Pepper pot 07 10 2016

Stefon Rambhajan, a Form Four student of the IBE school at Lusignan, dressed as a Haitian voodoo man as his contribution to the school’s Culture Day, in which they chose to recognise the culture of Caribbean people.

Other Delano Williams photos pages XII & XIII

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Remembering Tom Charles and the Syncopators

By Francis Quamina Farrier Has Guyana already forgotten Tom Charles and the Syncopators? REALLY! It's one thing to be advanced in age and to forget some things of the past, including some of the things which gave so many of us so much joy, and improved our quality of life in our small third world country.

Then, as you would appreciate, there is a growing number of Guyanese who have never even heard the name Tom Charles, or Harry Whittaker, for that matter.

So, let's begin at the very beginning - a very good place to start.

Thomas Benjamin Charles, a native of Victoria Village on the East Coast Demerara, was one of Guyana's great drummers. He was also the founder of one of the most popular Musical Bands in the history of British Guiana/Guyana.

The Band was known as Tom Charles and the Syncopators and I feel obliged to throw the spotlight on that great Guyanese and that great Band, during this Jubilee Year. There needs to be more all-round knowledge of our Guyanese history.

And during this Jubilee Year, there must be a greater effort in this area. There are some among us who are trying to rewrite Guyanese history,

and so the FACTS must be made known.

An example is the National Drama Festivals. There is someone who keeps stating openly that the National Drama Festivals began just a few years ago, when in FACT National Drama Festivals started way back in the early 1960s.

There is a report in the (now defunct) Sunday Graphic of November 14, 1965. Along with it, is a photo of the players of the Buxton Group with their play "The Promised land", which won First Prize in the Junior Section of the Festival. I won the BEST ACTOR prize that year. A youthful Derek Walcott was the Adjudicator.

The reign of "Tom Charles and the Syncopators" was from around the late 1940s and on into the 1970s. Its demise came when the Police placed a midnight ban on parties in Guyana, resulting in almost zero work for the Band.

Tom Charles then migrated to the United States where he died many years later. It was Guyana's loss.

Some years ago, I had the privilege and honour to do an on-camera interview with Tom Charles while he was in exile, at his Washington, DC, home. It was about a year before his passing. At the end of that interview, with tears in his eyes, Tom presented me with a few photographs of the Band over the years.

Tom Charles addresses the audience at the Steel Orchestra concert in Washington, DC He wrote the information of the scenes at the back of each photograph, with his own hand. I treasure those photographs, a few which now accompany this article.

"Tom Charles and the Syncopators" was a household name, not only here in Guyana, but across the Caribbean, for about three decades.

The Band played at a variety of venues, including Boat Excursions in the Demerara and Essequibo rivers, which

used to be very popular in the period of the 1950s to 1970s.

Tom Charles and the Syncopators also toured many of the Caribbean Islands, including the Dutch and French Islands. The Band also toured to the United States. In 1981, Tom addressed the audience at a show at which the wellknown Guyanese Chronicle Atlantic Symphony Steel Orchestra performed at the African Museum of Arts, in Washington, DC. Tom told me that as he walked in during the performance, he was recognized by the many Guyanese members of the audience, who requested that the Steel Orchestra play the Guyana Boom. "The Orchestra did a fine rendition not only with the Boom but in general", Tom stated. He was so proud of what he had accomplished in finding a musical sound for Guyana.

There are still recordings of his compositions.

The achievements of this great Guyanese Musician

and Band Leader included many recordings and awards.

His works were recorded on Recording Labels such as Ace, Gems, Decca, Parlaphone and Cook. His compositions included Sugar Plumb, Can Can Girl, Creole Licks, Strong Man Cuffy, Happy Day Boom, and Guyana Boom. Sadly, none of those recordings are played on the Local Radio Stations in our Independent Guyana.

What a shame!

The BOOM was the special sound which Tom Charles worked on during the years just before Independence to give his Band a unique Guyana sound. He worked tirelessly to give Guyana a musical identity.

Unfortunately, his efforts did not attain full success, since there was no special dance moves to go along with the Boom, and so, unlike Jamaica with the Reggae, Guyana has no such indigenous musical sound.

Tom's early involvement

with music was during his pre-teen years in his native Victoria village, when he was trained in music and was playing the violin. However, he preferred the drums, and excelled with it, becoming one of Guyana's best drummers along with Art Broomes, who was another genius Guyanese drummer.

It was in the 1940s that Tom Charles founded his band "Tom Charles and the Syncopators". As it slowly gained popularity with the people, there was one particular incident which caused it to shoot up dramatically to become, arguably, Guyana's greatest Big Band.

