Category: Features

The Guyana Civil Aviation Authority on Saturday evening honoured 39 persons for their long service to the local aviation sector, as the country joined the rest of the world in observing International Aviation Day. The ceremony saw 11 pilots, five engineers and more than 15 other aviation staffers being awarded for more than 20 years of service to the industry, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported. The day was celebrated under the theme: “Evolving to Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century Air Transport”. Speaking at a dinner and awards…

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St. Peter’s Church was originally constructed December 9, 1827. However, it was replaced by the present structure on June 29, 1855, St. Peter’s Day. Prior to the erection of the first church, services were held under a clump of bamboo trees. On November 25, 1826 as recorded by the pencil minute of foolscap in the vestry book of the parish, a meeting was held in the house of Captain Thierens of Plantation Vissilvalligheid. At this meeting it was decided that a church and parsonage should be built. A site was…

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Singer, arranger and composer, U.S.-based Guyanese Radha Singh is a music maestro who, embracing many heritages, also stays true to her own Radha Singh was born into the world of theatre.  She began performing at just three years old, and was a member of the Messenger Group, a music, poetry and drama organization in Guyana, founded by her mother Rajkumari Singh. Rajkumari was a notable writer, political activist, educator, and distinguished cultural leader who received national honours such as the Golden Arrowhead of Achievement. Under her tutelage, Radha studied diction…

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In Santa Rosa stands the well-known Santa Rosa Mission, also known as “White Chapel on a Hill”. It serves now for more than 100 years not only as a religious building but as a significant part of the Santa Rosa community, keeping it together. In an interview with Jean Rodrigues, a resident of Santa Rosa who has since migrated but continues to contribute largely to the community, the history of the Catholic mission to the Amerindians of Guyana actually began in Venezuela.   Beginnings Throughout the 18th century, Spanish Franciscans…

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Motivated by his passion and talent, Warren Douglas returns to Guyana to open a unique winery When Warren Douglas decided he wanted to produce wines on a broad scale, he chose his homeland Guyana because of the lush fruits here. That is when he started the Pandama Retreat and Winery, which is said to be Guyana’s first winery manufacturing quality wines using only local fruits. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Douglas recalled sitting in his in Charlotte, North Carolina backyard with his wife Tracy, a fashion designer…

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Debunking myths of autism, the Guyana Greenheart Autistic Society strives to bring a hidden issue to the forefront Autism is one of a group of serious developmental problems called autism spectrum disorders that appear in early childhood. While there is no cure for autism, intensive, early intervention can make a big difference in the lives of many children with the disorder. This is the goal of the Guyana Greenheart Autistic Society. The organisation is a registered non-governmental, non-profit charitable organisation that addresses Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It was registered on…

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Aiming to spread awareness of the horrific effects of abuse, especially child abuse, Comforting Hearts recently held an art competition encouraging youths to join their voices and talents to campaign against abuse. This non-governmental organisation, located in Region Six, has been in existence for more than 12 years, and is considered the first established group in the county of Berbice to address the issue of HIV/AIDS. The idea of forming this organisation came about when 19 persons, trained to be counsellors by the National AIDS Program Secretariat, decided they wanted…

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Cecile Nobrega (1919 – 2013) By Petamber Persaud   On November 19, 2013, Guyana lost another literary luminary – Cecile Nobrega. She died at age 94; five years after the Bronze Woman statue was unveiled in Stockwell Memorial Gardens, South London, and four decades after the poem that inspired the statue was written by Nobrega in Guyana. The poem, “Bronze Woman”, was published in Nobrega’s first book of verses, “Soliloquies”. It is the first poem in the book, and talks about the “stalwart woman-man/strength in your heart/and love in your…

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First Guyanese female civil engineer of East Indian descent, Jean Ramkhelawan, looks back at her career Civil engineers have one of the world’s most important jobs: with creativity and technical skill, civil engineers plan, design, construct facilities essential to modern life, ranging from roads, bridges, to highway systems and are responsible for shaping our country’s infrastructure. Jean Ramkhelawan holds not only the title of civil engineer, but the coveted title of the first female civil engineer of Indian descent in Guyana. With determination and resiliency demanded by this taxing profession,…

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Former British Guiana plantation owners benefitted – and their descendants still do – from Britain’s compensation policies for slave owners The true scale of Britain’s involvement in the slave trade has been laid bare in documents revealing how the country’s wealthiest families received the modern equivalent of billions of pounds in compensation after slavery was abolished. The previously unseen records show exactly who received what in payouts from the government when slave ownership was abolished by Britain – much to the potential embarrassment of their descendants. Dr Nick Draper from…

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