Pepperpot 01 03 2016

“It is my belief that when we talk, when we share experiences, when we reveal ourselves we will learn that there is more good than bad, more similarities than differences.” ► Page IX

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

CREATIVELY MATING WITH MY RAINFOREST MUSE

By Joan Cambridge

“imagination is more important than knowledge; it is a preview of life’s coming attractions” – Albert Einstein

I

n a rainforest environment such at Yukuriba Falls, the exploration of my maroon heritage/consciousness was/is inevitable. It is the essential journey any descendant of an enslaved African Guyanese seeking to “reimagine freedom at the borders of democracy” must naturally face if she would presume to be a serious writer with opinions worthy of consideration.

I can never fully recreate for you here the “labyrinthine passages” (thank you Wilson Harris) along which my imagination led me retrospecting on the fugitive ancestral experience, introspecting on the treachery of the contemporary (then) PPPC administration, while visualizing a future like today written in a ‘happier alphabet’ (thank you Martin Carter). After all, who will disagree that the idea is always to move on, to transcend...a state that is unachievable without the aid of vision.

Imagine Tampoco , one of those faithful house slaves (you know those who like the poor, are still with us). Here’s how he fits into my rainforest muse in this excerpt from my play: Tingalingaling School-Bell Ring: D Bush Tun Rain-Forest, an exchange between a revolutionary pork-knocker and an educated Amerindian.

Polish Uncle Aaron, if your ancestors had not been so – so excessive and jolly…so welcoming! what then do you think history would’ve recorded?...doanno know why I even bother?

Working on the novel Clarise Cumberbatch Want to Go Home, in my cabin at Yukuriba Falls; circa 1986. maybe because I truly believe…I know that – right now – at this very moment…some of your people are (sorry) repeating that folly!

Polish; turning to go; Uncle Aaron; restraining him; gesturing toward a young Amerindian man approaching quietly; Enter a young man with shotgun in hand...looking angry...dropping a large dead bird at the old man’s feet.

Young Man Grandfather, you get meat …

Uncle Aaron (gesturing to Polish and Ponaki) This my grandson, Guy. He going to the University of Guyana. Guy, these…my friends – Guy (Questioningly) They are your friends grandfather?…that is why they standing up here blaming history on Amerindian people?

Note: Yukuriba Heights looks out at the Akaiwanna mountains in this picture and not the Konawaruk as was erroneously stated in last week’s column.

► Continued on page VIII

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Bam-Bam Alley

III

…a cornucopia of pleasures

U

By Godfrey Wray

p to 15 years ago the two-block western verge along Orange Walk between Regent Street and South Road was a somnolent pasture that accommodated more cows than people and vehicles.

Today there is no such space for the bovine brethren as the mini boulevard has been transformed into a parking lot of shiny metal of the two and fourwheeled kind. Drivers and riders wend their way slowly and carefully, conscious that they are on hallowed turf – Bam-Bam Alley At first there was only one food and beer joint - Sweet Point - run by an intrepid entrepreneur named Ronald Betancourt, aptly called “Sweet Hand.” Then ever so slowly, as eagles dare, others ventured forth and the last time I looked there was no more space for expansion, unless the City Council is going to go the two-storied route.

Every city in the world has its pleasure and notoriety spots. As youngsters, we dared not let our parents know we had been within spitting distance of Tiger Bay’s Lina Dina on Water Street, though just passing close to the “venerable” underworld joint was enough to boast about for weeks.

Upper Albouystown cradled “Hell’s Kitchen,” East Ruimveldt housed “Warlock” and not so long ago at Barr and James Streets in “All-Man-Town,” “Taps” had underlined his authority.

Plaisance Line Top sputtered and fizzed but never really caught afire.

These were all epicenters of violence, most often ignited by social issues. They will come and they will go. But somehow Bam-Bam Alley exudes permanence. Orange Walk is no more. It’s more likely to be: “Meet me at Sweet Point” or, “Let’s go to the Alley.”

It definitely won’t be kosher if you gave any indication that you didn’t know the locale of the destination.

There was a time when no self-respecting woman would be seen on the Alley or in one of its joints. Most were hesitant to stay for long periods because the majority of the pubs didn’t have toilet facilities, a situation which has been partially corrected. However there is one

school of argument which suggests that the brief exposures might be the genesis of the area’s unconventional name.

The Alley is super for a liquid lunch. Guys (and girls) from all walks of life - my St. Stanislaus College friend who is now a doctor in Brooklyn, another buddy who is a dentist in Maryland, a judge, a lawyer, a senior Army Officer, and a politician. All in one day at Wesley’s Hang-Out. Two retired pensioners, a minister, an engineer, a historian, and an exuberant ex-civil servant sat ensconced in their favourite chairs. Heaven was right there.

The Alley holds a magnetic attraction for many who visit. It is bustling, vibrant, teeming with activity and it is within touching distance of most of the major points of the city. It has already won a place in Georgetown’s fast-changing landscape.

I finished my beer and was about to pay my bill when I felt a slight tug on my shirt’s sleeve.

It was my pedantic primary school English teacher. He was the last person I wanted to see, especially after consuming all that liquid.

He moved right in swinging. “Mr. Wray, I see you are back at the Chronicle. Hope you can arrest the decline. You have to do something about the callous disregard for spelling, syntax and the noun-verb relationships. It seems that the once cherished dictionary is an encumbrance.

You have to slay the dragon and you have to venture into the murky and cloying waters of ineptitude.”

“I promise to do my best,” was all I could get out, as he grabbed my hand and hissed “this is why this stretch is called Bam-Bam Alley.”

I looked where he was looking. I saw a well-shaped body in a simple dress that clung to every curve. His lecherous eyes were fastened on the retreating figure moving with a slight hint of provocation, liberal jostling taking place under the thin cloth.

A trio of women in colourful tights came into view, none with glamourous appendages that appealed to him. Reluctantly he bade me adieu with the promise that I would see him again.

Not if I saw him first.

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

The Other Side of Midnight*

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n midnight of Decemb e r 31, 2015, the first movement of “Roaring in the Golden Jubilee” of Guyana’s Independence was made, setting into motion one leap year of commemoration and celebration.

On midnight of May 1966, there was another set of movements signaling and celebrating Guyana’s attainment of Independence.

Even for those who witnessed the events of May 1966, it may not be easy to evoke the heady emotions experienced at that time. Sadly also, there are many, far too many Guyanese, and non-Guyanese, who are still not conscious of what happened during that month to mark the beginning of a new era the establishment of the nation state of Guyana.

H o w e v e r, a f e w events were of such magnitude, so elaborate in preparation and spectacular in execution, that they should forever be prominent fixtures in our culture, forming symbols of inspiration and pride.

HISTORICAL PAGEANT For instance, the his-

torical pageant, Ours the Glory, was an open air affair in the National Park performed within the bounties of nature which included a manmade lake. The stage was an earthen mound measuring 40 feet by 60 feet, the height varied from 3 feet to 4 feet, natural gradient of the hill. The cast was one thousand and fifty children with one and forty-one backstage assistants. And there was more to such a production. For instance, the script was done by A. J. Seymour with Frank Pilgrim and Shirley Patterson assisting as historical advisers.

Numerous committees to deal with dance, music, wardrobe, lightening and special effects consisted of scores and scores of professionals. Cicely Robinson, in charge of the whole affair, was ably assisted by Pat Anderson, Beryl McBurnie, Pansy Duke, Vesta Lowe, Magna Pollard, Marjorie Broodhagen, Edith Pieters, Belle Tyndall, Nona Permaul, Major Louis Kerr, W. R. A. Pilgrim and Rafiq Khan.

WATER PAGEANT Staying on the subject of pageants, let’s look at one with a difference. That water pageant fifty years ago,

on the West Demerara, the Mahaica Hospital, on the East Demerara, and to the Palms on Brickdam.

EXHIBITIONS There were many exhibitions including photographic, art, handicraft and folk dance, a few staged outside the month of May, some even outside of Guyana.

On the morning of May 26, 1966, the Duke of Kent presented the constitutional instruments of independence to Prime Minister LFS Burnham. organised by Mr. S. M. V. Nasseer, was indeed a novelty. For instant, guests were ushered to their places by costumed girls depicting our six races while costumed girls depicting flowers of Guyana atop colourful pontoons titillated the display route.

The pageant included a rowing race, speed boat exhibition, a ski demonstration and a fire boat display. (Yes, we had fire boats then to assist in fire fighting on the waterfront.) The Duke and Duchess of Kent, guests of honour, witnessed the event from a special Royal Launch.

STATE BANQUET Another elaborate affair was the State Banquet staged in the auditorium of Queen’s College. To seat and to

attend to the needs of some 500 foreign and local dignities with attendant sophistry was no easy undertaking but it was well orchestrated.

SCHOOL CHILDREN IN CONCERT The venue – Astor Cinema in Georgetown.

The event was a rendition of the new National Anthem by the children of Guyana.

Imagine 5000 voices in great acoustic condition belting out Green Land of Guyana. Imagine taking 5000 children from different schools and getting them to do it right. Many attested that the pride beating in the hearts of the young performers came to the fore in no uncertain manner.

THE GOVERNMENT HOUSE CABARET Planned as a unified presentation comprising varied music and dance items under a central theme, it ran into slight difficulties, causing each item to be performed separately.

In the end, all was well – the mechanics behind the scene were that resourceful.

STEAL BAND AND OTHER MUSICAL CONCERTS Those concerts (of steal band, calypso and orchestra music) organised by Frank Pilgrim, assisted by A. F. Phillipe, were taken various parts of the country.

More importantly, however, steal band music was carried to the hospitals at Best Village,

HISTORICAL BROADCASTS Those weekly broadcasts started on February 23 to coincide with the anniversary of the Berbice Slave Rebellion of 1763 and continued to conclusion on May 11, 1966 – the day before the Guyana Independence Bill became law in London on May 12.

ROYAL VISIT The visit of the Duke and Duchess of Kent was mainly to hand over the Constitutional Instrument but there were other official commitments for the royal couple. They attended Evensong at St. George’s Cathedral, Independence Rodeo in the Rupununi, a flying visit to Berbice, a children’s rally in the ► Continued

on page V

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

V

THIS WEEK’S PREVIEW: Jan. 4 – 10, 2016 Baby who ah cry ah house and ah door ah same thing. Will Sonia be able to accept David’s “outside” children?

Jai is at his wits end and decides to call a friend for advice on “coming out”. Is this a sensible move? What will be the outcome?

Debra calls Sonia and causes another abusive situation in the Michaels home.

How does Jai’s father, Vic, really feel about “gays”?

Who is trying to blackmail Jai? What happens when David catches his daughter, Maya, committing an act against the Law? Why does she tell her mother “I wish you would just disappear”?

Don’t miss this week’s episode.

Listen to Merundoi on line: www.merundoi.org.gy

The Domestic Violence and Prevention of Suicide Storylines are supported by the European Union and PAHO WHO.

The Other Side ... mining town of Mackenzie, and a float parade in Georgetown, among other events.

THE ARCH The Commemorative Independence Arch constructed by Demerara Bauxite Company Limited (Demba) was made from local materials – aluminium from bauxite mined at Mackenzie and quartz stone from Mazaruni River. The arch “springing from a common rock, the three arches taper upwards towards the clouds, representing the three counties of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice” was erected at the top of Brickdam, a main thoroughfare, as a monument between colonialism and freedom.

Caribbean Writers and Artists Conference.

