people sanction the Christian religion to a large extent with three churches.

The Anglican Church was established when the community was first estab lished as a mission. It fol lows that in the early days the village was known as St. Francis Mission and later, St. Francis District. Moraikobai is also known for its huge benabs and exquisite handi craft produced by its skilled residents.

Moraikobai has no sec ondary school as such, sec ondary schooling is done in Mahaicony.

Carl Croker photos saved

The connecting bride in the village

Children on their way to school from the satellite village

The large benab for cultural activities and other events

Paddling in a canoe is a normal thing in Moraikobai Village

The village name signage at the landing

Children in the village

STUDY SUCCESS

Dear Student, Welcome dear friend. Effective study techniques make learning easier. They strategically help prevent panic and frustration. When you review class notes and expand on them, it helps move material from short-term memory into long term memory, which will help next time you have

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

In skating over thin ice, our safetyis in our speed.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON(1803-1882) Prudence

a big test. When you high light key words and create visual aids like charts, pic tures, or diagrams, you are helped to understand and re member information easily. Learn actively. Test your abilities with classmates. Be wise.

Love you.

IMPROVING WRITING

Dealing with writing the business letter

Business letters are per haps the most common form of written communication today. Someday you will need to write one, so you need to know something about language structure, psychological principles, writing techniques and dif

ferent kinds.

When you write letters you should take cognizance to do the following properly:

a) Use correct letter for mat.

b) Plan what you want to say.

c) Use a suitable tone. Make sure that the words you use and the way they use them are suitable for the occasion.

d) Use the best possible presentation for your letter.

Format. i) There is no standard by which appropri ateness or inappropriateness of a specific style can be firmly established for busi ness letters.

ii) The differences among formats and styles concern the placement of letter parts.

Letter Parts. You will first review the various parts of business letters. In this way you will be better able to present your ideas within an acceptable framework and leave the reader with a positive im pression. There are many letter parts you must work with: the address, the sal utation, the message, and the complimentary closing, to mention some. Look at the sequence of the busi ness letter parts.

1. The Heading. This contains the complete ad dress of the writer and the date. Abbreviations should not be used in headings. A comma should always follow the name of the city or village. Another comma should separate the day of the month from the year. No other punctuation marks should appear in the open ing.

2. The Inside Address. This consists of the complete name and address of the person to whom the sender is writing. (Social and friendly letters do not use the inside address.)

3. The Salutation. In a business letter the salutation is followed by a colon; in a friendly letter by a comma. The first word of the salu tation and all nouns in it are capitalized.

4. The Body. This is made up of what you have to say to the receiver. It should be written in paragraphs to organise and group the ideas discussed.

5. The Complimentary Close. This is a parting

phrase.

6. The Signature. There is no punctuation following it.

Other Pointers. i) Sign the business letter with your legal name. ii) Communi cate in a formal way about a non-personal matter, such as business or politics. (Some business letters can be infor mal.) iii) There is a subject line that is used which states advanced notice about a particular subject, like a recent call and its date and something that has been dis cussed. Put this line imme diately below the salutation.

[Other pointers will be look at when specific busi ness letters are being dealt with.]

Something to Do

1. Write a letter to an in dustrial relations consultant, Jack Johnson, inviting him to speak to a monthly meet ing of a trade association.

2. Write a letter to the Ministry of Economic De velopment enquiring about plant sites.

GRAMMAR

Put the necessary full stops in the following sen tences. Sometimes the full stop has been left out; sometimes a comma has been put where a full stop is really needed. See the corrected version from an exercise given some time back.

After I had knocked away some bricks, I man aged to get through the hole. The sight that met my eyes startled me.

(a) One day, soon after Easter Saturday last year, a friend came to visit me for one day, after my brother proposed that we should ex plore a cave near our beach house.

(b) When Mr. Josephson came out to breakfast he told his wife Hilda that he was going to make a short trip in his new car the trip started at ten o’clock.