There was another Big Band at that time - The Washboards Orchestra which was headed by Al Seales, another great Guyanese musician. Joseph Rodney, who was a popular Dance Promoter of that era, â–ş Continued on page III

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Tom Charles at left receives an award presented to him by Major Henwood of the BG Militia Band â–ş From page II decided to book both the Syncopators and the Washboards for the same dance. Rodney promoted that event as "The Clash of the Big Bands." Fans turned up in great numbers to that dance, resulting in a highly successful event which was the talk of the town for a long time, and both bands gained greater popularity across the Nation and beyond.

From the start, Tom Charles and the Syncopators attracted a strong fan following. For a long period, they played live on the Radio every Wednesday night. That was long before television came to Guyana. They also made many stage appearances and was contracted to play at many important dances and other events.

Founding members of the Band were Harry Whittaker (clarinet), Ferdinand Eversley (tenor saxophone), Edgar Davidson (Lead Trumpet), Basil Harris (Base), Byron Hunte (Piano), and of course, band leader Tom Charles (Drums).

Over the years, vocalists with the band included Ulric Gouveia, Annie Haynes, Ina Vyphuis, and Monica Chopperfield (Lady Guymine). Those vocalists were all stars in their own right, and sang a wide range of local and international compositions. That was the era of great live entertainment in British Guiana.

Even though the colony was ruled by an overseas political power, Great Britain, located thousands of miles away, many Guyanese with creative talents worked for the development of our own Guyanese Culture, in the entertainment field in particular. That passion for the development of Guyanese culture intensified as independence grew closer.

During his exile years in the United States, Tom Charles played the drums for New Amsterdam native, Stella Clarke, and her Dancing Dolls group which was located in Washington, D.C. He was active almost to the very end. Guyana was so much the richer for having Tom Charles and the Syncopators playing the kind of music which the people just loved, and it would be a shame if his name becomes totally unknown by the present and future generations of Guyanese, especially those involved with music. One sure way to ensure that this does not happen is for the radio stations to play the music of Tom Charles and the Syncopators. And that really, should not be difficult.

Tom Charles and the Syncopators; Tom is at left on the drums

Tom Charles on drums and Harry Whittaker on clarinet

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IV

Cinemas, movies, and Guyanese society (Part 3)

By Terence Roberts

T

he quest for Guyana's fair treatment and In-

dependence during its late colonial era in the 20th century was not only influenced by the roles of local politicians and Union leaders, but

by the public's daily exposure in cinemas to intelligent and critical Hollywood and continental European films hardly known today by

a new loquacious generation.

A sample of such films would include : Mutiny on the Bounty (both of 1935 and 1962); Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939); Juarez (1939); Kitty Foyle (1940); How Green Was My Valley (1941); Casablanca (1942); Gentleman's Agreement (1947); Pinky (1949); On The

Waterfront (1954); Giant (1956); Bhowani Junction (1956); Something Of Value (1957); Wild River (1960); The Ugly American (1963); The Seventh Dawn (1964); 'The Servant' (1964), etc. Even outstanding Westerns like Red River (1948), and several of the 1950s, such as Warlock; Buchanan Rides Alone; Gunman's Walk; The Big Country; The Sheepman, among others, had coincidental relevance to social

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

and individual conflicts related to monopolised power, inequality, racism, unrefined crudity, brutal criminal and terror gangs, also found within Guyanese society over time.

ON THE WATERF R O N T, o n e o f t h e best films of the 1950s and American cinema, achieved deep social value by showing how the clever organized boss who rules waterfront

When it came to more focused social films like: All the King's Men (1949); Viva Zapata (1952); On The Waterfront (1954); Giant (1956); or Spartacus (1960), their stories not only involved rebellion against social injustice by groups, but went further by showing how such groups, or individuals, after replacing the prior ones they criticised and succeeded, can become just the same in attitude and behavior.

workers for his and his friends' personal gain, was once a poor worker like the workers himself.

In GIANT, the caring, kind, poor boy James Dean, after discovering oil on his land becomes a spoilt rich egotist.

We might wonder how such American films with themes critical of colonial attitudes, social inequalities, and racial superiority, were allowed such public exposure in Guyanese cinemas during decades â–ş Continued on page V

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016 â–ş From page IV

when colonial biases reigned? The truth is, by the 1920s the new art of cinema was such a novelty that even those administering colonial power saw their own flaws and prejudices exposed or reflected in these films, and were quite simply captivated and fascinated by them.