That conference of writers and artists from Guyana and the Caribbean was held on May 30 in the History of Queen’s College. It was declared open by Prime Minister, L. F. S. Burnham and chaired by A. J. Seymour under the theme “Independence and the freedom of the artist.”

Some of the delegates included Jan Carew, O. R. Dathorne, E. R. Braithwaite, Donald Locke, Carlisle Chang, C. L. R. James, and George Lamming.

Other Related Events Not all that happened then was of an official nature; there were many others (private sector and individual) initiatives. For instance, the Vieira family initiated the Manuel Vieira Independence Scholarship,

Mountaineer Adrian Thompson and a seven-man team planted the Golden Arrowhead on Mount Ayanganna, the highest point in the Pakaraima Ranges, and Essequibians announced their intention to elevate the slave martyr, Damon, to status of national hero. The Golden Arrowhead was hoisted almost simultaneously in over 150 villages across Guyana.

Apart from the events marked by great pomp and elaborate ceremony, there were many other occurrences with significant connotations for Guyana. For instance, the office is Opposition Leader was instituted, we got our first Ombudsman, the Lord Mayor ship came into been, the British Guiana Volunteer Force was disbanded, Atkinson Base, leased to the American for an extended period, was reclaimed, and the

► From page IV

titled deed of land for the erection to University of Guyana Campus was handed over by Lord Campbell of Eskan to Pro-Chancellor Sir John Carter.

And there was rain – showers of blessing.

Happy 50th Anniversary, Guyana.

(Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com) *Title borrowed from book of same name by Sidney Sheldon

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

VII

Court decrees...

20 years too long

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N 2007 a High Court judge found former Deputy Registrar General of Births and Deaths, Steven Edwards, guilty of negligence or unreasonable delay in seeking to assert or enforce a right and that the Constitutional Motion he introduced, was an abuse of the process of the Court.

The appellant subsequently appealed to the Guyana Court of Appeal for redress on his Constitutional Motion.

But after hearing the matter that Court said, “This appeal is accordingly dismissed on the ground that this Court finds no basis for interfering with the finding of the trial judge that the institution of the proceedings 20 years after compulsory retirement constituted unreasonable delay and was an attempt to abuse the process of the Court” The Guyana Court of Appeal was constituted by Justices of Appeal Singh, Kissoon and Chang.

Lawyer Gibson for the appellant.

Mr. Doodnauth Singh, S. C., Attorney General for the respondents.

The facts of the case were that the appellant was dismissed from the Public Service with effect from September 19, 1981. Seven years after he sought a declaration from the High Court that he was wrongfully dismissed, and damages .

His action was dismissed as being statue barred.

He appealed to the Court of Appeal, was allowed and the matter remitted to the High Court to be heard de-novo. The High Court again held that the action was barred by laches and dismissed it.

A second appeal to the Court of Appeal was dismissed. On August 8, 2001 the appellant filed a Constitutional Motion in the High Court seeking a declaration that he had been compulsorily retired and the enforcement of his right to money due to him as salary and superannuation benefits.

The Motion was dismissed on the ground that the appellant having waited 20 years to bring the action, and offering no explanation for the delay, was guilty of negligence or unreasonable delay in seeking to assert or enforce a right and that the motion was an abuse of the process of the Court of Appeal.

On appeal, it was held (i) The Court found no basis for interfering with the finding of the trial judge that the institution of proceedings 20 years after compulsory retirement constituted unreasonable delay and an attempt to abuse the process of the Court. (ii) The doctrine of res judicata did not apply to the appellant’s claim because, unlike the first claim which was for damages for wrongful dismissal, the present claim was for the enforcement of property rights under article 142 of the Constitution –Appeal dismissed.

Justice of Appeal Chang who delivered the judgment of the Court said: “On the 22nd of March, 2007 the Court orally dismissed the appeal.

On the 27th of April on application, the Appellant obtained the leave of this Court to appeal its decision to the Caribbean Court of Justice .The decision of the Court delivered orally on the 22nd of March 2007is now put into writing.

In March 1980 the appellant court, while holding the public office of Deputy Registrar-General, Births and Deaths was criminally charged with the summary offence of Corrupt transaction by agent , contrary to section 105 (2) (a) of the Summary Jurisdiction (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:02. However, that charge was dismissed on 20th January 1981.

In September 1981, the Appellant received a letter dismissing him from the Public Service with effect from the 19th September, 1981.

On the 7th July 1988, seven years later, in an action by Writ of Summons the Appellant sought from the High Court a declaration that he was wrongfully dismissed and damages. The High Court held that his

action was statue-barred and dismissed it.

However, on appeal to the Court of Appeal, the Court of Appeal allowed the appellant’s appeal and remitted the matter to the High Court to be heard de novo.

After the matter was remitted to the High Court, the respondents in that action (who are the same respondents in this appeal) were granted leave to file an amended defence to include laches acquiescence and delay by the Appellant.

On the 6th December 1996, the High Court presided over by Justice Burch-Smith upheld the action was barred by laches and dismissed it. For the second time, the Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal.

But on that second appeal, the Appellant failed and his appeal was dismissed.

On the 8th of August 2001, the appellant filed a Consitutional Motion to the High Court in which

George Barclay

he sought the following reliefs. (a) A declaration that he was compulsory retired from the public Service on the 10th day of November, 1980. (b) An Order directing the payment to him of the sum of $200, 289.00. (c) An Order directing the payment to him by way of superannuation as ex parte payment and pension. (d) Costs.”

It is instructive to note that in his Motion, the Appellant was not claiming damages for wrongful dismissal but rather a declaration that he was compulsory retired and the enforcement of his right to money due to him as salary and superannuation benefits.

The trial judge in dismissing the Appellant’s Motion stated: “The Appellant has waited 20 years to bring this action which is for arrears of salary, superannuation and pension benefits. He is surely guilty of negligence or unreasonable delay in asserting or enforcing a right.

I agree with the submission that this Motion is now an abuse of the process of the Court, which the High Court has an inherent jurisdiction to prevent .

No explanation for this delay has been offered by the Applicant by way of affidavit or otherwise.”

The Court is unable to interfere with the finding of fact made by the trial judge that, in filing his Motion 20 years after his alleged compulsory retirement from the Public Service the Appellant was guilty of unreasonable delay in asserting or seeking to enforce his claim to property rights in Court.

As such, this Court cannot set aside the decision of the trial judge to dismiss the Applicant’s motion for abuse of process on the ground of undue delay.

The Court, however, refrains from expressing any agreement with the trial judge that the doctrine of res judicata had application since the Appellant’s claim, unlike his claim in the first action, was not for damages for wrongful dismissal in private law but for the enforcement of property rights under Article 142 of the Constitution . In the earlier action, the Appellant had claimed that he was wrongfully dismissed while in his later Motion, he asserted that he was compulsorily retired by the Commission.

This appeal is accordingly dismissed on the ground that the Court finds no basis for interfering with the findings of the trial judge that the institution of the proceedings 20 years after compulsory retirement constituted unreasonable delay and was an attempt to abuse the processes of the Court.

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

CREATIVELY MATING ...

Polish

Ohhhh! so this is Guy…I know you…your reputation has traveled before you – Guy (sharply) what you mean…my reputation? I – Polish (interrupting) You’re the man they call “the professor” right? I hear that you’re an angry young man and…

Guy (snapping) I angry yes, because I stand up quiet in the bush there and listen to you blaming Amerindian people...You didn’t know that we fight? Go back and see…read your history…understand...we– Polish (finishing Guy’s statement) Happily assisted the plantocracy by delivering to them all the runaway slaves’ right hands …you could capture?

Guy visibly angry; yet exercising the control characteristic of his people.

Guy You don’t understand nothing I trying to say man…

My mind is not screwed up by no missionaries that coming here…

I know about all that agenda that you talking about – I know more than you…cause I was living here since I born…

Let me tell you something I am sure you know but you don’t talk about it...is not all Amerindian people do that…was not not only our people were catching slaves in this bush and carrying back right hands to the plantation owners… read your history again; your own people were slave catchers…find out about that man name Tampoco! you know that Tampoco houseslave man who –

Polish (interrupting, smiling)

... soon after the abolition of slavery was sent with some of your Carib cousins from the Upper Essequibo to destroy their settlements and capture those maroons (about a hundred of them) who were menacing plantations in the area? Of course, I know all about Tampoco, professor – Guy (really angry) Stop all this foolishness, please don’t call me professor…you know what he do right this Tampoco house-slave man? You know that the right hands he carry back to the white man were the hands of Arawak people...that he raided an Arawak village?

Polish quietly smiling; noting the young Amerindian’s...attempting to introduce a calmer tone...

Polish Whoa whoa whoa…lill brother tek time…or dis ting gon chew you up and spit you out man – you think you got issues with history…? Man just look at it this way – dem Dutch planters musta bin deep in dat mind-set...”they all look alike” or they woulda recognize was a con – anyway – he didn get away with it...he commit suicide before…

Guy extremely irritated now; literally brushing aside Polish’s words; like buzzing bees in his ear.

Guy I know all of that man, I know all of that – But the mistake people still making today is that they believe Amerindian people do not care about our future…we do not think about our condition; they think because we are easy – like my grandfather here…we all have simple minds…they are wrong about that – they are very wrong about that!

Polish (laughingly) What? Uncle Aaron, simple-minded? a wily ole akuri like he?

Guy You laugh, but know that this time those who wish to fool us with little gifts and come to claim our patrimony for them self… those who also come prepared with their GPS instruments…their satellites!...who send their officials…their young students to teach us sustainable development and self-reliance while they steal our minds and study our geography? They come very well prepared so we cannot get them lost in the bush; we may get them angry and they can wipe us out like what happen in some places in Brazil. They come tempting us with promises of a better life in the city where our women go to become prostitutes and die of aids! I do not want to live in the city…Georgetown is not attractive to me…I must go to school on the coastland when I really want to stay here where I was born… where I belong…I will make sure nobody like you will ever again blame history on me and my…

Polish Okay, okay Guy, I get your drift – but since you claim to know the history...doan forget Quamina. Remember Quamina, that African freedom fighter of the 1823 Demerara Uprising? Remember when 12,000 enslaved voices were demanding: “our right”? remember that Quamina shot dead by Amerindian slave-catchers in the backlands of Chateau Margot?

Though he advocated no violence, Quamina was hung in chains ...his body left to rot? Do you read about that?

Young amerindian man; opening his mouth to respond; polish; raising a restraining hand...allowing himself some anger also Polish (snapping) …don’t tell me who did it…I know the history as well as you...doan matter whether they were Carib Arawak Macushi Wai-Wai or whatever – The fact remains that Amerindians were slave catchers and you are an Amerindian!...just like Tampoco was African and so am I – There will always be Tampocos…even today they stalk their own at the bidding of new masters; we know them – but we all have to bear the burden of our people’s folly…their treachery! So professor (sorry) so Guy – all I’m saying is – this time little brother…let’s do each other a favour? You endeavour to watch my back will you? I got yours.

Nadia Sagar

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

IX

- Why she wants to see Guyanese engaged in Courageous Conversations THE first TEDx event in Guyana was held on December 28th, 2015 at the Theatre Guild. The aim was to bring together one hundred of Guyana’s most impassioned TEDx enthusiasts together for a half a day of dialogue around the theme Courageous Conversations.

The event featured an incredible line-up of speakers on topics ranging from sexual and reproductive rights, decolonising Caribbean literature and the adverse effects of religious fundamentalism in Guyana/Caribbean.