(c) Since about eleven o’clock the car was moving very fast, they were a little to the east of Lindensen which is in the north-west of Logwood.

(d) Below them appeared a man with a gun, he fired at them, the bullets pierced the side of the car, and the vehicle began to lose speed rapidly.

(e) As soon as they stopped, the driver hopped out of the car and started to descend the hillside which led them near a creek.

(f) After they had knocked away several branches they saw a load of fruits some inches away, the sight that met their eyes startled them.

READING: Main Idea

Last summer, my base ball team had a losing sea son. I am a reasonably good player, but my teammates did not have much experi ence.

When I pitched, the other team usually didn’t score, but the rules said that I could pitch only six innings a week. It was hard to watch the opposing team drive in runs, after the coach had tak en me out. Still, I made a lot of friends on the team, and it was great to help and en courage the younger players.

1. Which best states two important details about the narrator?

A A pitcher who does not pitch well. B He does not like baseball and never wants to play again. C He is angry with his coach and with his father. D A pitch er whose team has a losing season.

2. What are two good experiences the narrator describes?

A He helps his team win games and pleases his father. B He improves his skills and admires his coach. C He makes friends and helps the younger players. D He pitches and wins games.

3. Which statement re states a frustrating experi ence the narrator describes?

A He gets taken out of the game. B He argues with his teammates. C He pitches poorly. D He ar gues with his coach.

4. Which sentence best expresses the main idea of the selection?

A Playing sports is al ways a difficult, frustrating experience. B Good play ers are never treated fairly.

C Even a frustrating, dis appointing sports season can have its rewards. D Organised sports put too much pressure on young people and too much em phasis on winning.

MONTREAL PROTOCOL AT 35

AS we continue to celebrate 35 years of progress towards the preservation of the ozone layer, let us look back on some criti cal achievements of the Montreal Protocol.

Ozone-depleting substances (ODS) are man-made chemicals that, when released into the atmosphere, can cause the depletion of the Ozone Layer. This leads to increased levels of ultraviolet radiation reaching the earth’s surface, which results in higher rates of skin cancer, eye cataracts and damage to people’s immune systems. It also diminishes the pro ductivity of food crops and reduces plankton levels in the ocean.

Since 1987 the Montreal Protocol has sought to reverse past damage done to the ozone layer by supporting efforts to eliminate the consumption and production of ODS. More than three decades later, the Montre al Protocol has been ratified by over 190 countries, including Guyana, each of which has committed to meeting strict time-bound reduction obligations for each of nearly 100 substances controlled by the protocol. Accu mulating evidence shows massive reductions in ODS use worldwide. Production of ODS declined from 1.8 million tonnes in 1987 to 83,000 tonnes in 2005.

Key achievements of the Montreal Pro tocol

✔ Global participation

– Over 190 countries and the European Community have ratified the Protocol. This high degree of participation has con tributed to global compliance with the Montreal Protocol targets and serves as a blueprint for global cooperation on envi ronmental issues

✔ Elimination of ozone depleting substances – As of 2005, the Parties of the Proto col have phased out the produc tion and consumption of over 95 percent of all of the chemicals controlled by the Protocol

✔ Healing the ozone layer – Global observations have verified that atmospheric levels of key ODS are decreasing, and it is believed that with implementation of the Protocol’s provisions the ozone layer should return to pre-1980 levels by 2050 to 2075

✔ Supporting developing countries – With the assistance of the Multilateral Fund for the implementation of the Montreal Protocol, developing countries have perma nently phased out, as of 2005, over 190,000 tonnes of ODS, constituting over 70 percent of developing country total. Further, projects designed to reduce over 90 percent of the re maining developing country production have already been agreed;

✔ High rates of compliance – In the process of the phase-out, many countries, both developed and developing, have met their phased out targets well ahead of sched ule. Did you know that Guyana achieved the target of phasing out ODS two years before the global target;

