Dr Shebiki Beaton defying all odds

3While attending the New Friendship Primary School, young Dr. Shebiki Beaton would walk late at night from extra lessons to her home in Buxton, on the East Coast of Demerara, in the company of her mother. The duo would navigate their way under heavy Police and Guyana Defence Force soldiers’ presence.

A crime wave was ongoing in the area, and it was one of several challenges the young woman managed to overcome at the time. It did not stop the determined young lady from excelling at primary school, and later she would gain a place at Queen’s College, where she continued to progress towards her goals.

“While in high school, I remember hiding under our bed in the dark with my brother while gunshots rang out in the streets, some even hitting our roof, and still finishing assignments and going to school the next morning,” the young woman told Guyana Times recently. “I completed SBAs and IT assignments without a computer of my own, and sometimes studied with candles and kerosene lamps. So I always felt I had to go the extra mile to achieve my educational dreams,” the University of Guyana alum said.

Just last week, she clambered to another achievement. Dr. Beaton is on her way to becoming a General Surgeon after she was accepted into a residency programme at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, a prestigious medical institution in the United States.

Dr. Beaton said she is partic - ularly grateful to The Almighty following her achievements thus far. “It still feels surreal that I am on this path, but God has made it all possible. He has never left my side, and deserves all the glory for where I am today. I know God has a plan for me, so I will trust in His will,” she said.

Her parents, she said, invested heavily in her education, and she would forever be grateful to them. “Having parents who invested in my education and a family and community who supported and encouraged me made me want to achieve my fullest potential, so that others like me could believe they could achieve it too,” she said.

The medical journey

Dr. Beaton, who is in her 20s, grew up in Buxton with her parents, Clarence and Bonieta Beaton, and her younger brother, Okeme Beaton. After completing her secondary education at Queen’s College, her prayers for attaining higher education were answered when several scholarships came her way from members of her community.

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Give an Hour for Earth by spending 60 minutes doing something - anything - positive for our planet.

Earth Hour, organized by the World Wildlife Fund, is a global grassroots movement uniting people to take action on environmental issues and protect the planet.

Engaging in a massive mainstream community, Earth Hour was famously started as a lights-out event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then, it has grown to engage millions of supporters in more than 185 countries and territories, inspiring individuals and organisations worldwide to take action for the environment, and driving major legislative changes by harnessing the power of the crowd. As the movement grows, the one-hour lights-out event continues to be the symbol of a broader commitment towards nature and our planet.

Give The Jaguar A Voice

Earth Hour in Guyana 2023 will focus attention on the protection of jaguars and the conservation of their habitats. Earth Hour 2023 advocacy and awareness campaigns are intended to enhance citizens’ interest and strengthen national commitment to protecting jaguars through Governments’ signing of the Jaguar Roadmap.

With this campaign, WWF underscores the importance of the jaguar, and will ask Governments to advance implementation of the Jaguar Roadmap 2030 and launch conservation efforts through four pathways: regional cooperation; development and implementation of national strategies; jaguar-friendly productive practices; and sustainable financing.

Facts About The Jaguar

* Scientific name: Panthera onca;

* Largest wild cat in the Western Hemisphere. Third largest cat in the world, behind the lion and tiger;

* An excellent swimmer and climber;

* Has the strongest jaw and bite of all the wild cats. The name jaguar comes from

* Can kill by piercing the bones of the skull between the ears. With no predators, the jaguar is at the top of the food chain where it lives. The jaguar prefers stalking and ambushing its prey.

It is estimated that nearly 80% of the entire jaguar population (57,000 out of 64,000) live in the Amazon and the Guianas. The sub-populations found outside of the Amazon are threatened because of the small size of their habitat, isolation, lack of protection, and high density of human populations.

The jaguar is already extinct in El Salvador and Uruguay, and is virtually gone in the United States.

Jaguars In Guyana

* The jaguar was chosen as the national animal of Guyana because it represents strength, courage, endurance, and resilience.

* In addition to being an important part of our culture, the presence of these animals helps maintain healthy populations of other species, by keeping ecosystems balanced through natural predation patterns.

* Scientists (from Panthera) reported finding a relatively healthy jaguar density of three to four animals per 161 miles in Guyana's southern Rupununi savannah.

* Guyana’s jaguars can be spotted in their protected areas – can you name them?

The EPA, through its Environmental Authorisation process, Biodiversity Research process, and coordination of the implementation of environmental agreements, will continue to play its role in protecting Guyana’s jaguars. According to Section 4 (7) of the Wildlife Conservation, Management and Sustainable Use Regulations (2019), all wildcats are protected, and it is an offence to collect, hold in captivity, kill, hunt or otherwise molest a protected species.

Sources https://a-z-animals.com/animals/location/southamerica/guyana/ https://dpi.gov.gy/guyana-signs-on-to-new-roadmap-tosave-the-jaguar/ https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/ jan/25/guyana-pledges-protect-jaguars

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