T

he independently produced event, operated under a license from TED was organized by Nadia Sagar and was aimed at creating dialogue as well as giving people a forum to share their passions, ideas and experiences. Here, Sagar explains why she decided on the event, and turn to page XVII and Centre for some of the some of the ideas shared at Monday’s event.

The idea of organising a TEDx event had been fermenting from the time I started watching TEDTalks. As a people Guyanese love to talk. Drive through any village or town and you will find us sitting on back steps, gathered in shops and bottom houses talking about the things that affect us. In recent years, the conversations have migrated to social media where they engage a much wider audience. However the difficulty I have with social media conversations is that often good ideas, innovative or controversial ideas are not explored fully or enough or get lost in the general noise of trolling, etc. TEDTalks are appealing because it takes the best stories, experiences and ideas and make them the focus of the event.

For the first TEDx event in Guyana there were some common threads weaved through all the talks – colonialism, identity, culture, and gender inequality.

Nawa Munyinda Jr, a medical student, shared her story of growing up a girl in Zambia, the expectations of her as a female child her own desire to be independent, to study medicine, to return to Zambia one day as an Obstetrician. Her advocacy is against female genital mutilation.

Subraj Singh, the 2015 Guyana Prize for Literature winner shared his concerns that new, young writers are ignoring the stories of Guyana in favour of stories of far off places, regarded as superior and marketable to developed countries. He posits on the value of writing stories about what we know, our country, our people, our Guyanese experiences.

Rev. Patricia Sheerattan Bisnauth, Executive Director of The Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association, was frank about her experiences growing up a girl, about TED is a nonprofit organization devoted the socialisation process that revealed the expectations to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a of those around her, of society. She addressed abortion four-day conference in California 25 years ago, TED has grown to support those rights, the treatment of LGBT Guyanese and how the world-changing ideas with multiple initiaGRPA is working to combat discrimination. tives. The annual TED Conference invites Michelle and Gerhard Ramsaroop, the founding the world's leading thinkers and doers to Nadia Sagar is an attorney-at-law in private pracspeak for 18 minutes. Their talks are then Directors of Days for Girls- Guyana and part of a tice. In 2011, she became the first President of the made available, free, at TED.com. TED Transparency Institute of Guyana. Sagar plans to wider global NGO which seeks to create sustainable speakers have included Bill Gates, Al Gore, continue to advocate for various social causes and sanitary products for girls and women who lose days Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard hopes one day to kick start a non-governmental of schooling, work and leisure because of their lack Branson, Nandan Nilekani, Philippe Starck, organisation.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and UK of access to affordable, good quality sanitary napkins.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The annual Ferlin Pedro, once an orthodox Christian now TED Conference takes place in Long Beach, an atheist and founder of the Guyana Secular California, with simulcast in Palm Springs; TEDGlobal is held each year in Oxford, UK. Humanist Association explored the rise in religious TED's media initiatives include TED.com, fundamentalism in Guyana and the Caribbean, its where new TEDTalks are posted daily, and roots in colonialism and dangers of trading critical In the spirit of "ideas worth spreading," the Open Translation Project, which proTED has created TEDx. TEDx is a program vides subtitles and interactive transcripts thinking for dogma. of local, self-organized events that bring as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to It is my fervent hope that we will continue to people together to share a TED-like be translated by volunteers worldwide. talk, to challenge each other, to move beyond the experience. The first event here was called TED has established the annual TED Prize, TEDxRobbstown where x = independently boundaries of familiar structures to places where where exceptional individuals with a wish organized TED event. At TEDxRobbstown, to change the world are given the opportuwe can explore the things that cause of fear or TEDTalks video and live speakers combined nity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, make us uncomfortable. It is my belief that when to spark deep discussion and connection which offers individuals or groups a way in a small group. The TED Conference we talk, when we share experiences, when we to host local, self-organized events around provides general guidance for the TEDx the world; and the TEDFellows program, reveal ourselves we will learn that there is more program, but individual TEDx events, helping world-changing innovators from good than bad, more similarities than differences. including ours, are self-organized. around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

Follow TED on Twitter at twitter.com/TEDTalks,

About TED

About TEDx

or on Facebook at facebook.com/TED.

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Artists in the diaspora

Damali Abrams S

– Power and Performance Art

he is a feminist, a self-professed “pop culture critic” I recently sat down with Abrams to discuss her some of the concepts and “glitter priestess”. Like so many other artists, that inform her work as a performance artist and her experiences trying Damali Abrams uses her own lived experiences, good to sustain her art practice. and bad, as catalysts for her own bodies of work.

And although using “self” as the source as well as the How did you decide to venture into performance art? vehicle for communicating with the public is hardly new, her “At first I was making a lot of collages. I was really into collage and work is quite different because it continuously blurs lines that mixed media. It wasn’t until I went to grad school that I started to experihave traditionally been shrouded in obscurity. Performance art might seem like an alien concept to most Guyanese but for ment with video and performance. But before that my background was in this New York-based Guyanese artist living in such a dynamic dance. I’ve always been a performer from the time I was a little girl. It was art hub, it is anything but. through undergrad that I studied dance. Then I started to bring all of these Despite having been practiced since the 1960s, performance ideas together when I started grad school.” art, because of its very nature, continues to be problematic should one attempt to establish its fluid parameters. The purpose of perforHow have you as the artist and person at the center of those experimance art (not to be confused with the performing arts) has always been to use the human body to challenge and completely dismanences responded to the re-reading of your own words in your journals? tle the conventions of traditional art forms. It is experimental, “A part of it is very painful and almost like reopening old wounds. unrehearsed, interactive and very often physically or emotionally I’m still not comfortable watching it. But it has been a big part of my intense for the performer and/or the viewer. While there are core healing process. It’s not something I would necessarily do right now. ideas within the art form that link each artist’s work, there is no Once I realized I had 20 years of writing I was like ‘I should try to get this definitive checklist that dictates whether or not a work of art should published.’ That was my initial thought and then I started to type it up. be considered a performance piece. But in 2016, the same could I realized I still had real reactions to things that happened in 1992 and I also be said for almost every other art form. Rabbit hole alert!

In her artist statement Abrams says, “My work is a commentary Damali Abrams by thought this is crazy. I also realized that I was still working through issues on, as well as my contribution to, contemporary culture. RespondJaishri Abichandani that I had started dealing with in my adolescence, like my insecurities. ing to the dearth of images of Black women that I find relatable in Then I thought to myself ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen?’ mainstream art and media, the work performs as my surrogate; the The worst thing that could happen is I could stand in front of a room and read these in art performs me. […] I make no distinction between art and life. Using myself as a medium, front of people.

So that’s what I decided to do. Audiences were very supportive. I even I have an insatiable need to document the moment through blogging, webcam, video diaries and journaling. Personal narrative is a point of departure to addressing larger sociopolitical did a collaboration with Sam Vernon because she had similar journal entries. We wound concerns and the fact that identity is inherently performative.” up doing a collaboration together even though she was like maybe 8 to 10 years younger Since 1990, at the age of 10, Abrams has been writing in her journals, thoroughly doc- than me, and she was brought up in a different place, and had a different background. But umenting all the happenings in her life including her natural hair woes, long-term goals of there were so many similarities. That was very comforting as well, realizing that I just health and happiness, body image issues, future travel destinations and even her decision to become a Knicks cheerleader when she got older. After accumulating twenty years of journal wasn’t this crazy person by myself in the world.” entries it only seemed natural that she compile that material and use it as the infrastructure for an even more challenging body of work. Abrams made the decision publish those entries and later render them into performance and video adaptations.

A quick perusal of her social media accounts, particularly her Tumblr page (damaliabrams.tumblr.com) and Wordpress blog (damaliabrams.wordpress.com), will reveal a lot of bold and visual stimulating material including a few short videos from her series titled Autobiography of a Year. In this body of work Abrams recorded herself every day for a year, often dressed in costumes (some less outlandish than others) with personas to match. Her recital of journal entries from the 90s gives the viewer a brief glimpse into the life of an intelligent and very self-aware teenager experiencing the angst that is often associated with those years. Those video-based performances are as raw and emotional as they are witty and eclectic. There is something very personal and vulnerable about the artist opening the pages of her journals and sharing intimate moments with complete strangers. The power that is unveiled as a result resonates throughout her video works and draws viewers in to her world. It is that ebb and flow of power between performer and viewer as she channels and confronts her own emotional responses to past experiences, that is truly stirring.

A number of themes such as Feminism, Black empowerment, spirituality and self-love are evident in your work. Talk to me about those themes.

“I am definitely influenced by Feminism, the Black Power movement, self-empowerment and self-improvement. I’m pulling my influences from different places, having read a lot of books and admiring a lot of different people like Malcolm X. bell hooks is big for me. I’ve read a lot of self-help books over the years. Figuring out a way that I can bring them together in visual art in some way is important for me. Even the work that is about me I never felt like it was just about me. I felt like someone who is very into pop culture, mass media and never really seeing images that reflected me in those spaces, media or in art. My sister always said, ‘If you don’t see images that reflect yourself, you have to create them yourself.’ And so I did that in a very literal way by putting myself in the work and writing myself into history. Otherwise I would be erased. Everybody won’t like it but maybe there’s a little girl out there somewhere like me, who couldn’t find anybody who looked like her, and ► Continued on page XI who is happy to see someone

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

XI

► From page X like me. They walk into a museum and see a video of someone like me and that for me is huge.”

You spoke about Black representation in the media. Do you feel like there has been better representation of Black characters on television?

“There are a lot more Black people on television which is great. But I still don’t feel like it reflects me, and the people that I know. So in that sense I still feel like I’m invisible.

There are so many Black women who are the main characters but they still are the side hoes. It’s just depressing because I want to support these shows. There was one point where I was watching Being Mary Jane and I was watching Scandal and Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots.

And it’s just like, here are all these amazing beautiful Black Women and they’re being degraded. It’s just like in the 70s with all those Blaxploitation films where it’s like you’re fighting to have more images of Black people [so they just give you stereotypical images of Black people]. It’s not just about seeing a Black face if it’s still going to be an image that [perpetuates stereotypes]. We still need a better range of the images that we are seeing. Having the Obamas in the White House is such a powerful image for little Black kids to grow up seeing.”

How has the public responded to your performance work?

“Even though it’s very common here [New York] and there are a lot of people doing video performance art, there are still people and even artists who would roll their eyes or still don’t take it seriously. I find that other artists would say, ‘Oh you’re just narcissistic.’ Maya Angelou wrote about 10 autobiographies and no one told her, ‘You’re so narcissistic!’

It’s something I find very strange but it’s not going to stop me from doing what I want to do.”

How has your experience with artist residencies been?

“Those experiences were really rewarding. It was really rewarding to meet the creatives working [in the region], share my work and see their work. It was a great experience and I’m hoping to go back to continue to build those connections.

There’s something about being in a context where I make more sense and I feel like I understand more. A lot of things make more sense to me there even though I was born and raised here (New York), which to a lot of people is strange.

Ideally I’d like to go back to Guyana and do things there. I feel like it makes the most sense for me to be working there.

I spoke to a few people from Guyana about possibly making or showing work there but my only issue is funding. I’m constantly trying to find more funding opportunities so that I would be able to do that.”

What do you think needs to be done in order to make it easier for artists to achieve a sustainable long-term practice?

“I don’t think academia really prepares you for the real world. It prepares you to be an academic. They’re preparing you to get more education to then become an educator.