✔ Health benefits – Controls imple mented under the Montreal Protocol have enabled the global community to avoid mil lions of cases of fatal skin cancer and tens of millions of cases of non-fatal skin cancer and cataracts. The United States estimates that by the year 2165 more than 6.3 million skin cancer deaths will have been avoided in that country alone, and that efforts to protect the ozone layer will have saved it an estimated $4.2 trillion in health care costs over the pe riod 1990-2165;

✔ Climate change benefits – The Pro tocol has also delivered substantial climate benefits. Because ODS are also global warm ing gases, the reduction in ODS between 1990, when they reached peak level, and the year 2000 has yielded a net integrated reduc tion of approximately 25 billion tonnes of CO2 weighted global warming gasses. These

significant reductions make the Montreal Protocol on of the prime global contributors in the fight against global warming.

We invite you to check our Facebook page and Instagram account for photos of our joint outreach to schools in Berbice which were conducted in celebration of Ozone Day.

You can share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O Communications, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit.epaguyana@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Pics saved as Twitter 2, ozone layer, Montreal , small banner

How to Have a Healthy Divorce

AN avid reader recently reached out to me and shared that she was going through a divorce. She shared her struggles, worries and her ex-partner’s want and ability to healthily end the marriage. This is for her and the many others who are currently going through the heart ache that is ending a marriage.

No one enters a marriage thinking it’s going to end in divorce, yet today, one in two marriages fail. That’s right, 50 percent and an average of 20 percent of those fail within the first five years. People go through experiences over the course of time that allow for change and sometimes your partner doesn’t change with you; most of the time, that is okay.

You may not think the words healthy and divorce can fit into the same sentence and if so, you’d be wrong; there are many ways to ensure the time you spent together ends with dignity and respect for both parties. There only has to be one thing- willingness.

It’s understandable that the end of a marriage typically unleashes a flood of emotions, including anger, grief, anxiety and fear. A lot of time, these feelings remain at the surface for quite some time; other times, they can rise up when you least expect them, catching you off guard. Both responses are normal, and the intensity of these feelings will subside over time.

Sitting down and speaking with your soon-to-be-exspouse may be the last thing you want to do, but cooperation and communication make divorce healthier for everyone involved. Divorce mediation is often a good alternative to courtroom proceedings and there are people who can aid in this. A mutual friend you trust, an agreed-upon family mem ber from each side or a professional mediator. Trying to work things out yourself can be frustrating and self-defeating as the problems that contributed to your divorce are likely to re-emerge during divorce negotiations.

You needn’t rush the conversation as there are important and potential, upsetting factors to discuss and, therefore, should choose a time when emotions aren’t running high. Slow down, as reactive decisions are usually bad ones. Also,

where and when you choose to do this is just as important as the information that will be decided upon.

I always recommend mak ing a list of items to discuss be fore going into such a setting. When emotions are involved, many other unimportant things arise and making a list keeps the conversation on track and allows for more rationality.

This list should include your main worries, priorities and decisions to be made such as who stays in the home, how to split financials, how to co-parent etc.- of course, every list will be different depending on the circumstances.

It would be beneficial if both parties could be commit ted to healthily moving on, letting go of any blame and attempting forgiveness. Most couples divorce when they feel defeated in their efforts to reach mutual understanding and often struggle to truly let go of the need and hope to be

support during this time but most importantly, don’t sacri fice your personal health through this process—bolster it. It can be easy to default to mal-coping such as substance use, emotional eating and over or under-sleeping. However, you will do your mind a favour by keeping your body healthy as well. It’s important to keep doing the things that make you feel balanced, productive and calm, so that you can avoid making decisions from a purely emotional state.

