Category: Features

As the only British colonial territory in South America, British Guiana was probably better known to the outside world than it appears today. Every effort was made by the-then Colonial Office and government to promote British Guiana abroad. Guiana’s industries as they were – timber, mining, forest products and, of course, sugar – added to the rich diversity of exotic flora and rare species of fauna and the anthropology and artefacts of the colony’s aboriginal peoples, made a worthy  showcase of the colony’s resources. The Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society…

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By Odeen Ishmael Many years ago, there was a little forest village on the bank of a wide river in southern Guyana. All of the inhabitants were very happy as they always reaped good crops from their gardens, and wild animals they hunted for meat were abundant in the forests on both sides of the river. In this forest village lived twelve teenage girls who always gathered in the evenings under a tall mora tree on the riverside to sing songs their mothers had taught them. After their singing, as…

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The coconut is described as the ‘Tree of Heaven’ because almost every part of the crop, from the roots, to the bark, to the fruit, has been of some economic value to the locals long before the Europeans ever knew about the tree. Also called “the tree which provides all the necessities of life” in India, and “the tree of a thousand uses” in Malay, the coconut’s flowers, husk, shell, water, milk, leaves, sap, bud, and the white, fleshy part of the seed- the coconut ‘meat’, are all used up…

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In 1915, the Canadian Mission established the Berbice High School in New Amsterdam, British Guiana as a school for boys. Five years later, in 1920 a separate building was erected on the site of the current Berbice High School, as a school for girls. In its first year, Clara Ramdeholl was one of the 10 girls to first attend the “girls’ school”. She graduated in 1925 at age 16 and began teaching there until 1932 when, at 23-years-old, she left the colony for England to study law. Admitted to the…

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By Utamu Belle One of my fondest childhood memories of my father, which will remain with me forever, is him carrying me on his shoulders to watch the fireworks display to ring in the new year. I am usually overwhelmed when I get nostalgic about my father, because I realised that spending quality time with him was one of the things that brought joy to my little heart. Today, we celebrate the unconditional love of all fathers, whether biological or adoptive. Sunday Times Magazine interviewed two hardworking fathers in Linden…

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A single-parent, amputee and toy maker, Richard Moshette is defying all odds to care for his three children Two years ago, Richard Moshette made a life-changing decision to amputate his right leg, due to diabetes. This “difficult decision” was made to ensure he would live to care for his three sons, but losing his leg was not Richard’s only heartrending loss. In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, Richard disclosed that after he was diagnosed with diabetes, and had to later amputate his leg, his wife left him after 13…

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