But they’re not teaching you how to be an entrepreneur, which is what I think you need to do as an artist. You’re not going to look in the job section and see any vacancies for artists. There are very few opportunities for you to make a living as an artist. I would recommend always having other skills, always being able to get other jobs, get internships while you’re in school so that you’re coming out of school with work experience, which is what most jobs are looking for.”

Promotional postcard for Autobiography of a Year, 2010 exhibition at A.I.R. Gallery

(Damali Abrams is a New York City-based multi-disciplinary artist who received her BA at New York University and her MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts. In 2009 Abrams was a recipient of the A.I.R. Gallery Fellowship. Her work has been shown in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Memphis, Savannah, New Orleans, Denver, and Miami. She has shown work and facilitated workshops at BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College), SUNY Purchase, Barbados Community College, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, Hunter College School of Social Work, and Syracuse University’s 601 Tully. In 2013 Abrams attended a dual residency with Fresh Milk Barbados and Groundation Grenada. In 2014 she was a resident artist at The Center for Book Arts. She was recently granted an Apexart International Fellowship in Seoul, South Korea. Abrams was later made resident artist at LMCC’s Governors Island Process Space, and a participant in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program.)

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

HOW TO SET REALISTIC FITNESS GOALS “Goal setting is very important method of, deciding what you want to achieve in your life, separating what’s important from what’s irrelevant or a distraction. Motivating yourself.”

New year is here and I’m sure you have already made your new year resolutions. You should follow these guidelines when setting SMART goals and you will be surprised at what you can do.

1. Specific 2. Measurable (A goal to lose weight is not enough) 3. Attainable (Before you add a number, you need to know how high or how low you want to go) 4. Relevant 5. Time bound In life we are told to dream big, reach for the stars, go for gold and you can do anything you put your mind to. While I would agree that having big aspirations is admirable not to mention inspiring, you should take a more calculated approach when setting fitness goals. It may seem counterintuitive to start small, but remember you want to set yourself up for success not burnout or injury. I can’t tell you the amount of times I hear someone say I want to fit in this dress for a wedding or I want to lose 50lbs or more pounds or exercise for an hour six days a week, only to fall of the wagon after a few weeks (or days later). The truth is that when people have the best intentions and will power to set out and do something grand, without a plan and a SMART goal they stumble and are more likely to fail. When you set that goal to be specific “I want to lose 50lbs within 9 months” would give yourself more of a clear vision as to what you want to achieve.

A goal to lose weight is not enough. You should’ve already done your research on the gym and on how you will achieve your fitness goals. Set times and schedules for your workouts and diet. It is an investment in your health therefore when choosing make sure the facility has certified and experienced trainers to help you along your journey. You need to find what works for you. Find a workout that you enjoy and you will more likely stick to it. Having a workout partner can also help and motivate you to stick to your fitness goals. Set goals that are attainable. Loosing 50lbs in a month is not realistic and can be very unhealthy causing more damage physically.

When you first set a goal, you’re full of energy and completely motivated but over time those feeling can wane and your overzealousness can push you to do too much too soon.

The fix is to define a progressive set of fitness goals that build on one another to help propel you towards that big dream or aspiration. Breaking a big goal into smaller realistic can help you both mentally and physically. This method can help you both mentally and physically. This method can also help you improve your fitness level gradually and safely, which helps motivate and build confidence.

Ask yourself these three questions: 1. How big is your goal? Is your goal only attainable in three months or more? If so, make goals to get you to that long term goal, Ideally, you should be able to reach the smaller goal in two to six weeks.

2. What does it take to achieve the fitness goal? This goal addresses your goals frequency. So parents, if reaching your goal requires five workouts per week but you can only get a babysitter two days a week then you need to scale back your goal. Be realistic about what time you have to devote to your goal and honest about your fitness level. Building your fitness base takes time and being smart about increasing it will help you stay injury free. Remember you are in no competition with another only yourself so slow and steady really does win the race!

3. Can you see yourself reaching the fitness goal? Take before pictures and have a picture in your head of what you what to look like after. You want a program you can stick to for the long haul not just a week. Be completely honest with yourself and ask if you can realistically see yourself doing what it takes to achieve the goal at hand. If you can and it meets the above criteria, then you probably have a goal! Fitness should be fun and not a burden. Find

a programme that you look forward to challenging yourself every time (even though it’s not too easy).

As a personal trainer some common situations and solutions I’ve encountered are: Common Situation:“I will start to work out as soon as the new year start and I want to go to the gym every day.” There are two main issues with this goal. First, it's not specific—what activities do you want to do and for how long? After all, just showing up at the gym doesn't accomplish anything unless you get your body moving. Second, it's not realistic. I love to work out and even I don't want to go to the gym every day. Plus, taking a day off here and there helps give your muscles time to repair and rest, and it gives you a

break mentally.”

Solution: I will work out for at least 20 mins three times a week. While this goal isn't specific when it comes to the activity, it is specific and realistic with the time constraint. While going to an hour long Spinning class every day would be impossible, not to mention not very healthy for you (cross-training is important so that no specific groups of muscles get overused), doing something active for 20 minutes a day, whether it's a walk after work, some push-ups or sit-ups over lunch, or a full session at the gym or with a workout DVD, is very doable. Also, note the addition of "at least" in this goal, which helps to emphasize that 10 minutes is just a minimum.

Over time, this goal could progress to have a minimum of 35, then 45, then 60 minutes.

Common Situation: “I want to complete a 10k event in two weeks.” Competitive events are an excellent way to stay motivated and a great goal, but many triathlons and running races put a lot of wear and tear on the body, and if you do too much too soon (or without proper form or footwear), you can get injured, which really puts a damper on your dreams and is just plain painful!

Solution: I will complete a shorter distance endurance event like a 5K or sprint triathlon in three to six months. If you want to begin participating in endurance events, it's important to start building your fitness base slowly and really listen to your body. If you can walk comfortably for at least 20 minutes and can commit to working out four to five times a week for 20 to 40 minutes, then a 5K training program is a great place to start. A run/walk program is flexible and lets you see results over the course of just a few weeks, which is both exciting and motivational.

Plus, if you get into it and find that you really despise running or it makes your knees hurt, you can walk and still reach your goal instead of giving up after the first week. Additionally, the time frame of two months is long enough—and the 5K itself is challenging enough—so reaching the goal is big enough to result in one of the best rewards of all: bragging rights!

Finally, always reward yourself! Perhaps the most important component of setting an effective and realistic fitness goal is rewarding yourself when you reach your goals, even the small ones! From buying yourself a new dress you wanted, enjoying a long bath, or buying a new pair of workout sneakers, the reward should be a time where you compliment yourself for your hard work and revel in your success.

Also, don't be afraid to tweak a goal as time goes by. Life happens! Remember, the key to setting yourself up for success is to be realistic. Now, start setting those goals!

Noshavyah King (Certified Personal Trainer, aerobics instructor, Sports and Conditioning Coach and Zumba Instructor) Owner of Genesis Fitness Express Located at Transport Sports Club

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

XIII

Sneak Peek in 2016

E

VERY year, the tech headlines are full of hard-hitting and explosive stories.

These are the stories that catch your eye and make you say WTH? In 2015, we were never in short supply of the odd, astonishing, and just plain weird tech stories. But, could 2016 be ever evolving? Certainly! Here’s a few to tickle you “tech” buds.

Jibo...your family robot is ready!

The world's first family robot is expected to be available for purchase in January 2016. Creators of the robot say it will make life around the house easier, with promotion for Jibo showing it doing a wide variety of things. It will take pictures and videos, alert you of reminders and messages, teach through interactive apps, and connect to your home technology (such as turning on lights). Designed to have its own non-robotic personality, it has two hi-res cameras for facial recognition and microphones. It also uses various social and emotional cues while talking. Using the Jibo app, it can be connected to your mobile devices and your home's WiFi. This new "family member," with almost 5,000 pre-ordered already, will be sold between G$ 100,000 to 120,000.

LifeSite LifeSite aims to provide secure storage for personal information in the LifeSite Vault. The Web-based tool and companion mobile app provide a space for storing sensitive data like financial records, legal documents, passwords, and emergency contacts. LifeSite claims data is protected by permission-based sharing and high-level document encryption. Users can choose to create a backup contact in case of emergency.

light so you can add connectivity to Internet dead zones within the house. The Voice bulb responds to your voice, notes your appointments, and sends you reminders.

You can also use Voice to send alerts if it records sounds such as a smoke alarm or crying baby.

Skulpt Skulpt is a company that creates fitness devices to specifically monitor muscle health through electrical impedance myography (EIM). The Skulpt Aim measures electrical current flow in different directions and depths to determine muscle condition and body fat percentage. You can use the device to measure muscle quality on different parts of the body and view more detailed feedback, including a body "heat map" in the tool's mobile app. Here, the Skulpt rep is measuring the muscle quality of my forearm. Spoiler alert: I need to hit the gym!

Orée Orée is making tech tools that don't look like your average tech tools. The company builds keyboards, wireless chargers, smartphone cases, and trackpads, among other tech products, made of natural materials like wood and leather…another door for wood export Guyana?

Klaxoon Klaxoon aims to provide a new means of communications for groups of people, specifically those in the workplace. The cross-platform tool works on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone devices. The start-up aims to use mobile devices to make group communications more interactive. Based on content, users can propose activities to boost engagement, including surveys, challenges, brainstorming sessions, quizzes, or live messaging. If someone is giving an educational presentation, for example, he or she can launch a survey to determine how many people understood the content.

USB Type-C Connection Speaking of evolution, USB-C is coming in a strong way. USB Type-C connectors let

Quell Quell, from NeuroMetrix, is a band designed to provide drug-free pain relief through a new technology called wearable intensive nerve stimulation (WINS). It's intended for patients with chronic pain caused by conditions like Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis, and Sciatica.

Adidas SmartRun. The smart ball is here footballers.

The high-end running watch aims to help serious runners improve with real-time coaching through miCoach training plans created by running coaches. Other features include a strapfree continuous heart rate monitor, GPS for recording speed and distance, workout review, wireless music player, and up to eight hours of battery life (four with coaching and music). The Smart Ball is a soccer ball with an integrated sensor that provides feedback on speed, spin, trajectory, and strike point. Data is uploaded to your iPhone or Android phone.

Sengled smart bulbs The Snap light bulb has a wireless HD camera so that you can attach it to your porch or garage for outdoor monitoring.

Video can be reviewed instantly or stored in the cloud. The Boost bulb, another smart bulb, provides WiFi in addition to LED

manufacturers build thinner PCs, are capable of faster data transfers, and can consolidate a USB port and the power adapter port.

Gaming Haven With more powerful systems come new peripherals, and not just of the keyboard and mouse variety. Because of the popularity of live streaming video games, you can expect to see all sorts of shiny new webcams, projectors, and headsets announced at CES, along with all-new gaming laptops that won't break the bank, and portable desktops that are capable of handling some serious graphics.

BMW AirTouch 3D Gesture Control System BMW is taking gesture control to the next level. The German auto maker announced plans to show off a futuristic new feature -dubbed AirTouch. The technology lets you control your car's entertainment, navigation, and communication functions "using simple hand gestures made with a flat hand.

So, if you think last year was a hit, then surely 2016 will be the hit plus extra! Get hit!

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Ole’ Higue and Madness - Guyanese-Canadian student examines mental health and violence in Guyana

Neil Armstrong, a writer with Pride, Canada’s weekly African Canadian and Caribbean magazine, reports on Savitri Persaud, a Guyana-born female PhD Student who has won a Caribbean Studies Scholarship from York University.