There will definitely have to be legalities involved, but not necessarily for the mediation and mitigation process. Doing this healthily among trusted individuals saves time, and money and can help to construct a new and healthy relationship with your ex, which is necessary in the cases where businesses still need to be co-run or children are involved.

right or understood on their terms. Release anger and blame to make room for respect and compassion. While this may seem impossible at the moment, it’s an effort that will result in a faster and deeper healing process. This becomes easier when you try to understand the other person’s perspective; you do not have to agree with it, just understand that that is how they feel. Remember, if you put all the blame on your spouse, you automatically make yourself the victim and with a victim mentality comes a sense of powerlessness.

You both can take a step back and change your outlooks on the situation. Yes, divorce is upsetting and disappointing, but it is also a new beginning for you both to live happier and more peaceful lives, which, in an ideal world, you should both want for each other.

Individually, learning to be single again after having that level of companionship is difficult and it would do more harm than good not to admit that. It is best to really prepare yourself so there are as few surprises and disappointments as possible. You may not have the same support or the same lifestyles, but you absolutely can create new and possibly even better ones. Turn to your most trusted loved ones for

If children are involved, your focus on tran sitioning should be on them even more than on yourself as if mishandled. Divorce can have long-lasting negative impacts on children. Also important to note-for those who are staying together just for their children-it is equally as damaging for them to grow up in an unhappy or abusive home. If there are any separation regrets regarding children, there should not be if it’s done healthily. Do your best to keep any conflict away from the kids as ongoing parental conflict increases kids’ risk of psychological and social problems. It’s often helpful for divorcing parents to come up with a plan and present it to their children together. Even children require transparency and a planned routine to ease fears, negative expectations and anxiety. If you can’t be a team for each other, you can try to be for your children. Avoid ever forcing your child to take sides.

No one wins in a divorce, but there can be win-win de cisions. Remember that a divorced family is still a family. Eventually, the dust will settle as well as your emotions and you’ll be left with one thing-- memories. Ensure when you look back at the divorce experience that you were satisfied with your actions and decisions.

Negative self-talk will occur, no matter the reason for divorce, but do your best to keep this at a minimum; remind yourself why the divorce is happening in the first place. You may have not gotten your happily ever after but you can achieve your happily even after.

Thank you for reading and please continue to send suggested topics to caitlinvieira@gmail.com

Curl Fete is...

in 2020, a feature in ZiNG in-flight magazine across the Caribbean and general recognition for helping to reshape public perspectives on natural hair. Henry-Fraser shared that herself along with the late Victor were once rec ognised as Top 40 Under-40 Entrepreneurs in Guyana and she was also a part of the inaugural class of the Top 25 Influential Women Leaders.

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the years signifies a shared commitment amongst the members toward continuous ly accomplishing new goals and overcoming countless obstacles meant to act as hindrances. These included striving to dismiss narratives on the event being ‘just an other party or trade show’ and taking action against the issue of sexism and society’s unrealistic expectations of women in order to showcase

Curl Fete as creatively unique and professionally run trade show.

Curl Fete has garnered multiple achievements over time that acknowledges its instrumental role in develop ing small businesses, partic ularly through the vendor’s programme and it continues to support the development of medium and large-scale. Among Curl Fete’s accolades include being awarded the Small Business Bureau’s Business of the Year award

Presently, the pre-sold tickets cost $1000 GY but $1500 GY at the gate and children below the age of three are free. The ticket locations are Koko, HJ Box Office, Makeda, Pawsome Pets and Purple Clover (Georgetown), New Lev el Barbershop & Salon in Bristol Mall (New Amster dam) and Chicken’s Stag Bar in Mackenzie and Sister to Sister’s Salon in Amelia’s Ward (Linden). Patrons can also order tickets for de livery by Trace’s Taxi and Transportation Services on telephone number +592 2197172 or +592 680-7482.

The Essence of Life

With a background in Chemistry coupled with the aim to expand the Curl Fete brand, Henry-Fraser is currently in the research and development (R&D) phase for creating a haircare and beauty product line. She is also optimistic about hosting a pop-up Curl Fete

event across Guyana and the communities Bartica, New Amsterdam, Linden and Let hem have already been iden tified that will ultimately enhance the exhibition and create additional opportuni ties for local entrepreneurs especially women-owned businesses to make a name for themselves. After all,

she states: “A self-earning woman is often an empow ered woman.”

