Features – Page 124 – Guyana Times International

Yoruba Heritage Foundation donates to schools

February 3, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Chief Priest Balogun Mwanza: ‘Education is the key to success’ By Venessa Deosaran The president of the Yoruba Heritage Foundation, the socio-cultural and charitable arm of the Ifa Aiyetoro Church, Chief Priest Balogun Mwanza said he firmly believes in the adage, “Education is the key to success.” Acting upon this conviction, the Yoruba Heritage Foundation has been distributing educational and other related school supplies to several schools within the Buxton/Foulis NDC district on the East Coast of Demerara. These include ballpoint pens, highlighters, lead pencils, pencil sharpeners, plastic, wooden and…

A breezy visit to Number 63 Beach

January 27, 2012 TIMES INT'L

The Number 63 Beach is said to be the Caribbean’s longest stretch of beach with a unique surface on which vehicles can easily drive. Located in the vicinity of Corriverton (at the mouth of the Corentyne River) and deemed the most popular beach in Berbice, Number 63 is a prized spot in the country. On Sundays, locals gather at the beach, turning it into a parking lot with their vehicles while they set up tents nearby and unpack coolers of beer, food and beach- cricket gear to pass the day…

The Varqa Foundation

January 27, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Promoting literacy and moral education By Venessa Deosaran The Varqa Foundation, named after a follower of the Bahai faith, killed in Iran, aspires to participate in programmes that try to tread new paths of community and self development. Varqa Foundation is an NGO that aspires to increase awareness of processes of change to discover effective and appropriate strategies that will facilitate transition to a new society, and to participate in activities that would promote the well-being of all peoples. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, administrator, Abass Hamid,…

Fishing adventures at Simoni Lake

January 19, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Simoni is a large fresh water lake that flows to the Rupununi River via a smaller creek. Once the river winds down the forest-clad mountains, it slows down as it enters the vast savannah lands and opens up into five shallow river bays known as the Simoni Lakes. This area and its lakes are incredibly rich in biodiversity, and are traditional breeding grounds for several species of game fish including butterfly peacock bass, arawana, arapaima, payara, piranha and catfish. The lakes are famous among local Guyanese fishers-past and present –…

The Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre

January 19, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Providing long-term physical rehabilitative care By Venessa Deosaran The Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre since its inception has as its mission, to provide a national service for all children in need of longterm physical rehabilitative care. Cynthia Massay, rehabilitative officer at the centre, in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine said the centre had its genesis as the Polio Rehabilitation Centre located at Charlotte and Oronoque Streets. It was originally established January 1967 by the health ministry to provide rehabilitative services for children who had suffered residual paralysis following the…

Teens make contributions to needy institutions in Guyana

January 19, 2012 TIMES INT'L

In what have become annual acts of charity over the past 3 years, 19-year-old Lisa Ramroop and her 17-year-old brother Ranji Ramroop of the Ramroop Foundation, on January 19 donated much-needed supplies to several institutions in Guyana. In Georgetown, the Palms Geriatric Home on Brickdam and the Guyana Dharm Shala in Albouystown received first aid materials, sanitary supplies and hygiene tools from the teenagers, who are here in Guyana on holiday from the U.S. At the Cornelia Ida Orphanage on the West Coast of Demerara, the teens also donated sanitary…

Amerindian settlements

January 13, 2012 TIMES INT'L

It is generally believed that Guyana’s first inhabitants, the Amerindians, originally entered the territory of what is now known as Guyana about 11,000 years ago. Initially they lived on the low, swampy coastland region. Research by the Guyanese anthropologist, Dennis Williams, shows that while the earliest Guyanese were hunters, about 7000 years ago they graduated to become hunter-gatherers. Archaeological studies reveal that a group of these people occupied Barabina Hill near to Mabaruma around that period. In the North-West District and the Pomeroon, where they were firmly established as fish,…

International project to foster conservation of “indigenous wisdom”

January 13, 2012 TIMES INT'L

By Matt Hallett Imagine lifting off from Georgetown on a flight into the interior and peering out your window only to see green stretching to the horizon in every direction. Consider hiking through the lush Iwokrama Forest to the peak of Turtle Mountain where you watch spider monkeys bound through the trees below. Close your eyes and picture a sky so full of stars that you almost have to shield your eyes. Think about what it would be like to take a night hike through the savannah and forest habitats…

National Gallery honours Philip Moore

January 5, 2012 TIMES INT'L

Pushing for re-launch of National Visual Arts Exhibition The National Gallery currently has on display the paintings and sculpture from the National Collection by doyen of Guyanese art, Philip Moore, in honour of his exceptional contribution to the filed. Moore celebrated his 90th birthday on October 12, shortly before the National Awards ceremony bestowed him with the Cacique Crown of Honour (CCH). The gallery’s display honours this most influential of Guyana’s artists for his lifelong creativity which has produced hundreds of works of art since his first sculptures begun in…

A joyous Christmas with the First Lady

December 30, 2011 TIMES INT'L

First Lady Deolatchmie Ramotar has been busy this Christmas season – visiting the Paediatric Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital and the Palms Geriatric Home, giving out gifts and other goodies to the patients and residents of these institutions as she settles into her new role as the wife of President Ramotar. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, the First Lady said she is adapting to this new role quite easily. “I have so many plans I hope to achieve, but I must take everything in stride. Nothing…