Pepperpot 05 29 2016

May 26 last marked 50 years since Guyana gained Independence from British rule. The annual costume and float parade, switched from February 23 to Independence Day, reflected the spirit of the celebrations.

(Other Samuel Maughn photos on Centre and Page 24足)

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Guyana’s 50

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Anniversary Celebrations - documentary camera hardly moved

...can’t get back to talking about Yukuriba Heights – the creative community and our plans for creation of that significant Maroon Culture Trail, dedicated to the Maroons of the Americas, The Philip Moore Artists’ Retreat, or anything to do with Before the Road to Brazil – if I don’t first comment on some personal issues with media coverage of the Independence snniversary celebrations.

First problem: How is it possible that throughout the coverage, Guyana’s Amerindians were as usual, repeatedly designated “indigenous” without any reference being made to the recently stimulated national conversation questioning the legitimacy of

this. I recall writing in this column not so long ago “I was warned that this was an issue as volatile as the identity and validity of the name ‘Jesus’ and would hardly be permitted to survive; much less nurtured as stimulus for a national debate; no one would be willing to respond, I was told. However, like the cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, I’m inclined to ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world’, especially ► Continued on page III

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016 ► From page II when historical facts supported by DNA evidence could prove that Africans were the first Guyanese.

If this is true, then what became of them, one wonders? Why is it that, except for some proof that they traded with the Amerindians when ‘They Came Before Columbus’ what became of indications of the earlier presence of Africans here, long before the slave trade? How and why did the living presence of Africans in the Americas (in Guyana?) get expunged? When examined carefully, what more would history’s palimpsest reveal that some historians like Dr Imhotep are discovering while others seem reluctant to investigate and disseminate? Why shouldn’t we examine the records...disclose the truth...encourage a national discourse sparking our children’s curiosity about their origins; an interest informed by facts and the pursuit of truth?”

All this having been said before, .aired in other sections of the media, I find it curious that the coverage of our 50th Anniversary Celebrations as an independent nation failed to acknowledge, even with a passing reference, this significant question, if merely because of its relevance to the validation of our historic record. Surely some member of the press covering the events should have thought about this.

Another problem with a big question: What exactly was that camera (man... crew?) recording Guyana’s 50th Independence Celebrations on May 25, at Jubilee Park thinking about? I found the camerawork very strange indeed, and that’s putting it mildly. I feel sure I’ll have some serious issues with the final product of that audio visual documentation....made myself hoarse screaming at the National Communications Network (NCN) screen…

“Okay - PAN NOW, PAN, PAN, PAN! Give us a WIDE ANGLE PLEEEEASE... let’s see the faces of our Guyana Diaspora...come home from far flung corners of the

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globe for this celebration; let us see the light in their eyes reflecting the joy of their homecoming to witness this – these memories they must soon pack away...go back to...“Ohhhhh – JUST ONE CLOSE-UP, PLEASE?” I begged.

But the NCN camera never heard me. It continued like that throughout national television’s documentation of our nation’s historic moment. I saw more military boots than the peoples’ faces....don’t know what happened before that, because I’d joined the broadcast just after nine, when children were prancing around in the park... that’s when I began to scream – before the camera held my attention.

For someone without a profound knowledge of filmmaking, only what was gleaned from my screenwriter husband, I think I’ve a fair sense of camera directions.

Therefore I walked away from the television on Wednesday night feeling I’d been deprived; as if I didn’t get the true picture, the full lyrics of that historic, symphonic presentation...dissonances et al, at Jubilee Park on Independence Eve 2016.

However, not even poor judgment about camera angles could diminish for me, the magic of that moment when the Golden Arrowhead was flirting with the wind while she danced up her 150ft pole.

The television journalist Dan Rather asserts in his book title that: ‘The Camera Never Blinks’; from my POV, The Jubilee Documentary Camera Hardly Moved – therefore it blinked.

Next week Baracara Island, an historic maroon settlement...a potential heritage site...a tourist designation.

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Points of Departure The politics of shaping a cultural identity (Pt. 4)

In his June 5th, 1966 article “Can our writers and artists live up to Burnham’s dreams?” P.H Daly, in a column for the Guyana Graphic, gave a rather grim outlook of the creative arts in Guyana, following what should’ve been a much more successful Caribbean conference of scholars hosted the previous month at Queen’s College.

While addressing the “staggering tonnage of pointless inanities” in their presentations Daly underscored the failure of the artists and writers to put forward a practical plan for the development of a “Caribbean personality,” with the creative arts at its foundation. In fact, it seemed that the most feasible vision came, not from the creative participants invited from all over the region, but from someone whose role in that conference might have been gravely under estimated.

Daly wrote, “Though the artists did not appear to have in their minds any clear image of the Caribbean – Guyanese personality which, by right of their genius, it is their job to fashion, the Prime Minister, Mr. Burnham, surprised me at the sharpness and clarity of his vision of the personality which should be fashioned.

Mr. Burnham communicated to us what he called his dream – Burnham’s Dream. It was the very blueprint which the pragmatic limitations of the artists had made them fail to conjure. Mr. Burnham said: - artist.

I dream of literature inspired by the peculiar temperament of the West Indian

- I dream of paintings inspired by the tropical jungle of Guyana and the beautiful waters of the Caribbean.

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I dream of sculptures depicting the forms of our forefathers.

- I dream of research in art forms, of artists being capable of borrowing from the Europeans without slavishly imitating them.”

Indeed, it seemed “the statesman stole the artists’ thunder.” But Daly also pointed to a number of issues that were ultimately responsible for the artists’ inability to make any meaningful contribution to the cultural discourse at the time. Two such being the absence of historical paintings from the independence exhibition, which he chalked up to the artists’ ignorance of their nation’s history, and their dependence on validation from “outside”.

Daly went on to say, “Until this narrow vision is replaced by spaciousness of thought and a restlessly enquiring mind, the Guyanese personality will never be fashioned. […] If the artist is to be free to contribute to the development of the Guyanese personality in art, he has got to be free, not only from ideological commitment to the East and West, but free from the patronizing applause of a foreign audience.”

During the lengthy process of gathering information for this series I was for► Continued on page V

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016 ► From page IV tunate enough to find a copy of A.J Seymour’s cultural policy proposal, which was published by UNESCO in 1977. His was a very concisely laid out plan for the shaping of a cultural identity that catered to the inclusion of every Guyanese citizen. In addition to establishing the scope of work to be done and the methodologies that would allow for a relatively “smooth” implementation, Seymour reiterated the value of having such a cultural policy in the first place, particularly in the post-independence period.

He wrote, “The revolution cannot sustain its momentum without an ever deepening apprehension of national identity. For the artists of Guyana, the revelation of a national identity is the most revolutionary possibility that exists. The Guyana man has to re-create himself in his own image as an indispensable basis on which to realize the image of a national identity.”

Seymour also cited the “interrelated framework of politics, economics, religion, education and mass media created by those who controlled Guyana and who established institutions to maintain this control” as being the source of what he referred to as “practices of cultural exploitation.” This reinforces the idea that any shift towards an inclusive national or cultural identity must start from the head (of state), and that continuity, regardless of any change of government, is crucial to the development and sustainability of any such undertaking.

“Guyanese society is still highly vulnerable to external forces, for example, the influences of pop music and films, and the intrusive power of the transnational corporations.

“As Guyanese citizens are trained overseas for the new positions available in society, their attitudes are sometimes influenced negatively by the values inculcated abroad.

“All these factors point to the importance of the government’s decision that a new international economic order must be established which will remove the present economic stranglehold and give effect to the new spirit of independence being expressed

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in Third World countries.”

It is sad indeed that Seymour’s words could’ve been written today and still be applicable to our current situation. But there might be a glimmer of hope yet. Recently there has been a renewed interest in the formation of Guyana’s cultural policy. It seems to come in waves of fifty-year increments. Maybe if we wish hard enough we could actually make some real progress in the next fifty years before “they” (whoever they are at the time) realize that the work started in 1966 should be completely undone. After all, Guyanese seem to have a penchant for throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

There is quite a lot of material already available for us to speed up this process of shaping a “Guyanese personality” as Daly described it. In so many cases the work has already been done. To my knowledge there were cultural policy submissions/proposals by the late Dr. Denis Williams as well as Barrington Braithwaite. It is very possible that there are even more, locked away in unmarked boxes in an old office somewhere.

Regardless, there is absolutely no excuse for any delayed implementation, fifty years after the fact. We shouldn’t still be in meetings, having the same discussions all over again. We should be seeing evidence of that work now. More than enough time has passed.

(Points of Departure is a four part series inspired by the pre-independence writings of several columnists of the then Guiana Graphic. The series is intended to reflect on key areas of cultural development and planning that were in discussions leading up the country’s departure from its British colonizer. As the name suggests, those discussions will be used as indicators to track the initial course of ideas proposed by thinkers of the time to present day realities.)