TORONTO, Ontario — Savitri Persaud, a this way, talking about mental health and mental “An “old higue” in Guyanese myth and folkPhD student, is the recipient of the Grace and wellness in this particular way. lore is a creature, oftentimes is a middle-aged David Taylor Graduate Scholarship in CaShe used a couple cases as her points of depar- woman that transforms into a creature and is able ribbean Studies presented by the Centre for ture; one involved a woman in her 50s living in to turn herself into a ball of fire. She sucks and Research on Latin America and the Caribbean Guyana who was diagnosed with a mental illness, drains the blood of infants; it’s a vampiric figure.

(CERLAC) at York University.

It’s a figure that reappears in other Her dissertation is entitled: parts of the Caribbean as well. She’s ““Madness” and the Caribbean known as the soucouyant in Trinidad Psycho-Spiritual: Understanding and there are other interpretations Gender, Psychiatric Disability and and manifestations of this characViolence in Guyana.” ter.”

The $5,000 scholarship is inPersaud said the woman was tended to support PhD students at asked to identify herself but was unYork University whose research able to do so but moaned, groaned, is related to Caribbean studies so and made noises. that they might focus on research A neighbour ran out of her house during the fieldwork phase of and sounded an alarm that there their studies or while writing their were bite marks on her child’s chest thesis. and so there was a lot of fear and Recipients are selected based panic. on academic excellence, signifi“This woman was surrounded cance of proposed research, likeliand beaten very brutally and was hood of completion, and financial killed, and her body was left on the need. side of a dirt road. There was a manThe scholarship was presented icole broom found next to her and to Persaud at the 3rd annual Diana there were grains of rice that were Massiah Lecture in Caribbean surrounding her body.”

Studies, organized by CERLAC, Persaud said what one does when which was held at Founders Colthey catch an “old higue” is “to beat lege, at the university on Novemand kill and maim in very particular ber 19. ways as the myth instructs.”

“The dissertation itself is takShe said this was a material coning up the way that Guyanese talk sequence of that myth being played about madness and mental health out on this woman’s body. and the everyday associations and “This case was the point of departhe everyday practices. And so, in ture that made me wonder and think the vernacular, when people disabout what are the connections that play certain behavioural expreswe are making between madness and sions that we don’t deem normal, spirit-possession and what are the or as we say in Guyana ‘narmal’, consequences of making these kinds oftentimes the label that’s pinned of associations.” to their bodies is that they are mad Persaud was in Guyana in 2014 bodies,” said Persaud. conducting interviews and at the end She said there is also an asof November a young woman who SAVITRI Persaud, centre, poses for a photo with poet Dionne Brand, and Patrick sociation that is made between was also receiving treatment from Taylor, Professor of Humanities and of Social and Political Thought, York University. (Neil Armstrong photo) madness and spirit possession. the psychiatric hospital was staying “In the vernacular, it is easy to with her godmother. make that step when saying that According to the way in which one is mad and making that leap to ‘Well, Jumbee who received treatment from the psychiatric hos- she was found, said Persaud, there was a belt tied got them’ — demons have possessed them – and pital “colloquially known as the “madhouse” in around her neck attached to a headboard and the using that kind of language to frame different much of the English-speaking Caribbean and she newspapers reported that a ritualistic beating was bodies.” had a tendency of wandering away from her home meted out against her.

Persaud, who is originally from Georgetown, village to neighbouring villages.”

The report said the woman’s father was the Guyana said she is curious about how that comes Persaud said one morning the woman wan- pastor of a church and that community members into being, where that comes from and what are dered into another community before dawn and ► Continued on page XV the consequences of talking about madness in was misrecognized as an “old higue.”

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Ole’ Higue and Madness ► Continued on page XIV noted that there were oftentimes beatings of people who were considered possessed at the church.

She said it is important to think about the role that religious leaders play in the community.

She interviewed religious leaders of the Christian, Hindu and Muslim faiths, spiritualists and obeah people as well.

“All the folks that I interviewed condemned any kind of violence. There was a firm belief that there is good and evil and evil can manifest and take itself into people’s bodies. But there was also a sense of wanting to know more about mental health interventions and what they could do when people came to them seeking counsel.”

Persaud said the leaders were very clear that there is a difference between what might be considered a mental illness and what might be considered spirit possession.

She said Guyana’s capacity to deal with people who have been diagnosed with a mental illness is very small.

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“Mental health has, historically, not been a funding priority and so when people experience distress in small villages and rural communities, who do they tend to go to? They tend to go to their religious leaders and so we really need to be cognizant of how religious leaders can sometimes become first responders.”

Persaud said Guyana is not a Hindu or Christian nation, but it is a religious place of many different religions which requires one to be conscious of the important role that religion and religious leaders play in these communities as well.

XVI

Accepting reality enables us to live in reality

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Hello everyone, I mentioned last week how happy it makes me when readers write in with comments and questions. Please start/continue to do so as I would like this forum to be as interactive as possible.

Some questions asked -which are great for the New Year -were “What is the first step to getting help with drug abuse? Where do I begin and where do I go?”

The first step to solving any issue/ situation is always the identification and acceptance of the problem. How can you begin to fix a “problem” if you don’t believe it exists?

How do you know if you have a problem?

It is difficult for a lot of people to decide whether they have a problem with alcohol and/ or other drugs- especially since the average Guyanese drinks more than three times per week.

If everyone is doing it, it’s okay and there’s no problem, right? Wrong.

If you are unsure whether your drinking/ drug use has surpassed casual levels, answer the following questions.

1. Do I drink alcohol/do drugs more than 3-4 times per week?

2. Do I become intoxicated every time I use?

3. Do people complain to me about my alcohol/ drug use?

4. Do I feel guilty about my alcohol/ drug use?

5. Am I able to be productive the day after alcohol/ drug use?

6. Have I lost interest in people or activities who/ which do not promote alcohol/ drug use?

7. Have I lost interest in previously enjoyed activities in general?

8. Do I think about obtaining alcohol/ drugs when I awake in the morning?

9. Do I feel irritable or nauseous (withdrawal) if I cannot take my drug of choice?

If you have answered “Yes” to more than four of the above, your use is no longer casual and you may have a serious problem with alcohol/ drug use.

What do you do after recognizing this problem? You accept it. Accepting any reality different from our own is very difficult. Try to convince an attractive woman, who thinks she is unattractive, that she is attractive. Try to convince children who are watching too much TV that they are or try to convince an addict that they are powerless over their addiction. These are very difficult to do- but not impossible.

Denial is especially common among addicts as in their reality- acceptance equals lack of control and weakness. Rather, it’s simply a resistance to change as acceptance does not equal weakness at all. It provides the power to learn individual strengths and weaknesses and opens up new possibilities of leading happy, healthy lives.

Now, we may not be the ones who have a problem with alcohol/drugs. Some of us don’t even use at all- but a close friend or family member does. You can ask them the above questions yourself to see what their responses are or check to see if they are currently intoxicated when they are around you. What are the signs of this? There are the physical symptoms such as red eyes, dilated pupils, sweating and unusual smells – living in Guyana has allowed the majority of us to be able to recognize the smell of Marijuana.

The consequences of their long term use will be similar to the above list. The person will also show sudden weight loss or weight gain, decrease or increase of sleep (depends on the individual) and again, a loss of interest in activities that they once loved.

An easy way to check whether someone close to you has a problem is to check for withdrawal symptoms. The holidays have just finished and so substance use will decline a bit. The friend who continues to drink as heavily or becomes irritated or nauseous due to their lowered use has a problem with drugs/alcohol.

It is not only the individual who needs to practice acceptance. It is your role as well- the friend or family member of an abuser- to accept and support in a non-judgmental, sympathetic and empathetic way. Let them know that it’s okay and you are going to be there for them. Do not place blame and understand that it’s a long and hard road ahead.

Next week I will tell you where to go get help after recognizing and accepting your problem. I get asked this question very often at GPHC and I will be happy to share the treatment options in Guyana with all of you.

Say yes to life and no to drugs! Always Suicide Prevention Helpline numbers: 223-0001, 223-0009, 623-4444, 600-7896 ****************************** Keep writing in at caitlinvieira@gmail.com or drop it off in the box at Chronicle Head office on Lama Avenue.

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Writing About Ourselves

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- Decolonizing Our Writing

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By Subraj Singh n 21st Century Guyana, the colonial ideology is still present in the work of some young Guyanese writers. We see this when we read local stories in which American or British culture is superior to our own Guyanese culture or stories where dark-skinned people are lesser than fair-skinned people or stories where our Caribbean landscape is heavily exoticized. Such presentations offer to the readers exaggerations and, sometimes, even blatant lies about our country, our culture, our people, and ourselves.

The danger of including these colonialist ideas in our writing though, is that the writing itself, the works of literature that are products of Guyana and Guyanese people become filled with colonialist ideas and ideology. In much the same way that people can be colonized, so too can our writing itself be colonized by certain ideas that stem from the colonizer or imperialist body. However, since writing our can be colonized, it is also possible for our writing to be decolonized.

write about Guyana.

You see, we all have knowledge about our country because this is somewhere we know; somewhere we were born and grew up in. We know what a mango looks like when its ripe, we know where in Georgetown we have to go to the get the best cook-up, we know how to peel the stem off a sugar-cane using only our teeth, we know how to get from Demerara to Berbice. These and a thousand others are things we know – things we should be writing about.

By choosing to write about the First World countries and their culture and their problems, the writer highlights a variety of important issues in those countries instead of seeking to highlight the issues that are prevalent right here in Guyana. The countries that are being written about by our local writers, in a sense, are the recipients of Guyana’s produce that is the writer. It is colonialism all over again.

3) Culture and Identity When it comes to culture, there are writers who choose to write about a variety of foreign traditions, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving(!) but often ignore our very own Diwali and Phagwah, and our Guyanese Christmas and Easter, our Queh-Queh and “Dig Dutty”, our Amerindian dances and storytelling in the moonlight. These are some of the things which constitute the unique culture of our country, each with its own rich history; each important to some section of society with some lesson for the world, and still writers choose to ignore them.

Then there’s the most important aspect of things that gets ignored when writers choose to not write about their own: the people of the country, including the writers themselves. When writers choose to write about people who belong to other countries, they are essentially choosing to neglect the purpose of writing which allows the writer to create the truth of a people.

Writers have the potential to represent the Guyanese people and what we really are; to show that we are strong and innovative and proud; to show that we can compete with the rest of the world, but such opportunities are completely lost when our writers choose not to write about us.

Why Should We Decolonize Our Writing?

1) “Trivial” Issues are Not Trivial At All One of the first things we must realize in the process of decolonizing our writing is that things often regarded as “trivial” or “unimportant” are actually not trivial or unimportant at all. Sometimes, I confront young writers about the pro-colonialist or pro-imperialist ideology in their works, by asking questions like: “Why did you choose to write the dialogue in Standard English instead

“We know what a mango looks like when it’s ripe, we know where in Georgetown we have to go to the get the best cook-up, we know how to peel the stem off a sugar-cane using only our teeth, we know how to get from Demerara to Berbice. These and a thousand others are things we know – things we should be writing about.”

How Do We Decolonize Our Writing?

At 23, Subraj Singh last year became the second youngest winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature.

Last year, he also graduated with a degree in Literature from the University of Guyana and was named Best Graduating Student for the School of Humanities. At the University, he also won the Walter Rodney Award for Creative Writing. In 2015, he also graduated as Valedictorian of the Institute of Creative Arts. This article is an excerpt from a presentation he made at TEDx Robbstown last Monday at the Theatre Guild in Georgetown. Subraj plans to further his studies in post-colonial literature.

of Creolese?” or “Why is the story set in America and not Guyana?” The writers would then respond by saying things like: “Oh, it’s not important if it’s in Standard English or Creole” or “It doesn’t matter where the story is set.” Actually, it is important and it does matter.