The team recently launched a new podcast called ‘Curlversations’ that is streamed on Digi cel’s GoLoud platform and in due time, the website www.curlfetexpo.com will be available.

Celebrating Indigenous Heritage...

his most well-known.

At a special Indigenous Heritage Month celebration some years ago, President Cheddi Jagan spoke of his efforts to have September 10 observed and celebrated to honour Stephen Camp bell, and how he faced strong opposition “by some of the comrades at Freedom House.” Their reason, President Ja gan disclosed, was that they said that Campbell was a member of The United Force (political party) and not a member of the People’s Pro gressive Party (PPP). At the event, President Jagan spoke with a measure of pride, in succeeding to have Stephen Campbell duly accorded the status of “National Hero” and honoured every September 10. The President stated that he willingly agreed to have Stephen Campbell honoured in that way, “Because it was the wishes of his people.”

Among Campbell’s great est works for his fellow Indig enous Guyanese, and the na tion as a whole, was travelling all the way to Britain from his residence on the Pomer oon river in British Guiana, and presenting his people’s Land Title Claim which had

hundreds of signatures, to the British Parliament. It was no easy task, but the Guyanese hero was successful in that endeavour. His act set in mo tion land claims by dozens of Indigenous Guyanese com munities across the country, for years to follow. Many were successful. Many others continue to be fought for by residents of those communi ties in which they and many generations before them, had resided, and longed to have as theirs with legal documents.

Stephen Campbell was the patriarch of a well-known and talented Guyanese fam ily. His daughter, Stephanie Campbell-Vieira, was a high ly accomplished artist and sculptor. Many of her works were displayed at national art exhibitions over the years. His son David Campbell is a high ly-accomplished singer and songwriter. While his song “Kabakaburi Children” is his most popular and is played on local radio fairly often - espe cially during Heritage month - another favourite of David Campbell’s compositions is titled, “The Time of Eagles” which is considered among his greatest compositions. With a ‘mari-mari’ flair, it is a

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song which can take listeners and dancers into an almost trance-like state of mind, and a dream-like place beyond all the complexities and chal lenges of life.

For many years, David Campbell and I communicat ed by email. However, I have not heard from him in more recent years, and so I began contacting his relatives in Guyana. They all told me that they too, have not heard from David in a long time. Among the last emails I received from this apparent self-exiled son of the soil was his expressed desire to become a man who lives a hermit’s lifestyle. As such, I have come to the real isation that David Campbell is most likely residing some where on a mountain side in Western Canada overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Some years ago, he had mentioned to me, his desire and plan, was to live a quiet life. So, it is most likely that he is now living the life of a hermit, putting aside almost all worldly things. Maybe, someone can shed some light on David Camp bell, and where exactly he is residing and what he is doing at this 2022 Indigenous Heri tage Month.

Curl Fete provides a space for entrepreneurs to market their goods and products

Vendors usually get the opportunity to dis play different brands at Curl Fete

‘Transforming education’ is never letting the pandemic’s losses happen again

WORLD leaders seem to agree that a greater focus on improving children’s access to education is crucial, even during challenging or unforeseen circumstances. If they are really serious about transforming education, they must do what is necessary to prevent the learning losses experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic from recurring.

Countries are slowly rebounding from the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, and if it weren’t obvious before, it is becoming abundantly clear that the most vulnerable in our societies have been among the most harmed.

Children, particularly those in low-income households and communities without adequate social safety nets and uninterrupted access to educational resources, were among those worst affected by the pandemic.

Cognisant of this, world leaders and other stakeholders gathered in New York, in the United States of America (USA) last week for a “Transforming Education Summit” organised by the United Nations (UN).