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

On patriotism and unity

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Hello Everyone hope this week has treated you well. This weekend was/is all the festivities for the 50th anniversary of Guyana’s independence. I hope you all had a great holiday on Thursday and celebrated in a mentally and physically healthy manner. Many people travelled to celebrate with us and there were many parties and activities. I hope we all practised moderation- didn’t over eat, drink or used drugs.

I would like to talk about the importance of a country’s independence, as well as the importance of patriotism and unity. Do we ever really think about what “One People, One Nation, ► Continued on page VII

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

On patriotism and unity ► From page VI

One Destiny” really means?

Over the years, I have heard many people say that Guyana gaining independence was a huge mistake- that if we were still under British rule, Guyana would be much richer and more beautiful.

Who really knows if this is true? What I do know for a fact is that Guyana will be what we want to make it. We, the citizens decide every day if it’s going to be a clean, educated, classy, understanding, welcoming, hardworking and patient place. Independence has given us a chance to express who we really are as well as what we value. We have the freedom to do what we think is right for our country.

Guyana has unique resources, things unfound elsewhereboth natural and acquired. It is worthy of praise as we celebrate another year of independence. We have taken remarkable steps and have been blessed with such natural resources that not only allows us Guyanese to benefit- but for the whole world to experience. We have the largest untouched rainforest in the world, the highest one drop waterfall, some of the largest animals (of their species), the best Rum (Guinness Book of World Record approved) and so much more to offer the world. More importantly, we have great potential for growth where needed.

Recently I read this statement: “Though all the fingers

are not alike, the power of a fist which brings the five fingers together is immense”. This made me want to talk about the importance of unity- especially during these times.

Unity is defined as “being united or joined as a whole”. It has many benefits- both for a country and for personal benefit.

Unity brings peace of mind, peace in general, forgiveness, effectiveness (two heads are better than one) and teamwork.

It allows for a reset button on any level. We need to forget any drama and disagreements and come together and celebrate as one- that’s the whole point.

We even see the strength of unity in animals. They know the benefits of travelling in herds- this brings a sense of security and is overall very important for their survival. We should all know that if a team works together, in the same direction, with a shared desire, the efficiency increases and the outcome/ goal is sooner attained. Advantage can only be taken if there are cracks in solidarity.

It is also important to remember that a county needs its citizens just as citizens needs their country. The simple fact is- when people love and respect their country, they more often than not want to stay and commit to it. Migration becomes less, and those fortunate enough to be educated abroad will return home to provide new resources to our nation. They are willing to sacrifice first world factors such as higher salaries, higher levels of entertainment and overall privileges to come and improve their home. Not to mention, when they are

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abroad, the way individuals represent Guyana will increase interest and tourism in our community. This keeps us alive and strong.

Loving a place makes one want to learn about and improve it; to discover the unique identity and traditions- not to mention, share it with the rest of the world. I have personally experienced all of this having studied abroad for approximately seven years. More recently, I spent three days in New York.

Honestly, it felt like three years and I constantly spoke about Guyana to those who will listen.

Coming back from New York, I was able to see the amount of foreigners who came in to celebrate with us. I hope everyone was and remains on their best behaviour as who knows how long they are staying and what they are looking for.

Continue keeping the place clean and showing respect for our land and people.

I would like to begin writing success stories of individuals who have overcome any mental illness such as drug addiction, depression or anxiety. If you would like to share your story, anonymously or not, please write in to caitlinvieira@gmail. com. Also, continuing letting me know what else you would like to talk about OR stop in and see me at Woodlands Hospital Outpatient Department. For issues with drugs/ alcohol – Monday’s at 4:30. General mental health issues- Wednesday’s at 4:30.

Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always!

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

By Subraj Singh

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis

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(Waking Lion Press, 2008)

he Metamorphosis was first published over a hundred years ago, in 1915. In that span of one hundred years, many editions of the book have been printed and have gone on to serve as inspiration for various authors of our contemporary era. Many works of art (paintings, sculptures, photography) and various films have been created that are based on, or inspired by, this particular piece of writing from Franz Kafka. Thus, The Metamorphosis has entered the world of modern pop culture and solidified its enduring presence as a classic by being accessible to, and enjoyed by, not only academics, but also by readers who belong to the younger demographic.

The work is a novella (a short novel or a long short story, depending on whom you ask) and begins with a line that is sure to be on the list of the most popular opening lines in literature, alongside such works as Pride and Prejudice and Anna Karenina.

It reads: “When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin” (trans. Stanley Corngold).

That first line of the work is loaded with enough information that, when analyzed, can run for pages. One of the first things it does is it presents us with the intriguing and shocking situation of a man who has been mysteriously transformed, without realizing it, into an insect. The specific kind of insect is unknown, but that is not so important, since Gregor, despite having his physical-self transformed into a giant ► Continued on page IX

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Franz Kafka’s ...

► From page VIII

invertebrate, initially still manages to retain his intellectual faculties and is able to reliably give the reader information about his emotions, his reactions to what has happened and the experience of having been forced to live as an insect.

However, eventually we begin to see Gregor becoming more and more like a “monster” in the way he eats garbage, makes chirping beetle-like sounds instead of talking, and crawls on the walls. Strange occurrences abound in the work, and things become even more unusual when people (such as his parents and sister) discover what Gregor has become. The reactions of Gregor’s family are hostile at first and in the moments when his central character is being attacked and derided by the family he has provided for over the course of many years, Kafka skillfully pulls the emotional strings and makes the reader feel sorry for Gregor, the insect. By doing this, Kafka shows how, despite writing about otherworldly affairs, he ensures the presence of a human component, which is what makes the work truly successful. None of us will ever experience what Gregor has and yet, all of us will sympathize with him.

The premise is unusual, dark even, and certainly disturbing – yet Kafka relates the tale in the most matter-of-fact tone, with bits of humour neatly laced in, as seen in the curt way in which the opening line can be spoken.

Over the hundred years of its existence, many interpretations of the work has been offered. It has been read as a critique of capitalism, as an ode to Absurdism, as a commentary on the treatment of the strange, as dealing with the theme of alienation, etc. It is rich tale and a dark tale. But, most importantly, it is a tale worth reading.

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Don’t be robbed by foreign scammers

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year ago, this column carried what was in effect an advisory to Guyanese not to be taken in by foreign scams.

These scams seem to have had an upsurge in recent months and within the last four weeks two consumers have related to us how they were fleeced of several hundred U.S. dollars by these scams.

Most sufferers are too ashamed to admit or divulge that they were robbed and tend to suffer in silence.

A few others, however, seem to have fallen completely under the spell of these confidence tricksters and willingly obey their command that they should not tell anyone of their dealings with them.

These victims have continued to transfer their hardearned money putting them-

selves and families in great deprivation. We have known one family who were victims of the West African scams, lost their house and have been investigated by the FBI. Many of these confidence tricksters operate from West African countries, in particular Nigeria where they have schools teaching how to perfect these scams.

Many of these scammers are linked with terrorist groups in the Islamic world

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

CONSUMER CONCERNS: this type where the prospective victim is on the verge of receiving large sums of money if he urgently sends on money to cover

who retain them at handsome fees as fund-raisers.

With the advances of modern technology, these terrorist groups and their financiers are kept under surveillance by the U.S. and other countries' Intelligence Services and the unwitting Guyanese scam victim finds himself in unforeseen and unexpected danger by being in contact with such scammers.

We will very briefly mention the operation of two of the most common of these scams. The first of these is the offer of tickets for the world's richest lotteries such

preliminary expenses.

Most of the lottery scams

as the Spanish El Gordo which pays scores of millions of dollars to winners.

And the other common scam is for the trickster claiming that he is, or in contact with a senior government official or a Minister of Government or even an oil executive of, say Nigeria, who has got his hands on millions of dollars and wishes to put it away in a foreign bank account owned by someone else.

He urgently wishes to have your bank account's number and other data about it and for doing the service of having the money transferred to your account you will be rewarded with a commission of 3o or 40% of the value of the deposit.

There are other scams of

seem to operate from Western Europe and Australia.

The trickster would have obtained your home address by some means and in their covering letter they address you by your first name telling you that you are one of a very select group in Guyana to whom they would be offering their services and tickets.

Many of them also carry copies of a newspaper report that you have won millions.

There is always an assurance that you will receive your winnings of several hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions at your home three days after results.

The bottom line is that you must immediately send them sums of money to get the tickets.

At the next mail, you will

PAT DIAL

be told that you missed the jackpot by one number and your hopes will be kept high so that you could keep on sending money.

The Nigerian and other West African scams is to know of your bank accounts so that they could steal all your money. They are also designed to keep collecting money from you. Their e-mails are all untraceable and usually disappear from the computer monitors in a few minutes. Once one is caught in the net of these tricksters, it is difficult for the majority of victims to free themselves until they have been pauperized. As an example, there is the story which was reported in the world news and in the local press a few years ago of a Brazilian banking clerk who was caught in one of these scams and transmitted many millions of the bank's funds to these tricksters.