There are no trivial issues in the colonial/postcolonial discourse. Each “little” issue is laden with a mountain of meaning. Why would Guyanese writers avoid using Guyanese Creole in their work? Could it be that he/she has been conditioned to be ashamed of Creole and to think that Creole is inferior to English?

Why would a local writer set a story in a country he/ she has never visited instead of setting it in Guyana? Maybe the writer might believe that First World countries are the only places where great things happen, where great stories come from. These are not little issues. These ideas help to create and perpetuate myths about us and our writers contribute to this and what appears to be some development of “self-hate” when they commit these many errors and then brush them aside and consider them to be trivial and unimportant.

2) Colonialism in Setting America, England, Canada, France are some of the nations that some young Guyanese writers set their work in. What makes this especially interesting is when I think about how, when I first started to write stories, one of the first lessons I learnt was to write about what I know. All of us, all young, Guyanese writers know Guyana yet not all of us

1) Educating Ourselves One of the most basic of ways one can use to begin the process of decolonization in a piece of writing is to simply do research and to study.

In my Postcolonial Literature and West Indian Literature courses at the University of Guyana, I studied a variety of works by Postcolonial authors, theorists and academics. It is at university, in these classrooms that the process of decolonizing my own mind began – with education. It is from education that I learnt all the lessons that completely change how I thought about our literature.

However, “education” is not solely limited to university studies. There are many different kinds of education. People can be self-taught, they can learn from their experiences, or through sessions as informal as simply having a conversation with other people.

2) Observe and Appreciate Something else that can be done to rid the colonial ideology from our writing is to simply take a look around at everything this country has to offer and to really appreciate everything that we see: the history and purpose of each thing, as well as its uniqueness. Know that everything in Guyana, including the people, is unique to only Guyana. Know that fishing in the black water trenches, the muran and maticore, the Anancy stories, and every other aspect of our culture is special and valuable. Know that every Guyanese you see, even the ones who pass you by and disappear after a few seconds, the ones whose faces you don’t remember, are products of the same environment that created you. Know that each one of them has a story waiting to be told. Knowing leads to appreciation.

Being aware of the space you are in and everything that constitutes it is a sure way of gaining an appreciation of your own world, and an appreciation of your world is the first step to ensuring that you do not feel the need to seek another’s world.

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Days for Girls – providing menstrual kits for girls

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erhard and Michelle Ramsaroop, apart from their own business and family life, now run Days for Girls, an organisation dedicated to provide menstrual products to girls. Lack of such products has caused many girls from poor families from missing school. The Ramsaroops shared their story at TEDx Robbstown (designed to share “Ideas Worth Spreading”) last Monday at the Theatre Guild.

Michelle: I am a mother and a businesswoman, and today I am going to tell you about a project my husband and I have embarked upon.

I spent the better part of my life in Canada. It was never really home for me, so I returned home to Guyana, but was still lost as I didn’t see anything I was truly passionate about… apart from my husband.

Gerhard: That’s so nice of you.

I know, right?

I too am a born Guyanese but spent my early years in Germany – I went there as a baby and returned when I was four years old. I have been politically active for as long as I can remember because of the influence of my father…So you see what I am passionate about.

However, what has now ignited my wife is something that has me fired up as well.

Michelle: Enter Days for Girls.

Each Days for Girls kit consists of:

The Days for Girls Organisation is a non-profit that seeks to give back to girls the days they would have lost to a lack of access to menstrual products. This is a problem I was blind to, not by choice but because it was never important enough to me to think about it. It didn’t affect me, so it doesn’t exist right? The old adage comes to mind, “Somebody else’s problem.” This pink elephant in the room, or rather red elephant that I chose to ignore for so long is none other than the effects menstruation has among the impoverished.

Gerhard: Babe, I too was blind to this problem, notwithstanding my political work in depressed areas. That is because women are the most selfless creatures on this planet. They focus on the problems of their community, but rarely speak on their personal problems. And since we still are a male dominated society, this issue is even more difficult for them to discuss.

“What if I told you not having sanitary supplies meant girls were not able to go to school, women were unable to work or they simply locked themselves away a few days each month? All because they cannot affo good quality disposable pads that do not shift or feared the shame, the condemnation of hanging stained cloths on the line – Michelle Ramsar

Michelle: Dr Joachim Osur said, “It is the small details that allow or impede girls from reaching their full potential”.

A potential free of poverty and exploitation.

Call it divine intervention, coincidence, serendipity, but the founder of the organisation, Celeste Mergens, along with a close family friend, Miriam Lancaster, stayed with me during an official Days for Girls visit to Guyana several months ago. Within the short few days with me, I realized the magnitude of the problem that exists right here, within just a few miles of the capital city - much less in the remote forests, mountains and savannahs.

What if I told you not having sanitary supplies meant girls were not able to go to school, women were unable to work or they simply locked themselves away a few days each month?

All because they cannot afford good quality disposable pads that do not shift or feared the shame, the condemnation of hanging stained cloths on the line.

Gerhard: Now some of you may wonder if this is such a big problem in Guyana. While we are a developing nation, we are not that poor. However, the costs do add up, particularly for the impoverished.

While you can get a pack of of 10 sanitary pads in the capital, Georgetown, for US$1,

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016 these are the low quality ones, the ones that shift, that do not allow women to be very active.

The good quality ones go for US$5. Now, 10 sanitary pads will most likely not last a monthly cycle – it is usually two packs per month – I know because I buy for my wife. Now, many families consist of more than one female and will need multiple packs per month. For a household with three females that can amount to US$30 a month.

What if I told you that because of poverty, the women in these families will opt to buy food and other basic necessities instead of sanitary pads – at least not the ones that allow them to be active. For each cycle that a girl cannot go to school, an average of about 5 days that she has to stay home can easily total over 2,500 days of her life! That equates to about 7 years of education, work, LIFE that gets interrupted because she does not have easy access to sanitary pads.

In the remote regions of Guyana, it costs 5 to US$8 for the low-quality pads. Often too, not only do these pads restrict activity, but because of the chemicals in them they can cause adverse reactions. Vendors do not even bother to sell the better quality pads in those areas because they cannot be afforded. Now, families there tend to be larger than in the city. Access to basic education in those areas is difficult and many of the young girls are exploited. This lack of education leads to a vicious cycle of poverty. Handed down for generations.

A Paruima woman works to prepare one of the Days for Girls menstrual kits.

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Michelle: What if one of the solutions to breaking this cycle literally fits in our hands?

Keeping girls in school and providing their monthly sanitary supplies can change that cycle in Guyana…and around the world!

Our mission at Days for Girls is simple. It is to create a more dignified, free and educated world through access to affordable and non-toxic feminine hygiene products, giving back to girls the days they would have otherwise been denied.

What we need, especially here in Guyana, is education on this issue in schools, in villages, in homes. With open conversations between men and women, the value of our girls and women will be realised more. And thus, the value of these kits that Days for Girls have to offer will become obvious.

Gerhard: The Days for Girls kit design is the result of feedback from women all over the world. Listening to the wisdom of those we serve results in solutions that work! This is very important, because every washable kit gives back an AVERAGE of 6 months of living within 3 years! That is 180 days of education, health, safety and dignity.

These kits are made with love by thousands of volunteers around the world and by local women filling the need of their communities. Our first sewing room has been set up and is active in the remote village of Paruima.

Quality matters! Because girls and women depend on this product and the kits have to endure frequent washing in harsh conditions. We only use NEW, good quality, brightly coloured fabrics that wouldn’t show stains. We prewash all fabrics to make sure that they are pre-shrunk and that no dyes or chemicals remain on the fabric.

All kit distributions come with a 1-hour class that teaches the use and care of the kit, hygiene, what a period is, how women get pregnant and self defence.

While we emphasise the positive effects on the impoverished, because of their non-toxic nature and high level of comfort, these kits are ideally suited for women of any class.

Michelle: After a Days for Girls kit distribution in the remote village of Paruima, one woman remarked, “I have 5 girls! I can barely feed them - these kits will change our lives!”

Days for Girls Guyana was born on the night the blood moon appeared September last. We looked in awe at it amidst discussing the setting up of this organization we all felt so passionate about. We agreed it was a most appropriate sign, and under that blood moon Guyana became the 87th country to join this incredible organisation that seeks to empower our girls: Every Girl. Everywhere. Period.

e

ord

g e.” roop

Gerhard and Michelle Ramsaroo sharing their Days for Girls story at TEDx Robbstown last Monday.

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Top designers select their outfit of 2015

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ach day, we put on clothes that do more than just cover our bodies. We choose clothes that represent our personalities, our moods, the times we live in, our ambitions and our desires. But who are the people behind the designs we wear? Who are these fashion designers who are making fashion a huge industry, and whose work is as controversial, and as influential, as traditional art? Here are some of the designers who have dressed the most famous people and are hugely famous in their own right, wearing their own personal favorites from 2015.

They offer professional pieces that are stunning and timeless, not fads that are outlandish. I want my personality to show. I think that is the main reason I love these designers so much; their pieces are predominantly practical, simplistic, yet elegant and feminine. I want common sense traits mixed with gorgeous designs, and quality fabrics, clothing that is serviceable to wear and beautiful to view.

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onia Noel truly loves fashion; she is passionate about every piece she creates. Sonia is an immaculate designer and when she steps out she always looks the part. One of the more recognized names in the fashion industry, she participates in many significant fashion week events in the Caribbean and North America.

“I think this design flattered my body and people did not recognize me without my signature braids.

My best pick for 2015 - red stretch taffeta lattice detail skirt suit. Red is now one my favorite colors and a bustier top and fishtail bottom are very complimentary to my body type.” Sonia Noel Designs@ Makin Style Boutique at Giftland Mall (Ground Floor) Call 592-609-8388

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ndrew Harris Jr. is an awardwinning Guyanese designer making a name for himself in the fashion arena though casual menswear which embodies a variety of outstanding characteristics such as quality, comfort and a sense of timelessness. The glamour of the readyto-wear line steams from innovative designs of classic shapes resulting in looks with a decisively contemporary twist.

Andrew says his fashion embodies effortless luxury.

Every modern man should have a piece of his style, tailored garments in their wardrobes. “This electric blue shirt with stripe insert, is one of my favorite shirts because of the fit and it complements my skin tone”Andrew Harris New York - andrewharrisnyc@gmail.com.

lympia Small-Sonaram is well known for capturing the designer of the year five times in a row for her band costumes during Guyana’s Republic Anniversary celebrations. Olympia is one on the more daring designers in Guyana and if you are privileged to meet her you would understand that her designs matches her unique personality. This talented diva has done it all lingerie, weddings gowns to costumes. “I choose this piece because it allows me to express all of my individuality. This flair skirt consist of 20 pieces, with each piece being of a different patterns, floral, batik, check, stripe etc. Every pattern you wouldn’t dream of mixing, this multi pattern skirt it a risk taking skirt.” Olympia’s Fashion, call 592-600-5445

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arcie De Santos is one of the most promising young designers. She continues to create a storm with her clothing, not only do these pieces come alive but they make you look and feel beautiful.

Selected by Caribbean Expo to represent Guyana at Dominican Republic Fashion Expo 2016, her work was also featured at New York, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago Fashion Week. “This cool, colourful, comfortable and classy floor length, hand painted jersey dress oozes class, sophistication and art wrapped up in one.

