Category: Features

By Venessa Deosaran The sweet sounds of the Parkside Steel Orchestra Band resonate at every event they perform, and as they seduce their listeners with their artistry in steel pan, they are focused not only to entertain but to sustain the art form. Band manager and pannist Andrew Tyndall, speaking with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, said Parkside was started in 1998 by Mildred Lowe, who was at the time director of culture, a department within the Ministry of Education. The objectives, he outlined, were to develop persons musically, teach them…

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By Venessa Deosaran Artistes In Direct Support (A.I.D.S.) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation that comprises staff and volunteers of varying ages and experiences, who use their talents in music, drama and dance to promote HIV/ AIDS/STI education through the performing arts, media and peer education. The organisation provides telephone as well as walk-in counselling services, and distributes HIV/ AIDS related material. They conduct an ‘In School Youth Programme’, an ‘Out Of School Youth Programme’, workplace interventions and other outreach initiatives. As a result of their outreach sessions, a vibrant programme…

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By Venessa Deosaran On Phagwah day, Guyana will dazzle with a kaleidoscope of hues. Colourful streets and people of all ethnic backgrounds would be draped in vibrant yellow, blue, pink and green powder, abeer and abrac. Holi is the festival of colour that celebrates the victory of good over evil, and is a celebration of the arrival of spring and harvests to come. The central ritual of this ‘festival of colours’ is throwing and applying coloured water and powder on friends and family. Dry coloured powder is called ‘gulal’, and…

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By Venessa Deosaran On Holi day, the musical talent of the Shakti Strings Orchestra Band is expected to get the massive crowd hyperactive at the ‘National Colour Fest’ at the Providence Stadium. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, manager Celia Samaroo Roopchan said the band will be out in full swing, as they always have, to join in the Phagwah celebrations and to bring together the entire nation through music. Shakti Strings Orchestra Band was started in 1987 by local artiste Bappi Roopchan, who is very experienced in…

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By Venessa Deosaran Since May 2005, more than four libraries have been built in Yupukari, Rupununi. At present, even more are being created in surrounding villages with the aim of encouraging reading and making it fun. The nursery school library is a large, one-room cinderblock schoolhouse that accommodates forty children and two teachers. In May 2005, it was empty, except for tables and chairs. After about a month of three-way discussions between the Rupununi Learners Foundation (RLF) and schoolteachers, inspired by the influx of new materials, RLF began to carve…

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The ‘Mighty Voter’ never lets his loss of sight deter him from making music   By Venessa Deosaran Performing on stage at a recent calypso competition Martin Byrne, also known by his calypso stage name ‘Mighty Voter’, despite being completely blind, keeps producing songs that enliven and enlighten. Byrne was born on December 23, 1953 in Wismar, Linden, but grew up in Agricola on the East Bank of Demerara. After high school, he had an opportunity to sing in a group called ‘The Lynx’, a five-member, vibrant group that played…

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Juliana Hughes is part of a rapidly growing industry of local craft producers but her distinct talent lies in utilizing seeds and beads from our natural resources By Venessa Deosaran Juliana Hughes uses seeds such as buck bead – also known as Job’s tears – donkey eye, powis eye seeds, cokrite, awara or flamboyant – also known as shak shak seeds, which are combined with copper wire bending art, and some with semi precious stones, to create unique jewellery craft. The slender grace of bamboo, the splendour of wood, and…

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By Venessa Deosaran Junior chess champion and Sixth Form student of Queens College, Haifeng Su has thanked not luck but his mental determination and strong focus for his victories. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, 16-year-old Su said he came to Guyana from China with his family when he was just six years old. In Guyana, he developed a liking for the game of chess by watching other people play the game, especially his close colleagues. “A friend, Rishad Hussein, who is very good at chess, got me…

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By Venessa Deosaran  Each year on February 4, the world observes World Cancer Day in an effort to raise awareness of the various cancers, and encourage prevention, detection, and treatment. The Cancer Institute of Guyana came into existence as a collaborative effort between the Government of Guyana (Ministry of Health) and the Private Sector (Global Imaging Service Inc) in 2006. However, in 2003 Global Imaging Service Inc (GIS) provided Medical Imaging Services in MRI and CT Scans to the Ministry of Health, which included such services in diagnosing and treating…

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By Venessa Deosaran  An island is defined as an area of land surrounded by water. Not very wellknown to many persons, but tucked between the villages of Covent Garden and Prospect on the East Bank of Demerara, and surrounded by trenches or canals, is a small island made up of several households. The island has been home for many families for hundreds of years. Guyana Times Sunday Magazine was on the island and spoke with the oldest resident living there, Drena Peters, 86. Peters said she “born and grew up”…

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