The most effective way of protecting one's self and dealing with these scammers is to immediately destroy any mail you may receive from them without reading them and quickly erase any e-mails from them. Do not have any contact with them.

And also be guided by the ancient and well-tried wisdom of the following two adages: "You can never have something for nothing" and "A fool and his money are soon parted".

If one desires to occasionally indulge in a game of chance, there is the local lottery. If winning on the lottery is due to one's luck and to pure chance without any human manipulation then there is no need to buy more than one ticket since if it is your luck to win, then one ticket will be sufficient. Indeed, the lottery company is perfectly aware of this as is expressed in their widely disseminated slogan: “A ticket a day could make you rich to-day”. They never recommended five or ten tickets!

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

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PAINTING AND (Part 1) TROPICAL CULTURE

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by Terence Roberts

he overall value of painting as an art object is that it can influence our real life. Of course, all the other arts can too, but painting (and drawing) is the first visual art of the widest influential scope.

What a painting can do by a visual manifestation of the physical and mental remains unmatched by all the other arts except the art of cinema.

The importance of nature's atmospheric light to painting led the best European painters since the 17th century to chase after summer and Mediterranean scenes and tropical landscapes all over the world. All that outdoor nudity we see in the sumptuous paintings of Bosch, Rubens, Jordaens, Boticelli, Romano, Tiepolo, Renoir, Gaugin, Picasso, Matisse, or Dufy, cannot exist in cold, temperate settings.

Dismissing early religious dogmas and prohibitions, then

Tiepolo's America

Picasso's The Joy of Living

freed by the 17th century's Enlightenment philosophy, outstanding European painters began to explore the importance of the tropical to the earth's continued fertility, and the necessity of sensual human pleasure.

Tropical values in painting began to emerge as a vital human value beyond racial obsessions, or the difference and diversity of races, in early 16th century paintings like The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, and Rustic Banquet by Giulio Romano.

By the 17th century, the sumptuous paintings of Rubens and Jordaens especially, with the nudity of white and non-white in obviously warm, sunny, outdoor festive environments and bountiful harvests of fruits, vegetables, cakes, wine, music and dance, lead us to wonder if such European paintings at such a time, were the naïve expressions of artists unaware that European explorations in the Oriental East, North Africa, and the Americas, would lead to travesties of their culture towards others.

However, the first written reports from these tropical areas

Terrence Roberts

by Columbus, Vespucci, Marco Polo, Montaigne, Sir Thomas More, even Sir Walter Raleigh, did not describe much less than tropical paradises, despite confronting what seemed shocking native customs to the writers.

European painters from Italy and Flanders, like Romano, Tiepolo, Bosch, Rubens, Jordaens, Van Heemstreck, were quite learned, literate men influenced not only by reading the Bible, and ancient classic Greek and Roman texts with their descriptions of the semi-tropical Mediterranean, but by such early reports on non-Western lands.

Even more important in the cases of Rubens and Jordaens, the amazing new philosophical reasoning and analytical descriptions by Descartes, whose “Discourse on Method” and “Passions of the Soul” proved the equality of all human beings as manifestations of God on earth, would become an influence on such painters, who would have become aware that the various European empires which succeeded those first explorers in these far off lands hardly believed in any ideal tropical paradise their forerunners had discovered there.

We can say that the ideal tropical scenes and topics these painters projected, even if aware of the inhuman development of colonists there, challenged and vetoed such unsavoury actualities with the creative possibility (as Descartes correctly theorised) of a better, more beneficial egalitarian and civilised future, preserved in their amazing canvasses, which today are undisputedly of more benefit to the behaviour of mankind than the historical atrocities of past European colonial empires.

The 19th century saw French writers and painters voyaging to nearby tropical North Africa, the far off South Seas tropical islands, and the Americas. Flaubert visited and wrote about Morocco. Nerval wrote 'Voyage to the East' based on his sojourn there. Baudelaire's mistress in Paris was an African beauty who influenced some of his most imaginative “tropical” poems.

Delacroix followed a French diplomat to Morocco and Algeria and painted a stunning book of watercolours filled with sensitive tropical light and shadow.

Gaugin, perhaps the most famous of all European painters, totally rejected France and his prestigious job at a bank there, and fled to the South seas to create art history with some of the most sensual figurative tropical paintings the world has ever seen. ► Continued on page XVII

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Sunday

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Nostalgia BURNHAM IN LIGHTS

INDEPENDENCE 1966: In what the Guiana Graphic was described as a masterpiece in pyrotechnics, the portrait of Prime Minister Forbes Burnham lit up the night sky The portrait of the Prime Minister took 1000 fireworks, as did images of the Flag of Guyana and the Map of Guyana. There was also an image of Kaieteur Falls, which took 400 fireworks

INDEPENDENCE GIFTS

Mr Lincoln Gordon, Assistant Secretary of State and head of the United States delegation to Guyana’s Independence ceremonies, handed over to Prime Minister Burnham a custom-made Western saddle as a personal gift from President Lyndon B. Johnson

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

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OURS THE GLORY

Sir Walter Raleigh and Queen Elizabeth, depicted in costumes at the “Ours the Glory” historical pageant held on May 27, 1966

Sunday

Nostalgia CARIBBEAN LITERATURE CONFAB

Opposition Leader Dr Cheddi Jagan stayed through the entire day at the opening of the Caribbean Writers Conference in Georgetown during Independence week, 1966. Behind Dr Jagan is Jan Carew, while another Guyanese author Dathorne (at centre) listens to a point being made by Dr Jagan

CARIBBEAN LITERATURE CONFAB

Mr George A. Lamming and Mr A.J Seymour listen attentively to C. L. R. James at the Caribbean Writers conference in Georgetown during Independence week, 1966

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Marjorie Mendonza

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

- Surviving breast cancer

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n November 2013, Marjorie Mendonza was living a normal jovial life, characteristic of her, when something unusual started to confront her. It was frightening to say the least and her thoughts went haywire.

“I was scared, my whole chest felt hard and I started to have these lumps in the left side and my worst thoughts were confirmed”, said Mendonza, a mother of three daughters. In November 2013, two months after celebrating her 52nd birthday, her ordeal began.

“I started to worry because I would squeeze the swollen parts and blood came out, blackish blood”, she related. Soon after, she decided to visit the Cancer Institute at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC). She was pointed to Dr Berra at the clinic and after being diagnosed and added to the clinic’s roster, she began receiving treatment for breast cancer.

Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Some signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, fluid coming from the nipple, or a red scaly patch of skin.

In those with distant spread of the disease, there may be bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellow skin.

“I started to receive chemo (chemotherapy) treatment, in the form of tablets but I wasn’t comfortable”, Mendonza said.

Soon, she turned to the internet and according to her, persons informed her about “local treatment” which entailed mixing soursop leaves with turmeric spices. She said she saw someone had posted information online about a herbalist at Parika on the East Bank of Essequibo who would have been able to help her. “The Parika lady told me to boil the leaves of the soursop plant and mix it with the turmeric dye“, she said.

The process entailed boiling the leaves in four pints of water and after boiling, at least two pints of the water should remain in the pot.

“Then I would grate the turmeric and mix the two and drink almost everyday”, she said. According to her, she would drink the concoction during the day or night, at no prescribed time. She said she went as far as boiling the roots of the soursop tree, as she developed her own potent version of the treatment. ”Ah even kill my sister tree”, she noted with a chuckle.

In addition, she adopted a new diet in which she stopped eating meaty foods and focused mainly on eating green, leafy vegetables. “I was scared the whole time “, Mendonza said. She said that throughout 2014 and 2015 she continued to utilize the chemo-tablets given to her by the Cancer Institute.”Dr Berra was surprised at the progress I was making “, she informed.

“I moved from a stage two case where I was at 2.0 to 0.1”, she noted , adding that in December last year she was informed that she had progressed to a more “safe stage”. In March this year, she was given an “all-clear “by the medical staff at the Cancer Institute and she continues to pay keen attention to her health.

Marjorie Mendonza Mendonza said the sickness may be hereditary since her mother died of cancer several years ago. “I’m praying that my three daughters or their offspring don’t encounter what I experienced “, she said.

According to research, some inherent weakness may play a minor role in most cases of breast cancer. Genetics is believed to be the primary cause of 5–10% of all cases. Women whose mother was diagnosed before 50 have an increased risk of 1.7. Persons whose mother was diagnosed at age 50 or after has an increased risk of 1.4.

Globally, turmeric is under study for its potential to affect human diseases, including kidney and cardiovascular diseases, arthritis and cancer. The plant, which is from the ginger family, is grown in abundance in some parts of Guyana, including the North West District. ”Surviving breast cancer is something I think that needs more than treatment”, Mendonza said. According to her, she prays daily, noting that her strength lies in prayers and fasting. ”Without God nothing can be done so I always dedicate myself to the Father and I continue to pray for persons affected by cancer”, the woman noted.