This combination of fuschia and black definitely make a fashion statement. It cans be worn casually to elegantly casually depending on your accessories, making it my favorite piece for 2015.”MARSAE by: Marcie De Santos call 592- 685-4545

ishma Persaud motivated by her family to design, she loves to create cocktail dresses using vibrant colours. Rishma enjoys designing clothes that accentuate a woman’s body. Her work has been featured in Style Mission in 2007, Carifesta X 2008 in Georgetown, and Miss Guyana Universe. “This is my favorite piece for the year because it consists of a few of my favorite things. These include the color red, which I absolutely love. I also adore long dresses and finally the lace fabric which was used is one that I enjoy working with it - very elegant as such I have incorporated this fabric within most of my designs through-out the year.” R.P Couture Call 592- 6211707

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Dealing with P a sore throat

erhaps at some time we all suffer from a sore throat. Although this condition is quite common and seems normal, the cause and evolution of the disease may vary quiet a lot. Included in respiratory system disorders, the acute or chronic condition arises from causes such as infection, allergies, tumors and drug reactions.

Sore throat is usually a prominent symptom of a variety of diseases. These include, rheumatic, scarlet and relapsing fevers, (the latter is spread by a tick).

Other includes polio, tetanus, tonsillitis and vitamin B deficiency.

What we commonly called the throat is really the oropharnyx which is visible at the back of the mouth situated below the nasopharnyx and above the pharynx (voice box). Tonsils are spongy tissues at the back of the throat, composed mainly of lymphocytic cells. There are three types. The palatine tonsils usually referred to as the “tonsils” are visible between the arches that extend from the uvula (bellshaped structure at the center of the opening), to the floor of the mouth.

The pharyngeal tonsils often called adenoids lie at the back of the throat. These generally shrink as a child grows, but may have to be surgically removed if they become enlarged and inflamed. The lingual tonsils are on the upper

Dr. BERTRAND R. STUART, DDS.

► Contiuned on page XXIII

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

Dealing with ... â–şFrom

page XXII

surface of each side of the back of the tongue.

The tonsils’ function is to protect the larynx (commonly called entrance of gullet, nose and windpipe) and the rest of the body from infectious organisms (bacteria, viruses and fungi) Infection of the tonsils called tonsillitis, may serve as a source of infection elsewhere in the body. The tonsils from lymphocytes which are white blood cells that produce antibiotics to combat harmful organisms trapped in the mucous membrane lining of the throat. In fact, the lymphocytic tissue circumscribing the throat actually represents the first line of defense against invading pathogens (germs that cause disease.)

Because viral illnesses are the most common cause of a sore throat, it is important not to use antibiotics to treat them.

Antibiotics do not alter the course of viral infections.

Unnecessary use of antibiotics exposes you to the risks of an allergic reaction and antibiotic side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, rashes, and yeast infections. Antibiotics also may kill beneficial bacteria and encourage the development of dangerous antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

It is important that we know the link between sore throat and the lymphatic tissues situated in this vicinity.

Now, in reality, the HIV is too frail to kill anyone so most people who die from AIDS succumb generally as a result of either pneumoncystic carini pneumonia or cancer. These situations develop because there is the depletion of special white blood cells known as the Tee Four lymphocytes which have the responsibility of providing immunity against the aggressive germs.

The AIDS virus also invades and kills the Tee Four Lymphocytes leaving the body more vulnerable. These protective cells are manufactured in the tonsils, bone marrow and spleen.

A sore throat that is not responding to conventional treatment may be gonorrhea of the oropharnyx contracted from oral sex. Also occurring sometimes is the diphtheria which begins gradually with fever, sore throat and swollen lymph nodes (glands) in the neck.

A thick white membrane forms on the tonsils and may obstruct breathing to necessitate the surgical opening of the windpipe. Heart muscle and nerves may be affected causing heart failure, paralysis and sometimes death.

The throat communicates with the middle ear, located behind the ear drums, by means of a passage called the Eustachian tube. This is why the pain of an ear infection is occasionally experienced when the victim

has a cold.

With a sore throat, the typical complaint is raw, dry, burning sensation and pain in the swallowing all but cool substances, such as an ice cream. If the infection spreads downwards

XXIII to the larynx, a hoarseness and temporary loss of the voice may ensue. Treatment for sore throat is usually done at home and consists of gargling with warm salt water ( 1 teaspoon of salt to 8 ounces of warm

water) every hour, Tylenol, aspirin or Advil, throat lozenges, cough drops and rest usually resolve the problem in 72 hours. Only if the condition worsens that medical treatment is necessary.

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

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All that glitters...

...is not gold, it's YOU, why should gold have all the fun anyway?

Everyone looks better in glitter!

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WHERE TO DIG?

Look for a high-end version like Makeup For Ever Shimmer powders or Makeup-Art Cosmetics glitters. And if you can't surf online and snag them, or your Makeup Artist isn't me (lol) then you can run down to any store selling the nail glitters (I've bought them before, they're not too coarse and great for the face) in any shade you'd like or buy different shades and mix them to create a unique new effect of your own.

hen choosing glitters whether it's for hair, face, eyes, or lips go subtle, you want to get the finest grade of glitter by opting for the cosmetic grade glitters. READ the labels.

Unlike a shimmer powder, or heavy Carnival/Mashramani glitters/sprinkles, these are thinner and lighter in density.

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WHAT TOOLS TO USE?

litters may get messy very quickly and survives like a cockroach...ewww!

It's always best to roll out a cloth, or paper towel on a flat open surface to avoid any spills from getting onto unwanted areas. Use a fluffy small damp powder brush, a damp sponge, or the best tool in the business- your ring finger!

Damp tools with non-prescription eye drops, a water base mixing medium, or glitter adhesives like Too Faced Cosmetics Glitter Glue,are my favourites and hence a common staple in my kit.

To remove any unwanted glitter use tape, or a spooky brush to flick them away.

NB: never use any alcohol based products like Fix-It Sprays or Hairsprays directly on your eyes or lips; it can be too harsh and cause premature aging. So unless you want wrinkles before your time, don't mess with that stuff!

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HOW TO ACCESSORIZE?

here is nothing trickier than applying glitter to the eyes, lips, face and hair...except maybe quantum physics!

See, the thing is, your glitters need an adhesive, but those glues need to be compatible with the surface. Hairspray instead of oil works perfect to hold glitter into hair, but the complete reverse works better for body. It's better to use body oils like massage oils to apply glitter on the skin.

On the face it's different also. The eyes and lip areas have different tones and textures of skin, so you must be less abrasive. Body oils just won't do much justice on the face, so this where moisturizers like Mary Kay's Timewise Age-Fighting Moisturizer mixed with glitter goes well with the face. Opt for eye creams for the eyes, and lip balm for the lips - can't make it any more obvious! And you can apply glitter after you've applied your makeup, even after powders! Just apply desired bonding substance as base and pat glitter in gently to desired areas!

But...where will you put ALL that glitter?

Certainly, not everywhere. The difference between chaos and order is strategic planning. For a more sophisticated approach to an often immature look, apply to areas of the face, skin, or hair subtly where you'd like to highlight.

Remember, unless you want to look like Jill Masterson in the iconic 1964/5 Bond film "Goldfinger" or BeyoncĂŠ on the cover of Flaunt Magazine's July 2013 Issue, then be decisive, choose wisely, and apply your glitter only to one or two (the most) body parts.

If you're going to opt for glitter in hair, then don't apply it in more than one other location perhaps the eyes, lips, cheeks, nose bridge, arms, legs, or belly. As the old saying goes "don't overdo the do."

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

(A look at some of the stories that made the news ‘back-in-the-day’ with CLIFFORD STANLEY)

TWO GUILTY OF SELLING SUB-STANDARD MILK (Guyana Graphic September 24, 1968)

Two Essequibo milk vendors were warned of the danger of selling milk which was not of the required standard.

Bridgelall of Cullen and Samaroolall of Annandale got the warning from Magistrate Hector Patterson at Suddie after they had pleaded guilty to charges of selling milk below the required standard.

The men were fined $25 each with an alternative of one month’s imprisonment by the Magistrate who told them: “This a very dangerous practice and is viewed very seriously by the court.”

In the case of Bridgelall, Public Health Inspector S. Tulsi said that his milk had 14.4% water while there was 32 per cent water in Samaroolall’s milk. *******************************

BATTLING LEPROSY ON FOUR FRONTS (Guyana Graphic July 21, 1968).

The problem of leprosy is being tackled in Guyana from four sides, said Mr. Chetram Singh, Administrator of the Georgetown Hospital who supervises the Mahaica Hospital, the institution for leprosy.

He said that popular businessman Mr. John Fernandes “who is really a true friend of the Georgetown Hospital” gave the institution an air-conditioned theatre .

Mr. Fernandes was also providing the funds for further structural improvements to the Theatre.

Since the completion of the Theatre a few weeks ago, 70 operations on patients hands feet and eyes were performed by the Medical Superintendent Dr. J. Tiongson.

Mr. Singh disclosed that the departments of occupational and physical therapy had been opened to work in close collaboration with this new phase of rehabilitative surgery.

Mr. Singh said that when people became well again and were put back “into circulation” they should be beneficially occupied and that was why a number of projects had been undertaken jointly by the employees of the hospital and the patients.

He added that these projects included basket making, rugs, mats, other craft, farming and poultry rearing.

A few months ago a farm project to teach patients how to raise pigs, was launched by officials of the hospital.

The guiding light behind the project was Ms. V. Adams Warden of the Hospital.

FIGHT AGAINST POLIO BEING STEPPED UP

(Guyana Graphic November 2, 1968) The country-wide anti-polio campaign launched earlier this year is being stepped up.

Teams from the Ministry of Health supported by Peace Corps Officers have been actively engaged over the past weeks in administering second doses of the pleasant-tasting anti-polio vaccine in the East Berbice area.

The campaign will now move on to the West Coast of Berbice and the Upper East Coast Ddemerara.

“The present campaign ,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. C.C.Nicholson explained yesterday morning,” involves the administering of second doses of the vaccine to children between the ages of three months and six years.”

GUYANA’S ANIMALS ON THE BBC (Guyana Graphic October 8, 1968)

The exciting animals of Guyana’s jungle will invade British living rooms tomorrow when the BBC screens part of a film on the Dadanawa Ranch in the Rupununi and the wild-life collected by Stanley Brock.

Manager of one Dadanawa, one of the world’s biggest ranches, Stanley Brock has more to cope with` than 30,000 cattle.

On his 3,000 square miles of wild territory in Guyana are some of South America’s most spectacular animals.

The ranch includes jungle swamp and mountain country where creatures like the jaguar, the jabiru stork and the harpy eagle live.

In the first programme, entitled “Hunting for Giants” Stanley Brock comes to grips with a giant armadillo and has a frightening struggle with the world’s largest snake, the 30 foot anaconda.

The second program is also not for the squeamish and carries some scenes to make the eye pop. ► Contiuned on page XXVII

Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016 ► From page XXVI

RUSSIAN BEAR RUM ACTION GUIDE (Guyana Graphic October 18, 1968)

October 18- “Fair” at Harricharran Rice Mill Compound , Mahaica, Guyana’s top Indian artistes- 50c and 25c.

“Donkey and Horse Barn” at Garland Hall , Fifth Street, Melons-Curtis MGs- 8p.m.- $1.50.