This summit was reportedly convened in response to a global crisis in education, wherein inequities and exclusion were rampant. In fact, a 2020 study by UNICEF and the International Telecommunications Union found that more than 800 million young people worldwide lacked internet access at home.

Expectedly, many of those individuals experienced challenges in engaging in remote, online learning and en gagement.

This isn’t an unknown or unheard-of occurrence right here in Guyana. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the disparities in education were magnified. For example, the lack of much-needed educational resources and facilities in rural and hinterland communities was a sore (and, thankful ly, well-ventilated) concern. Many children in those regions grappled with costly mobile data, unreliable internet and electricity (if any at all), and a challenging online schooling environment.

Because of these challenges, it should not be sur prising that teach ers and parents condoned the clan destine, unsanc tioned reopening of schools. They knew that children were experiencing enormous learning losses. Challenges to childcare and safety were also abundant during the pandemic.

These challenges must never repeat themselves regardless of what global shocks countries experience. If they recur, it means that we have not learnt from the COVID-19 pandem ic and have failed to institute programmes to cushion such shocks. And they are challenges that must be addressed now so that they do not result in irreversible, lifelong learning losses that impact children’s quality of life.

In response to these challenges (and many, many more), several initiatives were pursued in Guyana. With the absence of deeper analyses and assessments, I cannot speak to the effectiveness of these initiatives. Yet, I think Guyana gets points for trying.

To Guyana’s credit, there were apparent efforts at equalis ing education delivery and making resources more available. Textbooks and educational content were created for learners. Where internet facilities could not be immediately established or improved, other means of broadcasting information (tele vision stations and radio channels) were strengthened.

Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali spoke of these efforts at the summit. He also highlighted the government’s am bitious plans to improve education in Guyana, including increasing national spending on education to 20 per cent

It is okay to love from afar

FOR some people, love and proximity must go hand in hand. You must be close to the people you love, you must be present in their lives and let them be present in yours. That’s okay for many of us;yes, we do have our loved ones close to us, whether it be friends, relatives or even your spouses, I am sure that they’re all close physically and emotionally to you. With that in mind, what do you do when someone you love hurts you or disrespects you? If it’s one thing I’ve learned in my short journey through life thus far, it’s that love doesn’t automatically go away. At least, that’s not the case for me. I can’t wake up the next day and “unlove” (oh, how I dislike that word) someone, even after they may have done something to hurt me, cause me distress or completely destroy my peace. A part of me will still love them.

Teenage Marissa would’ve been allowing herself to be in the same proximity (mentally and physically) of those very persons. However, the Marissa that wrote this article might do the complete opposite of that. I say “might,” because I’m not completely in the clear yet, and I don’t think I’ll ever be a 100 percent okay with loving people from afar, but it’s still neces sary and important in hurtful, disrespectful situations. There are days when I feel like a complete failure. If it weren’t for constant reassurances and consistent mental work on myself, I don’t even think I would’ve been able to love people from afar. Given my profession, I can help myself, but I urge you all to not “self-treat” your issues—seek help when needs be.

You see, it goes back to an issue with boundaries and learning when to say NO—I’ve stressed on those two issues separately in previous column sections of mine. If you’re not aware of what you’re worth, what your values are and what you want out of life, then you won’t be able to set healthy boundaries for yourself and those around you.

It’s also important to note that your loved ones must know what you can and cannot tolerate. You need to learn to communicate your expectations to them, otherwise, they won’t know. Let’s say now they know what those expectations are, and they still went ahead to disrespect you within the relationship you share with them,then your boundaries and self-awareness will predict if you’ll be able to love them from afar or you can still keep them in your life. It all comes down to what you can and cannot tolerate. I decided to write this column section to help you all to understand that it is okay to love people from afar—even your family. At the end of the day, we’re all human beings and we may still feel love for our backstabbing, lying or disrespectful friends or family. You can love them and still choose to stay away from them. You can love them and still move on from them. You can have love for them and choose you at the end of it all.