(Alva Solomon)

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

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PAINTING AND TROPICAL CULTURE â–ş From page XI

From all such creativity with paint, a human value, added to an artistic value, began to emerge.

It was not simply the natural landscape and sunshine of the tropics that were important, but the human lifestyles and their native cultures which existed on it.

By the early 20th century, tropical influence became a most vibrant and important approach to form and content in abstract painting. Traditional figurative painting which developed in 16th century Western Europe, especially during the Renaissance with its invention of perspective and anatomical proportion, is also attached to certain types of western European architecture, climate, landscape, even clothing.

But what if the artist absorbed a new tropical environment where structures were less rigid or straight and their material changed colour under the sun and rain, and the sky was dazzling, and the earth dusty, and all kinds of strange profuse vegetation existed?

Paul Klee's watercolours and drawings influenced by his sojourn in North Africa early in the 20th century produced masterpieces which developed abstract painting as an intense focus on the effects of the elements. Klee's tropical cities in the scorching desert, their roofs, doorways, vegetation etc., began to melt and fade into each other under the influence of their tropical atmosphere on painting.

Yet they still find balance, because the painter composes art, not imitates what he sees. Klee's colours are soaked in a heat-wave of tropical values. Their surfaces affected by the elemental became paintings which discipline the mind by absorption.

Cezanne's watercolours offer the same value, but are of less harsh Mediterranean light, and are far more important to the development of tropical abstract painting than his oil paintings.

His watercolours of fruits, bottles, bowls, tables, drawers, trees, table cloths etc., shimmer with multiple shifting free hand outlines, and soft melting molten tones, rather than rigid paint application. Cezanne's fruits are ripe with sunshine, but not rotten. His move to France's hot Mediterranean

summer countryside locations inspired such paintings.

Picasso's unique genius in painting largely rests on his multiple use of tropical sources.

Born in Malaga's port on Spain's Mediterranean Andalusian seacoast near North Africa, Picasso like most of the leading European founders of abstract painting (such as Klee, Cezanne, Matisse, even the half Asiatic, Kandinsky from Russia, who was influenced by his travels in Tunisia), had little interest in art influenced only by European racial ancestry.

His famous Cubist paintings show the background influence of small unfinished square and oblong Moorish tiles melting into each other in tones of earth brown and grey.

Such influences from Spain's long North African colonization were Picasso's birthright, which he later simply extended towards an interest in central African tropical sculpture and assemblage.

Picasso's famous stay at Chateau Grimaldi on the sunny Mediterranean French Riviera, produced not only brilliantly painted ceramic plates of profound tropical qualities, but a stunning series of tropical paintings, three of which are Night Fishing at Antibes' (1939), The Joy of Living (1946), and Ulysses and the Sirens (1947), introduced one of the greatest values of tropical abstract painting: bare white or blank space representing the pure light of the sun.

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

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Larceny/forgery convictions by jury quashed by Federal Supreme Court

Three accused freed in 1961

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N 1961 the Federal Supreme Court, sitting in British Guiana, had set aside three larceny/ forgery cheque convictions and sentences by a Demerara Assize Jury, because the trial judge had among other things, put forward for the jury’s consideration the last of three statements that was a complete denial of the other two versions.

That ruling resulted in the jury returning a verdict of guilty in relation to a statement that was truly not free and voluntary, the Federal Court had ruled. The accused had successfully appealed.

As a consequence the appellants, Thomas, Meerabaux and Seals were freed by the Federal Appellate Court.

The facts of the case disclosed that the appellant Meerabux was indicted for larceny of a cheque book.

The indictment also contained counts against him and the two other appellants for forgery and uttering of two cheques, and, obtaining money upon the forged cheques.

He was acquitted on the charges of uttering and obtaining money but convicted of larceny and forgery.

The Police intercepted a sum of money which he handed to Jean Chan. He was taken to the police station and questioned and he told the police that R. had given him the money for safe keeping. He was detained at the station.

The following morning he gave another statement in which he repeated that R. had given him the money to keep. He was still kept in custody.

On the following morning, he was again questioned.

He was then confronted with R. who denied that he had given the appellant money to keep. The appellant was further questioned but made no admission. A recording machine was then brought on and a conversation between the appellant and R., six days previously, was heard when the machine was switched off. The appellant then admitted that the two statements he had given were untrue.

Subsequently, the appellant gave a statement admitting guilt. This was accepted by the trial judge as a free and voluntary statement. It was used by the jury to return a verdict of guilty.

The Appellate Court held that the appellant must have given the third statement in order to secure his release.

“It was not free and voluntary and was therefore inadmissible,” the Federal Court had ruled.

At the hearing of the appeal, Senior Counsel, Mr. Fred Wills represented the appellant Meerabux while Mr. E.A. Romao and D. Singh appeared for the Crown.

Delivering the judgment of the Court, Chief Justice Gomes noted that the three appellants were tried on charges arising out of the disappearances of a cheque book containing 187 cheque forms from the Medical Department of the Government of British Guiana on July

25, 1959, and the subsequent presentation to the Bank for payment on August 26, 1959, of two cheques which the evidence came from that book.

The appellant Meerabux was convicted on a charge of larceny of the cheque book, a charge preferred against him alone, and on two charges of forgery, and in respect of each of the two cheques presented for payment. He was found not guilty on two charges of uttering the cheques and two charges of obtaining money upon a forged instrument, these charges being in respect of the presentation of the two cheques for payment at the bank.

The other two appellants, the Chief Justice said, were jointly indicted and tried with Meerabux on all these

charges, except the charge of larceny. The appellant Thomas was found not guilty of the two charges of forgery but guilty on the charge of uttering and of obtaining money. The appellant Seales was found guilty of all six charges brought against him.

According to the Chief Justice, all these appellants have appealed against their convictions and sentences on a number of grounds, some of which were not pursued before the Court.

The evidence established that the cheque book was kept in the custody of one Benjamin, a clerk in the Medical Department who in 1959 was a cashier in the Mosquito Control Section of the department. He was issued with the cheque book in connection with his duties as cashier and kept it in a safe.

Benjamin stated in evidence that, on the morning of July 25, on arrival at work, he opened his safe, checked the contents and saw that the cheque book was there. He then locked his safe again.

He said that, at about 8.30 a.m., the appellant Meerabux came to him and told him that he had heard Benjamin was to be transferred and Meerabux named as his successor. Meerabux asked Benjamin to show him his work.

In the course of doing this, Benjamin opened the safe in the presence of the appellant and the two checked the contents.

At one stage, Benjamin left the appellant alone at the safe for a short period.

While Benjamin was showing the appellant other

By George Barclay aspects of his work, according to Benjamin, the appellant told him not to look around as he (the appellant) did not want others to know that he the appellant was being taught..

The facts leading to the taking of the statements are as follows. On the afternoon of December 8, 1959, the police intercepted a sum of $500 which the appellant handed to one Jean Chan. He was then invited or taken to the police station where he was questioned about the money and at about 7 p.m. he gave a statement to account for the possession of the money, stating that it had been given to him by one Rodrigues for safe keeping.

He was detained at the station and at the evening of the following day, December 9, he gave a further statement along similar lines.

On the following evening he was questioned by the Assistant Commissioner of Police Mr. Rose who had reason to believe that what appellant had said in the two statements was untruthful. Mr. Rose asked the appellant if he was quite certain that the two statements concerned the truth. Upon the appellant replying that they did, Mr. Rose caused the man Rodrigues to be brought into their presence. Rodrigues, on arrival, denied the claim by the appellant. .

Following further information from a recording machine previously made, the appellant made a third statement implicating himself, the Chief Justice had said.

He added, “In these circumstances we fail to see how it can be maintained that the statement was admissible as a free and voluntary statement. In our view, it was not.

“Agreeing as we do with the submission of counsel for the appellant in regard to the conclusion or inference to be made from the jury’s verdict, there only remains for consideration the question whether there is sufficient evidence to support the conviction for larceny.

“We have carefully examined the remainder of the evidence that was adduced on the count of larceny of the cheque book and we have also considered the facts and circumstances which were advanced in argument by counsel for the Crown in support of the conviction, and we have come to the conclusion that while they amount to a strong suspicion that the appellant was the thief, the facts proved do not in our view establish that convincing degree of proof which is necessary for a conviction, and, of course, a person cannot be convicted on suspicion alone.

“The conviction for larceny must therefore be quashed and, as the reasons which we have given above apply equally to the charges for forgery, the conviction for forgery, must also be set aside. Appeal allowed,” the Federal Supreme Court ruled.

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

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Keep those brows on fleek

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t is recommended that brow shaping should be done by a professional.

However, maintaining that shape can easily be done at home.

There is little to no need to visit a spa, salon or b ro w b a r e v e r y t w o weeks, which is how often the brows should be maintained.

Measure the brows In order to maintain that immaculate shape a professional gave you, you have to keep the perimeters clear. The face is symmetrical and has a

certain symbiosis. The nose, inner corner of the eye, and eyebrow share the same alignment. So, using the nostril as a guideline, use a ruler or any straight tool to measure along the nostril, up to the inner corner of the eye, by the brow.

