Category: Features

Panwave Steel Band Academy is the epitome of passion. It is fascinating to watch the band members –all youths – play the steel pan. Their passion for getting every music note on key is admirable. Most importantly, they passionately hone their talent to keep steel pan music alive. Speaking with  Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Cary Gillis, a music teacher, member of the Parkside Steel Orchestra and steel pan instructor, stated Panwave is an after-school programme to help youths learn steel pan and also develop music literacy. In collaboration with the…

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The screening of four Guyanese films in the U.S., at the upcoming, prestigious arts event CaFA, is expected to be a showcase of imaginative talent. Films scheduled for screening are “The Seawall”, “Beached”, “Tin City Voices” and “Rebecca’s Story”. “The Seawall”, by U.S.-based Guyanese filmmaker Mason Richards, is a narrative short film shot entirely on location in Georgetown and centers around Marjorie, a Guyanese woman, as she prepares for her 10-year old grandson’s move to America to be with his mother. Struggling with loneliness, and abandonment, Marjorie sacrifices her happiness…

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Guyana made an indelible mark at the annual Barbados music awards, now coined the Barbados Music, Fashion and Film Awards, which was held last weekend. A barrage of talent from the land of many waters hit the stage at the prestigious Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Barbados at what has become a must-see event on the Bajan entertainment calendar. A contingent of Guyanese talent–Lisa Punch, Ernesta Nelson and Travis Bowen–created quite a stir at the packed hall of creative arts enthusiasts and practitioners. The Nation headlined that Lisa was the…

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By Dmitri Allicock   A measure of success of a school must be how far and to what heights students’ progress, and how widely and deeply they remember those formative years and outstanding faculty. By such a measure, the Mackenzie High has achieved great indeed under the administration of formidable principal John Joseph Cummings. On September 11, 1959, the 1946 Echols High was renamed Mackenzie High School and the new campus of MHS was declared opened on Purpleheart Street, Mackenzie by Balram Singh Rai, then minister of education and community…

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Dr Vivian Srinivas Rambihar, a 1969 Guyana Scholar, is a world renowned cardiologist based in Toronto, Canada and one of the foremost thinkers in the world today, with ideas transforming medicine, science and society globally. He is a pioneer in “Chaos and Complexity Science”, which the celebrated Stephen Hawking says will be the new science for the 21st century. Dr Rambihar has also been a pioneer in ethnicity and health disparities; being among the first in North America to raise awareness of the high rates of premature heart disease and…

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Empowering youths and providing resources for academic success are the aims of the Smythfield Drop-In Centre and Vryman’s Erven Centre in New Amsterdam, Berbice. The centres from an adolescent-and-youth-friendly space, and offer non-residential vocational training for youths. At Smythfield, groups of youths up to age 20 that come from surrounding areas participate in short programmes done in collaboration with non-governmental organisations and other social organisations. The nature of these programmes requires no entry-level test;  they are primarily practical courses done on a part-time basis. There are several organised social and…

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A stellar achiever at a very young age and one of Guyana’s youngest dental surgeons, Dr. Sulan Fung aims to empower young women and spread awareness on her interest – maintaining a healthy mouth. Twenty-four-year-old Sulan began her scholastic career at Stella Maris Nursery at three years old. She later earned a place at Bishops’ High School where she received awards for best debater and best actress, along with elocution prizes. “I got prizes mostly in the line of literature and English – a talent I inherited from my mom.”…

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Teamwork was a notable feature of the Guyanese team of artistes and artisans from the Rupununi, at a recently concluded cultural festival held in Brazil. During January 3-4, artists, crafts and foods from Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil were on show at the Three-Nation Fronteira Cultural Festival held in the Brazil town of Pacaraima, near the border with Venezuela. The event, which is organised by Social Service of Commerce (SESC), a hugely successful Brazilian social enterprise, is in its third year and growing in popularity due to its unique collaborative nature…

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Prolific writer Lal Balkaran publishes books on a variety of subjects Inspired by his heritage, award winning Canada-based Guyanese author Lal Balkaran is penning numerous books aiming to showcase the talents and beauty of his homeland. Balkaran was born at Plantation Versailles on the West Bank Demerara on July 4, 1953, grew up in Pouderoyen, and later moved to Goed Fortuin in 1970, all three areas in close proximity. He attended the nearby Malgre Tout Government School (1960-1965) and the West Demerara Government Secondary School (1965-1970). After high school, he…

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By Regina Rodrigues   This is a tribute to my mother Martina Rodrigues- a notable individual in Santa Rosa who is remembered for her significant contribution to the academic development of her village. Born at Cabucalli, Santa Rosa in Moruca on Nov. 11, 1916 to Georgina and Emmanuel Ferreira, Martina Rodrigues was one of six children. She married Eleutherio Esteban Rodrigues at the age of 16 on July 24, 1932. Martina was the mother of seven children but two died as infants. Of the remaining children, two live in Guyana…

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