Category: Features

Two women’s craft groups aim for financial independence Several women’s groups making quality craft products in various indigenous communities across the country have been developing their skills and use these as a complement to their traditional fishing and farming activities for generating income. One such group is the Moruca Embroidery Group in Region One. This is a community-based enterprise and is located in the village of Santa Rosa. The group was formally established in January 2007, but most of the women have been working together for the past five years.…

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Petamber Persaud reports on the literary arts at the Suriname Cultural Festival, staged to commemorate the Year of Culture The inaugural Inter-Guianas Cultural Festival, which included participation from French Guiana and Guyana, was held from August 25 to 29, 2011, and was touted by the host country, Suriname, as a test case for their hosting of the Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta) in the year 2013. The three-day festival will also serve as a platform to involve other countries from the Guiana Shield, including Brazil and Venezuela. The festival was…

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Award-winning poet, novelist, critic, David Dabydeen By Venessa Deosaran Renowned Guyanese poet, novelist and critic David Dabydeen has been nominated for the Guyana Prize for Literature Award for his book “Molly and the Muslim Stick”, published in 2008. His prolific and invaluable contributions to the literary arts have been notable, and although he resides in England, the writer never forgets his roots are in Guyana. In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine on the eve of the Guyana Prize for Literature Award ceremonies, Dabydeen said “I write out…

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Master Makushi balata artist George Tancredo has established a reputation as Guyana’s leading balata artist; and typical of his generous nature, he now shares his knowledge and skill with workshops among the indigenous population in southern Guyana, some of whom have developed these talents exceptionally well today. Tancredo discovered his creative talents after several forays into the world of apprenticeship and work: leaving school at 16, he trained to be a mechanic, but wasn’t successful; he went to work in the gold pits of the “bush” but that didn’t work…

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By Venessa Deosaran Overseas-based Guyanese Elly Niland is a prolific poet and playwright, admired for her acclaimed work in fusing East Indian Creole, Caribbean and British English to create linguistic and cultural explosions of outstanding literary work within the twentieth century. Elly was born in Guyana in 1954, and has lived in Surrey, England with her husband, an Irishman named Chris, and children since 1971. In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Elly revealed she was born on the Corentyne coast in her great grandma’s house at Number…

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By Venessa Deosaran Young people today are becoming more conscious of the struggles of others, and are being motivated to make a change. For the youths of the Grant- a-Dream group, making a change in the lives of the less fortunate is what they aim for. Chairperson of the group, Dominique Dias, daughter of Denise Dias, the activist for road safety since the death of her daughter Alicea, and founder of the Alicea Foundation and Women in Black organisation, told Guyana Times Sunday Magazine that she became more aware of…

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By Petamber Persaud Guyanese writers never shy away from sensitive issues. They will deal with the issues, as the occasions arise, in their private solitary writing moments; and they are not afraid to publish their opinions far and wide. That is one reason why Guyanese writers have become a distinctive breed, weathering popular thoughts to bring fresh perspectives to the table. Guyanese writers of African descent were in a way and for a long time lobbying for the recognition of people of African descent. Now that UNESCO has designated 2011…

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By Venessa Deosaran The Valmiki Vidyalaya schools see a need for a balanced education in Guyana that includes encouraging high moral principles Pandit Haresh Tewari, a member of the Valmiki Vidyalaya schools’ administration team, is the priest responsible for the Gopaul Mandir in Lusignan. He stated that the Valmiki Vidyalaya High School, formally commissioned late last year, was commissioned adjunctive to the Gopaul Mandir in Lusignan, which opened its doors on August 26, 2007. Like the primary school, the Valmiki Vidyalaya High School is a three-storey building, and is located…

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This great land of many waters has produced many international athletes who, although making their Guyanese background known in foreign lands, are hardly heard of, if not unknown here. The dedicated Guyanese writer and researcher Ras Michael found two very young football players with a rich Guyanese background, and who are aggressive athletes internationally: Teal Bunbury and Sean Cameron. Sean Cameron was born on January 26, 1985 in Brooklyn, New York to Guyanese parents. He grew up in New Jersey and attended North Brunswick High School, where he became a…

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Research finds first black international footballer in the world   Andrew Watson was the world’s first black international football player; and he is known to have captained Scotland three times between 1881 and 1882. He was also considered as one of the top ten football players in the world in the nineteenth century. So says research unearthed from recently digitalised 19th century documents. Watson was born in May 1857 in British Guiana, and was the son of a wealthy Scottish sugar planter named Peter Miller and comely local lass named…

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