And that's where the brow hairs should begin.

Using the tip of the nose, and looking straight ahead, tilt your instrument towards the iris. That is where the arch of the brow should be at its highest peak.

Glide your tool against the outer corner of the nostril, passing through the outer corners of the eye -that's where the brow should end.

For the perfect balance, align the bottom of the end of the brow with the bottom of the beginning of the brow...one shouldn't be lower than the other.

There are different techniques for well-groomed brows. The recommended method is tweezing, because it gives the best results; target individual hairs at a time. It leaves little to no room for errors. The fact of the matter is, it can be painful, or intimidating for those who are afraid to handle a tweezer, and some of you have refrained from

and blend it into the darker colour.

The tail of the brow needs the most product, so place emphasis on that are

the process as a result.

It's imperative that when you're tweezing, you hold the skin taut, applying pressure to the area you're tweezing while opening the pores to get a precise hold on the hair follicle. It's important to uproot hair in the direction it grows. Also, numbing the brow with ice helps. It's an ambidextrous job. Don't just grab and pull with one hand...ouch!

Threading can be just as painful, and shouldn't be done on yourself. It takes an enhanced level of skills to be able to do that on your own. Don't try this at home.

Waxing isn't as painful as tweezing and threading because it's swift and easy.

Waxing, threading, and tweezing, produce the more lasting effects, because it removes the hair follicle, giving it a longer time for regrowth. Some are allergic to the wax used for eyebrow waxing, or are sensitive to it. It's advisable that you use a powder such as 'baby powder' or translucent powders before applying wax to prevent any skin irritations.

Depilatory creams are effective in hair removal, but only use those designed for face and not body. They can burn the skin and cause scarring. Choose depilatory creams specifically for eyebrows.

Shaving the eyebrows are the least painful but the most damaging to skin.

Grazing the skin with a sharp razor is never a good idea, and overtime causes severe skin irritation. Regrowth occurs faster after

shaving, but not thicker.

It may appear and feel thicker due to the sharp cut stubble that sprouts, but it's the same hair. Shaving is the best method to use if you're not too sure about the shape you'd want, or hope to change the shape later.

It also gives a sharp brow shape, but that's a faux pas, since it looks too obvious.

Unless you want to look fake, avoid razor sharp lines on the brows.

BROW FILLING There is a fool proof technique of filling in brows. Some like to highlight the brows with concealer or foundation or highlighting pens. Highlighting brows is unnecessary. It's too obvious, transparent, and excessive.

It's so last year...in the past where it should be.

The highlighting technique actually stems from an old clean up technique to deliver a more polished look. The concealer or product shade should actually match the skin tone of the brow, and not be lighter, to give the illusion of a well-manicured brow.

Makeup always looks best when it’s lacking evidence.

It should always be well blended.

The trick is to use colours in sync with your natural shade as well as to draw according to your natural shape.

Apply your darker brow colour on the tail of the brow (the arch and outer tip). From the inner corners apply a lighter shade,

when filling in brows. Clean up any areas with a small precision concealer brush, apply product above and under the arch of the brow,

nowhere else. Blend it outward away from the brow, and voila, perfect brows!

Keep those brows on fleek!

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Guyana, 50 Years after the Jubilee N

By Subraj Singh

ow that the main Jubilee celebrations are over, it is important for the country to look towards the future in order to know and to understand what is in store for Guyana over the next 50 years. What would have changed by the year 2066? What would remain unchanged? What are the things we want 50 years from now? What are the things we can only hope to have? It seems as though Moray House had these same questions in mind when they played host to an evening of discussion entitled “2066: Looking Ahead”, which took place last Tuesday on May 24th .

Almost all of the speakers belonged to the youth demographic and this made the event all the more significant, since it offered young people a chance to share their opinions on matters related to the affairs of the country. Dr. Rosh Khan, Adrian Alfred, Dr. Stefan Hutson, Sara Bharrat, Michael Leonard, Ravin Singh and Francis Bailey were the speakers who presented on a variety of topics, while the discussions were capably moderated by Elsie Harry. Each speaker was allowed five minutes to present on any aspect of Guyana in the next 50 years and most projected their ideas as hopes and expectations.

Rosh Khan, a medical doctor who operates a Global Marketing Agency, described the talks as “TED Talks on steroids” and this was particularly true as evidenced by his presentation which was a solid piece on the roles and uses of technology in Guyana. Khan lamented the fact that Guyana is way behind other nations when it comes to the use and implementation of technology. He used statistics from the World Bank to point out that an increase in high speed internet connections can lead to boost in a nation’s economic growth. According to Khan, “the future is one of algorithms…automation and mechanization” and it is important for the country to be ready to see technology as an opportunity. Noting that technology can benefit all sectors of development, his vision for the future includes a government that can help to create a space for “technological fertility” where new technologies are born and explored, a technology-based education that can focus on subjects like coding and programming, and an environment where access to international networks are encouraged.

Adrian Alfred, a CARICOM Youth Ambassador and one of the founding members of the Guyana National Youth Council, placed his focus on youth empowerment and development in his talk which was subtitled “Youth and Governance.” Alfred started the conversation by highlighting the lack of youth representation in Guyanese politics and his belief that quite a lot of young people don’t have an interest in governance, which is interesting since young people total more than 50 percent of the country’s population. He also related some of his own experiences in the recent local government elections where, as an independent candidate, he attended meetings that were always crowded with older people and hardly any youths. Alfred’s hopes for Guyana

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Adrian Alfred

Francis Bailey

Michael Leonard

Ravin Singh

Rosh Khan

Sara Bharrat

in 50 is for the country to be one where young people are more involved, where the people of the country are educated, committed to community development, and help to develop the country as a whole.

Dr. Stefan Hutson, a recent graduate of the University of Guyana School of Medicine, used his experiences working at the Georgetown Public Hospital and at various Health Centres around the city to arrive at the conclusion that healthcare in Guyana is “reactive” – meaning that most Guyanese react to illnesses and ailments after they happen. He noted that patients only try to stave off symptoms and seek out cures when they are past the point of treatment, and that such an attitude is one that goes against what is currently occurring in other parts of the world. Hutson advocates for preventative medicine and for the treatment of the body in a holistic manner with emphasis not only on the physical, but also on social and mental wellbeing. He believes that his hope for proper, primary preventative healthcare in Guyana by 2066 is curbed by the limited way in which Health Centres in Guyana operate, a lack of human resources, and a lack of materials and investment in the healthcare system.

Sara Bharrat is an award-winning writer who studied Literature and Linguistics at the University of Guyana and serves on the Board of the Transparency Institute of Guyana Inc. She focused on “Politics, Race and Identity” in her presentation and sought to answer the fundamental question of “Will we [the Guyanese people] be one in 2066?” Bharrat proceeded to answer her own question in the affirmative, claiming that unity is inevitable and that “it will happen whether we want it or not.” Using examples from our history, she showed how in the past the Guyanese people have managed to make the right choices and have risen up to fight the ills that threatened us. She claimed that Identity Politics, born from the Politics of Race, the thing that prevents Guyana from achieving social cohesion and harmony, can, and eventually, will be overcome by Guyanese. Bharrat also highlighted the rise in the number of mixed race persons over the past few years and claimed that this is one of the factors that will end the Politics of Race and lead to a better nation in 2066.

“Technology and Education” was the choice of topic for Michael Leonard who is an entrepreneur, affiliated with initiatives such as Blue Caps. In the next 50 years, he hopes to see Guyana as “a nation that thirsts for knowledge” and the presence of “people who have solutions and not just degrees.” Leonard showed how we live in an age where information is readily available and that it is important for us to exploit this ease of availability. The core of his presentation was really about people using technology to learn and do things that they would have had to otherwise rely on established institutions for. Leonard used several examples, including Duolingo, a free language-learning website that, according to him, offers the same services as Rosetta Stone, and the simple but effective YouTube, to present his vision of a 2066 where people use the tech-

nology available to them to implement their own culture of gaining skills and knowledge rather than relying on the government.

Ravin Singh, a third year student in International Relations at the University of Guyana, a journalist, and one of the youngest speakers, continued the focus on technology as having a major presence in Guyana 50 years Stefan Hutson from now and approached the topic by choosing to focus on its relationship to education. He began by recounting how education has changed in Guyana in an attempt to show how the technology-oriented education of the near future is just part of a process where education changes itself in order to fully cater to its environment. He noted how Guyana lags behind, still clinging to the chalkboard and physical textbooks while others rely on iPads and other technological devices. The future of education in Guyana, according to Singh, will centre heavily on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects and he was able to point out that this can result in “the possible erosion of the Arts and Humanities”, which in turn can lead to a significant loss in the makeup of the Guyanese cultural identity.