‘Transforming education’ is ...

gaps between developed and developing countries.

of the country’s national budget, and fulfilling his party’s manifesto promise of free tertiary education by 2025.

The Head of State also touted ongoing efforts to support families through the schoolchildren’s cash grant, uniform vouchers, and the school feeding programme.

Beyond President Ali’s plans and ongoing pro grammes, the presentations from other world leaders were very telling. Those presentations were one way of understanding the

For some countries, trans forming education meant infusing more artificial in telligence and cutting-edge technologies; for others, it meant children were ade quately clothed and fed, so that they could even come to school in the first place.

With this wide-ranging focus, I think the most fundamental priority has to be ensuring that the challenges faced in the pandemic really never happen again.

The most basic yet pro found consideration should

be that children’s learning losses, be it dropping out of school or being unable to meaningfully ‘catch up,’ impact the quality of life they are able to live.

If you would like to connect with me to discuss the column or any of my previous work, please feel free to email me at: vish 14ragobeer@gmail.com

Effects of local anaesthetics

AFTER being a dentist for almost thirty-five years, most of which were spent as a senior practitioner in the public service, apart from private practice, I have never known anyone to suffer any negative effect from local anaesthetic. In dentistry, it is used mainly to numb the area where a tooth is being extracted. It is estimated that over 200,000 dental capsules of anaesthetic are administered yearly in Guyana with relative safety and possibly few complica tions. However, like all drugs, the use of local anaesthetics, commonly referred to as “cocaine”, is not without hazard, and we must all be aware of the possibility of untoward reactions.

Patients need to inform their dentist of any history of previ ous anaesthetic experiences and whether they have shown any unusual reaction to drugs or allergies. The dentist should know any specific condition that may require support or treatment, any disease for which the patient is or has been under the care of a physician, and the type of treatment, particularly drugs, currently being prescribed.

Most reactions occurring after the injection are potentiated by the anxiety that accompanies the dental appointment, and the stress is the major problem to be avoided. Other condi

tions that may precipitate reaction to local anaesthetic are the following:

* Low blood sugar levels resulting from fasting before the dental appointment. This is probably the foremost factor in fainting, so the patient must have had their regular meal. People who skip breakfast are prime candidates for fainting.

* Extremes in temperature. Heat exhaustion will exacer bate reactions.

* Any debilitating disease. Disease is a prime agent in reducing the ability to respond to stress.

* Pregnancy. This patient is sensitised, much like the al lergic type. She has an increased blood level of steroids and needs careful handling.

Studies show that two to three out of every hundred members of the public will fall into a category of problem management cases. Most of those individuals have special requirements, and I will examine some of them.

Cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels) diseases. These patients will probably be on special medications such as Re serpine or Serpasil, digitalis derivatives (Digoxin), diuretics (Lasix), and tranquilisers (Valium). All these drugs may interact with the anaesthetic agent used.

Respiratory diseases. These may include emphysema and asthma. These conditions cause limitations in the oxygenation mechanism. Since fear results in increased respiration, dental chair apprehension may cause a deficit.

Allergic diseases. This patient may have a history of hay fever, asthma, angioedema, contact dermatitis (mad blood) etc. there will often be a familial history of sensitivity. Atopic types are far very sensitive to offending antigens and may de velop severe anaphylaxis and die from the injection of small amounts of the allergen (continued in the anaesthetic).

Blood dyscrasias and haemorrhage diseases. Many persons are taking anticoagulant therapy and do not know. Patients frequently take tablets prescribed by their doctors without knowing the names and purpose of the medicine. When it takes more than ten minutes for a wound to stop bleeding, or if a woman menstruates in excess of six days, the person may have a coagulation problem.

Finally, individuals receiving steroid therapy do not respond well to stress. Those being treated for hyperthy roidism may have to be sedated. Uncontrolled diabetics should never have dental treatment. Healing and postop erative infections are a problem here.