“Dance” at All-Age school, Mackenzie, Rhythmaires- Fascinators- Oracles-9.00 p.m.- $3.00 single and $5.00 Couple.

Monday (Holiday) Bar-B-Que and Dance at Dr. Miller’s residence South and New Garden Streets, Syncopators- Juke Box- 8.00 p.m. $3.00 “Cycle Meeting “ at GCC Bourda, 1.00 p.m- Flagstaff $1.50- South 75c- North 50c.

MISSING WOMAN DIES AFTER BEING FOUND (Guiana Graphic January 5, 1968).

An 89 year old woman who was reported missing since last Saturday , died yesterday shortly after she was found by a search party about 11 miles away from her Suddie home.

The woman, Mary Browne, a pensioner, lived alone in a cottage, was picked up in an unconscious condition near an Amerindian settlement.

The search party headed by Edgar Martinboro was takeing her to the Suddie Hospital for medical attention when she died.

A relative of the woman said it was believed that she had wandered and lost her way in the backdam.

76 UMBRELLAS LEFT ON BUSES (Guyana Graphic September 4, 1968) Seventy-eight umbrellas and raincoats are among the large number of articles which will next week be handed over to the Police Department for sale at auction unless the owners claim them.

These articles were left on Georgetown buses by passengers during the past few months and are being held at the Motor Transport Ltd. Water Street Head Office.

The articles lost by passengers also include six sweaters and four jackets.

GUYANA ‘S POPULATION GOES UP BY 2.9 PER CENT (Guyana Graphic November 9, 1968)

Guyana’s population increase is now estimated at 2.9 per cent per annum and the life expectancy for males is 59 and for females 63 years.

A progressive increase in the birth rate (estimated to be 37.9 per 1000) as of July 1968 has been noted, the Ministry of Health reported Thursday.

As a result of this there has been a marked rise in the natural increase in the population.

The marked rise in the population was occasioned by the progressive rise in the birth rate and paralleled by a decline in the crude death rate (7.7 as of July 1968) as well as the infant mortality rate the figures for which `stood at 41.3 per 1000 in 1968.

PENUMBRIAN WIVES SOIREE (Guyana Graphic April 20,1968)

The Penumbrian Wives Association will entertain friends and well-wishers on Tuesday at a soiree (supper and dance) at the home of Mrs. M.T.Lowe in Canje Street Section K Campbelville.

This is the second of a series through which the club hopes to secure funds for their annual Old Folks’ Christmas basket.

(Clifford Stanley can be reached to discuss any of the foregoing articles at cliffantony@gmail.com or cell phone # 694 0913)

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

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Chronicle Pepperpot January 3, 2016

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The best of Bollywood in 2015

By Shilpa Jamkhandikar

(Reuters) 2015 was a year of surprises. Films that looked like they would slip through the cracks were the ones that blew your socks off, while the ones that came with pedigree and big stars fell flat.

This was the year the true face of the Indian family came to the fore on celluloid, with films such as Titli, Dil Dhadakne Do, Piku and Dum Laga Ke Haisha chronicling the new Indian family – the one that isn’t living happily ever after.

This was also the year with unabashed blood and gore on screen, and not just of the Singham variety. Whether it was Varun Dhawan smashing Radhika Apte‘s head with a hammer in Badlapur or Anushka Sharma beating a man to death in NH10, some of the most effective films were ones that weren’t queasy about showing violence.

Here’s a list of what we liked in 2015, in no particular order: BadlapurBadlapur: Coming at the beginning of the year, Sriram Raghavan‘s revenge drama was a punch in the gut. Varun Dhawan shed his lover boy image and transformed into a man consumed by vengeance for those who killed his wife and son. Taking inspiration from Massimo Carlotto’s book “Death’s Dark Abyss“, Raghavan crafted a searing story that deals with a tried and tested genre in a completely different way and forces you to wonder whether you correctly identified the hero and the villain.

Dum Laga Ke Haisha: Sharat Katariya‘s wickedly funny and brilliantly observed tale of a marriage was a breath of fresh air. Both Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar were perfectly cast as a couple navigating the bumps of arranged marriage. The supporting cast blended in perfectly and Anu Malik’s score underscored the movie’s old world charm.

Piku: The subject might have been s**t, but it was some good shit.

Shoojit Sircar‘s tale of the interdependent and almost parasitic relationship between a cantankerous man and his daughter was one of the highlights of the year. “Piku” had a stellar cast that played off each other perfectly and a story that most Indians could relate to.

Deepika Padukone was in the best form of her career in this one, matching up to Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan in every scene.

Talvar: Making an unbiased film based on a notorious murder case that hasn’t been completely resolved isn’t easy.

Meghna Gulzar tried, and even though she didn’t quite manage to keep her biases out, she did make a crime procedural that gripped you from the word go. “Talvar” was one of those rare films that chose restraint over sensationalism and managed to convey the tragedy of the Aarushi Talwar murder case.

Titli: Why this film languished in the Yash Raj Films kitty for a year and a half is a question every movie fan needs to ask the studio. Just like his characters, director Kanu Behl is ruthless in the way he steers the film. This is a no-holds-barred look at the real Indian family, warts and all. With the help of a brilliant ensemble cast and inspired writing, Behl creates the antithesis of the Hum Aapke Hain Koun and Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham school of cinema (if there is such a thing). “Titli” is a sign that Bollywood finally realises not all families are happy.

Ten films to watch in 2016 Nicholas Barber picks the most exciting films coming up in the new year, including releases from the Coen brothers, Spielberg and Oliver Stone.

A Bigger Splash: A Bowie-ish rock goddess (Tilda Swinton) and her devoted boyfriend (Matthias Schoenaerts) are on holiday when two uninvited guests turn up at their Italian villa: the rock star’s party-animal ex (Ralph Fiennes) and his sulky, seductive daughter (Dakota Johnson). Depending on how you look at it, the holiday is either well and truly over, or just getting underway. Inspired by Jacques Deray’s La Piscine (1969), Luca Guadagnino’s A Bigger Splash is an erotic drama which becomes an edgy thriller, but it’s always scenic, sun-baked, and hilarious: Fiennes’s wild dance moves are worth the ticket price. Released January in Denmark, February in the UK, and May in the US. Hail, Caesar! Ethan and Joel Coen’s period comedy could well be 2016’s most sumptuous treat, an ice cream sundae of a film comprising the Coens’ favourite ingredients: a kidnapping (The Big Lebowski), the Golden Age of Hollywood (Barton Fink) and George Clooney being a buffoon (O Brother Where Art Thou?). Josh Brolin stars as a studio executive who steps in when Clooney’s matinee idol is spirited away from the set of an ancient Roman epic. The lip-smacking cast includes Scarlett Johansson as an Esther Williams-alike bathing beauty, Channing Tatum doing some Gene Kelly moves, and the stars of A Bigger Splash, Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton. On general release from February.

The Witch: The Witch is 2016’s answer to It Follows: an independent horror film which had festival audiences raving about its cleverness and style as well as its nerve-jangling scariness. The winner of the Best First Feature Award at October ’s London Film Festival, Robert Eggers’ directorial debut tells the relentlessly creepy tale of a Puritan family which is exiled from a New England settlement in the 1630s. Forced to build a homestead at the edge of an isolated forest, the family seems to be beset by black magic, but the parents’ own religious zeal is just as menacing. Eggers worked as a production designer before becoming a writer-director and, as outlandish as The Witch is, it looks as authentic as any big-budget period drama.

Released February in the US and March in the UK. Julieta: Pedro Almodóvar’s last film was 2013’s toe-curlingly unfunny I’m So Excited, so it’s a relief to report that his new one – his twentieth – marks his return

to ‘the cinema of women’. With any luck, we can expect a bruising, emotionally charged comedy-drama in the vein of Volver and All About My Mother. Almodóvar told the Financial Times that his original title was Silencio, because “that’s the principal element that drives the worst things that happen to the main female protagonist”, but he renamed it to avoid confusion with Martin Scorsese’s forthcoming Silence.

Emma Suárez and Adriana Ugarte play older and younger incarnations of the same heroine. Released March in Spain and France and August in the UK. High-Rise: Ben Wheatley’s surreal black comedy opens with a shot of Tom Hiddleston on his tower-block balcony, barbecuing a dog, and proceedings get more chaotic and disturbing from there. Adapted from JG Ballard’s 1975 satirical novel, High-Rise is set in a forbidding skyscraper which houses the chain-smoking poor on the lower storeys, the decadent rich on the upper ones, and the building’s lordly architect (Jeremy Irons) in the penthouse. Also featuring Sienna Miller, Luke Evans and Elisabeth Moss, it’s an unusually starry and expensive enterprise for Wheatley, who shot his first films (Down Terrace, Kill List) on a shoestring, but he’s still as anarchic as ever. Released March in the UK, April in France and September in Germany.

Everybody Wants Some: Boyhood w as Richard Linklater’s masterpiece. Shot over 12 years, it charted a Texan boy’s journey through high school with all of the warmth, humour, and quiet profundity of the writer-director’s best work.

His follow-up is a sequel of sorts. According to Linklater, “it begins right where Boyhood ends with a guy showing up at college and meeting his new roommates and a girl”. But its 1980s setting also suggests an unofficial sequel to his breakthrough comedy, 1993’s Dazed and Confused.

In short, Everybody Wants Some promises to be Linklater at his most Linklater-esque – and everybody wants some of that.

Released April in the US. Snowden: It has been a decade or two since a new Oliver Stone film was anything to get excited about, but Snowden sounds like the kind of hard-hitting, argument-starting drama he’s famous for, in that it’s political, controversial, and non-fictional – although some of his detractors might argue with that last category. Joseph-Gordon Levitt stars as Edward Snowden, the former CIA computer whizz who leaked classified information from America’s National Security Agency to the media in 2013. Shailene Woodley plays the girlfriend who

flees with him to Russia. Released May in the UK, May in the US and May in France.

The BFG: Thirty years after Melissa Mathison wrote the screenplay for ET The Extra Terrestrial, it was announced that she and Steven Spielberg would finally be working together again, this time on an adaptation of one of Roald Dahl’s most enjoyable and scrumdiddlyumptious novels, The BFG. Sadly, Mathison died of cancer in November, before she could see the finished film, but it’s hard to imagine the project having a more suitable screenwriter and director.

In Dahl’s magical book, the young heroine’s friendship with a Big Friendly Giant (a perfectly cast Mark Rylance) isn’t a million miles away from the bond between ET and Elliott.

On general release from July.

The Girl on the Train: Stand back, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Step aside, Gone Girl. The latest Girl-ish mystery-thriller to be based on a best-selling novel is The Girl on The Train. Directed

by Tate Taylor, who made the Oscar-nominated The Help, the new Girl stars Emily Blunt as an embittered alcoholic who is fixated on her ex-husband. When she wakes up one morning to find herself splattered with blood, she fears that she may have been involved in a murder. Fans of Paula Hawkins’s book may grumble that the action has been shifted from London to upstate New York, but Blunt is consistently excellent, whichever accent she uses. Released September in Germany and October in the US. Doctor Strange: 2016 is jam-packed with superhero blockbusters, with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse among the colon-tastic titles. But the most intriguing is Doctor Strange, which introduces Marvel Comics’s demon-battling “master of the mystic arts” to the big screen.

Even those of us suffering from superhero fatigue will be tempted to see the unnervingly charismatic Benedict Cumberbatch adding to his gallery of arrogant boffins (see also: The Imitation Game, The Fifth Estate, Sherlock) – and this time he’ll be sporting a red cape and a goatee. On general release from December.