The last speaker of the night was Francis Bailey who is an artist, musician and a founding member of the Guyana National Youth Council. Speaking on the Creative Industries in Guyana Bailey was able to show how the Creative Industries in some other countries are multi-billion dollar industries, while in Guyana the people of the country – and probable beneficiaries of the success of our Creative Industries – relate to the arts in an odd way by not recognizing the value of the Creative Industries. Bailey also said that a lot of groundwork relating to infrastructure still needs to be done and pointed out the lack of resources and materials available to schools as detrimental to the success of the artistic industries. He also condemned the mentality of Guyanese parents for limiting their children to career paths that only lead to becoming a doctor or lawyer and pointed out that even non-artists can learn to appreciate the difficulty of the art-creating process if proper resources are implemented in schools.

Overall, it was an evening filled with lively conversation between the speakers and an active audience who listened keenly and asked questions later. Many differing viewpoints were offered, many suggestions on what our country might be like in 50 years heard, and many ideas on how to solve current problems so that they do not plague us in the future. None of us really know what Guyana in 2066 will be like, and while a few of the talks hinted at a bit of gloom, there were way, way more hopes and expectations of a peaceful, unified, healthy, and educated Guyana.

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Celebrating the Golden Jubilee

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

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Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016

Tighter blood pressure control may be advisable for elderly

(Reuters Health) - A new study might help doctors answer the controversial question of what's the healthiest blood pressure for older adults.

In adults above age 75 who could walk without assistance, keeping the top blood pressure number below 120 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) led to significantly lower rates of cardiovascular events and deaths from any cause, the study found.

There had been some fear that bringing the top number called the systolic pressure - down below 120 mmHg might actually be risky for older individuals. If their blood pressure were too low, they'd be vulnerable to falls and other problems.

“We can reassure patients, especially from this study, that lowering blood pressure is safe. There were no more serious adverse events or falls among people on intensive blood pressure control versus those on standard control,” Dr. Jeff D. Williamson, of the Sticht Center on Aging at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, told Reuters Health in a phone interview.

“This is really important news because there’s been a lot of news (about studies) using administrative databases and self report that has indicated to older people that it’s dangerous to treat blood pressure; you might fall more. This is the most rigorous scientific study to ever look at that and it shows that that’s really not true. That’s actually been found the case in other blood pressure studies but not to this level of detail,” Williamson said.

Williamson and colleagues analyzed data on 2,636 participants with high blood pressure in the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial who were 75 or older.

The systolic blood pressure reflects the pressure in the vessels as the heart contracts to push blood out to the body.

Overall, 1,317 patients had been randomly assigned to have their systolic blood pressure brought down with medication until it was 120 mmHg. In another 1,319, doctors tried to achieve a target systolic blood pressure of 140 mmHg. As reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, over the next three years, on average, the group with the lower blood pressure target had significantly fewer cardiovascular events and fewer deaths.

The rate of serious adverse events did not differ between the treatment groups.

The study had a fairly representative sample of older people who would typically come to their doctor’s office, not living in a nursing home or assisted living, Williamson said.

The results apply “to a broad spectrum of people, and it only required one additional medication on average to achieve this result. It’s relatively practical, 90 percent of the medications used were generic,” he said.

“There’s so much hypertension in older people we almost begin to see it as normal. It can lull us to think this is not practical,” he added. “The study shows that a lot of people are eligible to have better blood pressure.”

“This study very carefully measured blood pressure and did it three times in the office without the doctor present to avoid white coat hypertension, but also to avoid what often happens in a doctor’s office: the patient runs in from the parking lot flustered to take the blood pressure and it might be high,” Williamson explained.

“Health systems will need to make more accommodation for more accurate assessment of patients, especially in the area of blood pressure. It’s very important now to begin to look at how electronic medical records and value-based care models can incentivize the health care system to implement this,” he concluded.

In an editorial, Dr. Aram V. Chobanian of Boston University School of Medicine wrote that bringing systolic blood pressure down below 130 mmHg in older patients "may be challenging for clinicians, because doing so could require use of additional medications, more careful monitoring, and more frequent clinic visits.”

“Nevertheless,” he concluded, “the important results reported by Williamson et al in this issue of JAMA cannot be discounted, and unless unexpected adverse effects are observed on further examination of the trial data, then major changes in treatment goals for patients 75 years or older with hypertension will be warranted."

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NAREI aiding crop diversification in North Pakaraimas - Potato, carrot trial projects underway

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n communities such as Kato, Paramakatoi, Kopinang, Monkey Mountain and Tuseneng in the Pakaraima Mountains of Region Eight, the main economic activity is farming. For generations, these farmers have been producing mainly ground provisions (cassava, eddoes and yam), plantains and bananas.

The National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) is helping to promote the diversification of agriculture in these hinterland communities. The production of other crops, particularly cash crops, in these communities would provide nutritional balance for residents, reduce the price for food items and provide employment. Some of the crops being promoted in the hinterland are potatoes and carrots.

POTATOES The production of potatoes in the hinterland is not new.

In the 1980s farmers produced potato on a large scale at Kato village. Farmers there are now engaged in a trial process that involves the cultivation of four different varieties of the Irish Potato (Picobello, Shepody, Spunta and Chieftan).

Though the main staple of the residents in these areas is cassava, potatoes are also consumed on a large scale.

Residents of these communities are paying as much as $320 (US$1.60) per pound of potatoes, almost four times the price on the coastland. As such, farmers have been requesting potato seeds to produce their own potatoes.

In April 2016, NAREI commenced a potato trial at Kawa Valley in Kato village. The potatoes are being grown without the input of fertilizers. This trial would inform farmers which variety of potato is least susceptible to pest and diseases and the cost of production. The potatoes were planted on two quarter acre plots belonging to two farmers.

Potato is a 90-day crop. To date, 95 percent germination rate has been recorded. At the end of this trial, the particular variety of potato that could withstand the conditions in the hinterland would be chosen for multiplication purposes.

CARROTS The cultivation of carrots is relatively new to the Region.

A trial was previously conducted but owing to challenges NAREI was unable to record the production data.

Three farmers of Paramakatoi Village have volunteered quarter acre plots each to carry out the trial. Thus â–ş Contiuned on page XXVII

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016 â–ş From page XXVI

Carrots under cultivation far, one plot is being utilized. The carrot seeds were planted in March 2016 and have already germinated. NAREI will be providing additional seeds to the other two farmers shortly. Farmers involved in the exercise would be exposed to training in the areas of land preparation, seed planting and post harvesting care.

In the second phase of this trial, the communities that will benefit from this exercise are Kato Itabac, Kopinang, Tuseneng and Monkey Mountain. It is anticipated that at least six farmers from each village would be involved in the production of carrots.

DEMAND Market for potatoes and carrots in the hinterland exists.

Miners operating in the Region import potatoes and carrots from the coastland at high costs. Local farmers want to secure this market. They are also looking forward to supplying the Kato Secondary School kitchen.

However, with abundant production and an affordable retail price, potatoes and carrots could become a main income earner for farmers in the hinterland region. NAREI estimates that within the first year of production the importation of potatoes to the Region could be reduced by 10 to 15 percent.

Potatoes could be prepared in a number of delicious ways and complement different meals. It is low in calorie and high in fiber offering significant protection against cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Carrots could be eaten fresh and prepared in meals such as stew and fried rice. It is a good source of antioxidant agents and is rich in vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, vitamin B8, pantothenic acid, folate, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese. (Contributed by NAREI)

Potato plants at Kato

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Environmental Protection Agency

Reflections on 20 Years of Achievements in Raising Environmental Awareness and Building Capacity

Multiple Series of Workshops set a foundation in Environmental Management for Local Government

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une 5, 2016, will mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Fast approaching this juncture, the EPA reflects on its efforts over the years, beginning this week with a look at its work with local government.

Why should we engage the local government in environmental management? Here in Guyana, Local Government has a critical role to play in the management of the environment. As organs of Local Government, Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs) and Neighborhood Democratic Councils (NDCs), regularly make decisions about what construction, and manufacturing and processing facilities etc. are allowed to operate in their particular jurisdictions. The RDCs and NDCs also have responsibility for waste collection and disposal. These responsibilities fit with the role of local government as advocated in Agenda 21 – an Action Plan that emerged out of the famous Earth Summit held in 1992. Agenda 21 recognizes that environmental problems and their solutions have their roots in local activities, and as such, the participation and cooperation of Local Authorities will be a determining factor in realizing the objectives of the management, conservation and sustainable use of the environment. ► Contiuned on page XXIX

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016 ► From page XXVIII FIRST STEPS When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became equipped and functional in 1998, with support under an International Development Bank (IDB) funded Environmental Management Project (Phase I)), it immediately recognized the value of building a strong partnership with the Local Government. A year later, the opportunity came to begin in earnest to build this partnership, with support under a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) funded Education and Awareness Project.

IDENTIFICATION OF LANDFILL SITES As a first step in the partnership, the EPA and the Ministry of Local Government, signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which sought to designate certain powers to Regional Democratic Councils (RDCs).

Shortly after this agreement, the EPA developed guidelines for landfill sites and requested RDCs to identify potential sites in the different Regions. Consultants were hired in 2000, to assess the identified sites and feedback was provided to RDCs on fifteen (15) sites that were deemed suitable. However, the RDCs for various reasons were unable to take the process to the next stage of developing a sanitary landfill.

REGIONAL WORKSHOPS At the onset, the EPA consciously designed the UNDP Education and Awareness Project, to incorporate the local government as one of its four major target groups. This is because it was cognizant that as a critical partner, the Local Government needed to have sound awareness and understanding of what environmental management entailed and how they needed to participate.

During 1999-2001, under the UNDP Awareness Project, the EPA hosted and delivered four series of Regional Workshops aimed at raising environmental awareness within RDCSs and NDCs. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS The 1st and 2nd series of workshops allowed for the discussion of environmental issues and their management.

These workshops were facilitated by a team of resource persons drawn from the forestry, mining, agriculture and health sectors. These workshops underscored that our country’s reliance on agricultural exports products makes it necessary that we progress quickly towards international standards, especially in the face of the developed world demanding that agricultural, forestry and even mining products be produced through the application of sound environmental practices. Another key focus of these workshops was the critical issue of solid waste management and practical approaches to address the problem.

BIODIVERSITY AWARENESS WORKSHOPS To bring RDCs abreast of biodiversity, its value and conservation, the EPA embarked in 2002, on a 3rd series of Regional Workshops, this time, with a focus on Biodiversity Awareness. It was intended that this heightened understanding of the value of biodiversity, would also enhance the capacity of RDCs and NDCs to participate ► Contiuned on page XXX

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Multiple Series of Workshops set a foundation in Environmental Management for Local Government ► From page XXIX in impending consultations on Guyana’s 2nd National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

COASTAL ZONE AWARENESS WORKSHOPS Having introduced RDCs and NDCs to environmental management and biodiversity conservation, the EPA followed on with a 4th series of Regional Workshops to raise awareness of Coastal Zone Management.

Similar to the other two series of workshops, this series was facilitated by resource persons from pertinent sectors such as, sea-defence; forestry; agriculture, solid waste management, and environmental and biodiversity management.

ON-GOING PARTNERSHIP Having invested early in building the capacity of the Local Government, the EPA today, continues to benefit through collaboration with RDCs and NDCs. ANTI-LITTER CAMPAIGN Since embarking on its Anti-litter Programme in 2013, the EPA regularly collaborates with RDCs and NDCs. Among the collaborative ventures are Regional Outreach; these have been conducted in Regions, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 during 2015 to 2016.

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS As part of its Environmental Authorization process, the EPA, on a continuous basis, engages with RDCs and NDCs in order to ascertain their knowledge and approval of potential projects to be located within their localities. The EPA, requires that potential developers, seek approval of their planned operations from these bodies, prior to seeking Environmental Authorization.

COMPLAINTS MANAGEMENT Further, in its Environmental Complaints Process, the EPA regularly engages RDCs and NDCs. The presence of these bodies on the ground makes them a valuable source of information on projects that pose environmental issues to residents. It is foreseen that in the near future, the MoU between the EPA and the Ministry of Communities will be strengthened to allow for a wider range of environmental complaints to be handled at the level of local government.

In acknowledging the important role of Local Government in environmental management and conservation at the local level, the EPA looks forward, in the new decade, to further enhancing its partnership with the Ministry of Communities, RDCs, and NDCs as they continue to strengthen their capacity to manage the environment at the local level.

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Kerry Hyles and students of the Bartica Secondary School

‘You can go places while remaining grounded’ - Kelly Hyles

S

By Akola Thompson ince she received her acceptance letters from 21 of the 22 universities she applied to, eight of which were Ivy Leagues, Kelly Hyles became an overnight sensation, particularly in her home country Guyana which she left at the age of 11.

When it was announced that through the help of Political activist, Mark Benschop and Fly Jamaica Airways Kelly would be home for the Independence Jubilee celebrations, scores of Guyanese began to have a feeling of excitement and pride.

Mark stated that while he sought to have Kelly home for Independence day which was her birthday, what he really wanted was for her to visit schools and engage with young people in an effort to inspire excellence in them. He expressed his disappointment in the Government’s seeming lack of concern over Kelly, stating that “it needs to be more than courtesy calls” while also stressing the amount of pride he had for her.

I myself did not know what to make of the young woman. Her feat of course, which has earned her countless interviews with newspapers and talk show hosts, is a remarkable one but I wondered about the girl behind the scholar and what that girl had to offer.

Due to her busy schedule, which saw her visiting several schools, business places and events, I had to settle for a fly along interview to Bartica with Kelly where she visited two high schools to share her story with the students.

Upon our first meeting, I stretched out a palm to welcome her but instead, felt myself being pulled into a tight embrace.

She had just come from the Bishop’s High School where she had met with students, saying that it was one of the greatest feelings to be able to inspire students to pursue their studies and dreams.

Shortly after, we entered the plane for the 30-minute plane ride to Bartica and it was then, aside from occasionally hurling jokes at her aunt and mother that Kelly began to talk about her childhood.

In the small, quiet community of Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara is where she attended Primary School.

“In Vryheid,” she said, “our teachers would always try to see the best in us and would encourage us in everything.” This,

Kelly Hyles and US Ambassador Perry Halloway

she said helped her to become more confident in herself as a student and would set the path to her becoming the well-rounded person she is today.

At the time, Kelly lived with her brother and parents, who would later become separated. She said that like most small communities, “everyone knew everyone in Vryheid which would see everyone calling others either aunty or uncle.” As such, her childhood is filled with fond memories of afternoon visits to friends, family and those who were like family.

While they were not a rich family, she said, they were not particularly poor and as such, while she and her brother got everything they needed, they did not get everything they particularly wanted but they were taught to be content and humble and it is a lesson she has forgotten.

In the hopes of seeking better economic circumstances and educational opportunities, Kelly said her mother decided that they would all migrate to the United States of America.

“It was a big culture shock for me,” she said laughing.

“It was just another country, but it was different. Back in Guyana, I was accustomed to calling everyone aunty and uncle and not passing anyone on the road without saying good morning or afternoon, but in Brooklyn that wasn’t the case, people would pass you without looking at you.”

When she became enrolled in middle school, her head teacher, who was also Guyanese , told her to keep up her grades, as she wanted her to become valedictorian of the school, “and I did become valedictorian.”

Her first academic disappointment she said was when she wrote her first SAT’s. “I didn’t score as high as I wanted to so I was very disappointed in myself but, I was intent on doing well so I decided to write them a second time. I studied all summer and I was rewarded for my hard work.”

Upon receiving her new score, she said, she was ecstatic and decided that she would apply to 22 colleges. “I applied to so many, not because I thought I was going to get into all but because I knew I was adaptable and every college I applied to, there was something about them that I could just picture myself in.”

Hoping to become a neurosurgeon, Kelly said she choose Harvard not only because of their strong Science department but because they have a very good mix of Science & Liberal Arts

such as Political Science and Race Relations. Also, Harvard was by far the college in which she felt the most welcomed, “I can see myself there for the next four years.”

Asked if being a neurosurgeon was always her dream, Kelly grinned and said she had always wanted to be a judge. “Before I left Guyana, I told my teachers they would one day hear about Judge Hyles. I think I wanted to be a judge because I’m a very curious soul but now that curiosity has led me towards the sciences.”

Aside from academia, Kelly was a dancer and a cheerleader at her high school. Asked what kind of music she usually dances to, Kelly laughed and said, “every time I get the opportunity to choreograph, I choose Soca and Dancehall- the majority of those in the dance group are from different cultures and countries so they all enjoy it.”

“A lot of people think I just study all the time, but you can go places while remaining grounded.”

She never had discrimination based on race or gender thrown at her, she knows that these are still very real problems and as such, following the string of police shootings against black men in America, she along with fellow students began the Black Student Union. “We try not to focus only on Black tension however, but we also try to focus on Black excellence and encourage it as much as possible. We are also not strictly a ‘black’ group, we welcome anyone who wants to join,” she said.

The Union she said, is one of the things she is most proud; she feels as if it is her “little baby.

“When I graduate I’ll be so sad because I won’t be able to run it anymore and that I won’t be able to tutor the kids in my school anymore.”

Not sure whether she would ever return to Guyana permanently as there are not enough opportunities here, Kelly said that Guyana will always have a special place in her heart and she wants to help it as much as she possibly could.

As the plane began its descent, I asked Kelly what her plans after graduation are, to which she said, “Relax.

“All this attention has made me really happy but I feel like if I have this greater sense of responsibility with people reaching out to me and being motivated and it is a bit hard.

“So all I want to is have fun with friends and family.”

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Guyanese singer for

Chronicle Pepperpot May 29, 2016 Toneika Tacie Thompson

US Jubilee Tour

“Time to Sing.”

She also had her own band in secondary school for which she was the lead singer.

“I got together with my school principal who believed in me very much and took me on every audition there was.”

Toneika recalled that her dad also played a role in her career choice. “My dad pushed me in that direction and he made me believe in myself more.”

With her son, Element

G

UYANESE-born Toneika Tacie Thompson, who migrated to Barbados when she just two years old, always had in mind becoming a professional singer, especially as her dad fostered this desire in her by gifting her musical instruments every Christmas time.

“All of my Christmas gifts from my dad used to be a musical instrument. If not a piano, a guitar with a mike, a drum, etc. Everything was music, music, music,” the singer/song writer/performer told the Chronicle recently.

Toneika, 27, completed her schooling in Barbados and attended the University of the West Indies to study English and Communications. Although she was living in Barbados, she often travelled to Guyana to spend time.

Her first song, which she recorded in 2006, was called “Infatuation.” This was after she entered the Ian Johnson competition here and won. Her first performance on television, though, dated back to when she was just 8 years old. “My first performance on TV was in primary school.”

She was eight years old and was the lead singer for the group on television’s

Guyana and Barbados Jubilee Toneika is here this time around to share in Guyana’s jubilee celebrations. “I am here for the jubilee this time and I am so excited about it. My song, 50th Jubilee, has been playing non-stop. I wanted to work with some producers from over here so I recorded the 50th Jubilee song with Ruff Kut.” Tonieka will be performing in Washington DC next month at an event that Carib Nation has organized to celebrate both Guyana’s and Barbados’ jubilee year.

Barbados will also be 50 on November 30. “I basically want to carry the flag of my country. And being that I am from both places, it makes much sense for me.”

The mini tour, starting on June 17, will take Toneika to Delaware, Washington, Virginia, Madison Square and Merlin. She will also perform at a private function at the Embassy of Guyana in Washington DC. Toneika definitely sees herself pressing on in her career and taking her music to higher levels. She is also hoping to one day get on the X Factor Show in the United Kingdom.

Toneika is mother to one son, Element. (Telesha Ramnarine)

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Deepika, Ranveer starrer ‘Bajirao Mastani’ leads IIFA 2016 nominations

(Indian Express) Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus “Bajirao Mastani” is leading the nominations list of the 17th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards with eight nods, including best director and best picture.

The historical drama’s lead stars Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh have been nominated in the best actress and actor category respectively, IIFA announced today.

Deepika’s second nomination in the same category is for Piku”.

Priyanka Chopra, who played Kashibai in “Bajirao Mastani”, has bagged a nod in the supporting actress list alongside her co-star from the film, Tanvi Azmi.

The 33-year-old “Quantico” actress has also been nominated in the best actress category for “Dil Dhadakne Do”.

The film’s other nominations were in the best playback singer female category for Shreya Ghoshal (‘Deewani Mastani’) and best music direction for Bhansali.

“Bajirao Mastani” is closely followed by superstar Salman Khan’s blockbuster “Bajrangi Bhaijaan”, which has earned seven nominations.

Salman earned a nod in the best actor category for his role of a simpleton, who embarks on a journey to take a mute six-year-old to her home in Pakistan.

The film has also received nods in best picture, best director for Kabir Khan, best story for V Vijayendra Prasad and best music direction for Pritam.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has landed two nominations for the film – best supporting

actor and best performance in a comic role.

The actor ’s third nod came in performance in a negative role category for his much-acclaimed villainous turn in “Badlapur”.

The Shoojit Sircar-directed “Piku” has landed six nominations including the coveted best picture, best director best actor for Amitabh Bachchan, best supporting actor for Irrfan Khan and best story for Juhi Chaturvedi.

Another big nominee at the IIFA this year is Zoya Akhtar’s family drama “Dil Dhadakne Do”, which bagged nods in best supporting actress for Anushka Sharma, best supporting actor for Anil Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar and best female playback singer for Sunidhi Chauhan (‘Girls Like to Swing’).

Other best picture nominees include “Talvar” and “Tanu Weds Manu Returns” for which Kangana Ranaut has bagged a nod in the best actress category alongside Deepika, Priyanka, and Shraddha Kapoor (‘ABCD 2’).

Varun Dhawan and Ranbir Kapoor have also found place in the best actor nominations list for their roles in “Badlapur” and “Tamasha” respectively.

Besides Kabir, Bhansali and Sircar, the best director list also features Meghna Gulzar (‘Talvar’) and Aanand L Rai (‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’).

Arijit Singh has been nominated twice in the best male playback singer list for his musical contribution in “Hamari Adhuri Kahani” and “Roy”.

“Dum Laga Ke Haisha” has bagged three nods in the musical categories including best lyrics for Varun Grover

(‘Moh Moh Ke Dhaage’).

Papon and Monali Thakur have received nominations in the playback singer male and female category for the same song.

Huma Qureshi (‘Badlapur’) and Konkana Sen Sharma (‘Talvar’) are other names in the best supporting actress category, while Deepak Dobriyal has been nominated in the best supporting actor category for “Tanu Weds Manu Returns”.

Stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma has been nominated in the best performance in a comic role list for his debut film “Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon”.

The IIFA Awards this year will be hosted by Farhan and Shahid Kapoor on June 23 at IFEMA in Madrid.

Amber Heard

accuses estranged husband Johnny Depp of

domestic violence

(Reuters) Actress Amber Heard obtained a restraining order against husband Johnny Depp on Friday, her attorney said, after she accused the actor of verbal, emotional and Actor Johnny Depp (R) and wife Amber Heard arrive at the Southport Magistrates physical abuse, just days after she filed for divorce to end their 15-month marriage. Court on Australia's Gold Coast, April 18, 2016.

Heard, 30, said in the court papers that Depp, 52, was abusive to her throughout their "Given the brevity of this marriage and the most recent and tragic loss of his mother, marriage, culminating in an argument on Saturday night in which he hurled a cell phone into Johnny will not respond to any of the salacious false stories, gossip, misinformation and lies her face and shattered various objects in her apartment. about his personal life," a Depp representative said in a statement on Thursday in response to The filing includes pictures of Heard's injured face and she appeared to have a bruise on the divorce filing, according to People. "Hopefully the dissolution of this short marriage will her right cheek as she left a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. be resolved quickly."

Heard declined to speak to reporters as she left court. Her attorney, Joseph Koenig, said The couple married in February 2015 after meeting on the set of the 2011 film "The Rum that a judge had issued a restraining order based on the evidence and had ordered further Diary." hearings into the matter.

Depp gained fame in the late 1980s after appearing in the popular TV series "21 Jump Depp, one of Hollywood's top actors, was attending a charity event in Lisbon, Portugal Street" and later starred in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, as well as films such as and not in court. His representatives did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for "Edward Scissorhands," "Sweeney Todd" and "Alice in Wonderland." He stars in the sequel, comment.

"Alice Through the Looking Glass," released in theaters on Friday.

Heard filed the divorce petition in a Los Angeles court on Monday, citing irreconcilable Heard is best known for her roles in such films as "Friday Night Lights," "Never Back differences.

Down" and "Pineapple Express."

Justin Bieber

sued over riff in smash hit 'Sorry' (Reuters) Canadian pop star Justin Bieber and the co-writers of his 2015 smash hit "Sorry" are being sued for allegedly stealing a vocal riff from another artist who said she used it on her own song a year earlier.

In a complaint made public on Thursday, Casey Dienel, an indie artist who performs under the name White Hinterland, accused Bieber of infringing her copyright to the song "Ring the Bell" by using a "virtually identical" riff without permission.

Among the other defendants are the producer Skrillex and Vivendi's Universal Music Group. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Nashville.

Spokespeople for Bieber, Skrillex and Universal had no immediate comment or did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dienel said "Sorry," which appears on Bieber's album "Purpose" and has more than 1.42 billion YouTube views, adopted the "specific and unique characteristics of the female vocal riff" from her song, sampling it for the first eight seconds of "Sorry" and several times thereafter.

She said even The New York Times Magazine noted the riff's distinctiveness, when it praised Bieber's song for its "cooing arpeggio that feels like a gentle breeze on your brain" in a March 13 article titled "25 Songs That Tell Us Where Music Is Going." Bieber's song ranked No. 1.

Dienel also said she reached out to Bieber to discuss a resolution, but he "ignored" her claims and refused to talk.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including from profits generated by "Sorry." Dienel's "Ring the Bell" appeared on White Hinterland's album "Baby."

It is common for well-known singers to be accused of stealing song ideas from other composers.

Kanye West was sued last week for allegedly taking part of his 2013 song "New Slaves" from a 1969 song by a Hungarian rock singer. Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant and Jimmy Page face a June 14 trial over whether they stole opening chords for their 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven" from a 1967 instrumental.

The Bieber case is Dienel v. Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, No. 16-00978.

Justin Bieber performs a medley of songs at the 2016 Billboard Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 22, 2016. (REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI/FILES)