In Guyanese cinemas they were confronted with countless non-British films which were not concerned with upholding any prescribed colonial authority or viewpoint, but rather the individual screen-writer's and director's creative viewpoint. For example, the brilliant attack on the power of money and privileged authority in MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION is orchestrated by Douglas Sirk, a Danish film director who fled work in Nazi Germany in 1939 for Hollywood. Sirk's films generally possess both a relaxed characteristic Danish and American disinterest in traditional bourgeois attitudes, coupled with a personal permissive sensuality.

This was an exception to Anglo colonial reserve.

Yet such films were popular in a 20th century British colony like British Guiana. The peculiar social power and popular freedom of such cinematic culture locally

is related to two facts: (1) The European influenced population of British Guiana was largely not British, but made up of diverse continental European descendants from both prior Dutch and French rule, and various new continental arrivals permitted to work under British colonial administrations since the 1830s.

(2) Americans and their early anti-colonial Independence culture had been present in Guyana since the 18th century when it was still a Dutch colony; the Americans can therefore trace their involvement with Guyana back to the early 1770s, when Dutch officials and plantation owners in Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo supported George Washington, Thomas Paine, and Alex de Toqueville 's Independence quest against British colonial rule in North America, and American ships from New York and Boston constantly anchored in the Demerara river, filling up on food supplies to support their Independence campaign.

By the 1930s, and especially during the 2nd World War, the British and American governments had become allies in the struggle against Nazism. British film studios and cinemas were bombed by German planes, to prevent the

morale of the entire nation from feeding off the known public inspiration possible via cinematic art.

A small amount of British actors, actresses, directors, and technicians fled to Hollywood, joining other diverse foreign cinematic professionals who made Hollywood films between the 1920s and 60s the best in the world.

The population of British Guiana and Independent Guyana up to the mid-1970s benefited from the daily showing of such films in over 40 cinemas located along 250 miles of coastland.

Various novices today in developing countries like Guyana may think that every new technical invention exists to replace previous ones, but experienced professionals in metropolitan countries know they have progressed because old and new processes exist together, learning from each other rather than denying or ignoring past achievements.

The tragedy of World War 2 meant that countless Hollywood films could not reach, or be shown in Europe as before, since many cinemas, cargo ships and aircraft were destroyed in enemy attacks. However, apart from Canada it was mainly English speaking

British Guiana, Latin America, and the leading Caribbean islands, which came to the rescue of Hollywood's fallen distribution and revenue.

Because BG was a larger landscape with much more cinemas than Caribbean islands, its capital Georgetown became the leading English-speaking city where the Americans transferred and circulated thousands of old and new film releases with their posters and lobby cards, which were stored in depots and booking offices around Georgetown, serving all the Hollywood film studios.

These offices and attached warehouses, the largest at the corner of Church and Thomas Streets, became a hot-house of cinematic planning and excitement, where fashionable Guyanese girls employed could be seen before their desks at typewriters with colorful dynamic classic Hollywood film posters (some of which cost a fortune today) on the walls around them.

V As a pleasant consequence, up to the mid1970s Guyanese tailors and clothing designers, along with leading department stores, were kept busy making the Guyanese sexes beautifully dressed in conducive light tropical fashions which appeared in numerous films with Robert Mitchum, Robert Taylor, Victor Mature, Cary Grant, Sal Minoe, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis jr, Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Ava Gardner, Nathalie Wood, Doris Day, Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Shirley Maclaine, Jennifer Jones, Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Dandridge and Jean Seberg.

To believe there was no beneficial effect on Guyanese society from such films between the 1920s and 70s, would be to belittle the intelligence and positive common sense of Guyanese citizens in general, and deny decades of cinema-inspired social progress.

This positive attitude of citizens was certainly

linked to their popular and constant consumption of Hollywood and European films of a certain era, which from the start had been a unique public art form of social criticism and optimism reflecting its creators, who were initially Europeans fleeing a Europe in turmoil and hardship spawned by Nazism and two successive World wars.

Unlike foreign metropolitan societies where the achievements of the past become known, preserved, and studied by students for future reference and influence, in a society's like Guyana's, the best aspects of such a past are not scrutinized and saved for the continuation of whatever beneficial social relevance it may possess. It therefore tends to become easily discarded, even denied significance in a future lacking a tradition of achievement to consult and uphold. It is therefore important to look at how such a tradition of movies remains locally relevant.

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

By Subraj Singh

John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids

T

he Chrysalids is a special novel for me because it was one of the first older novels (although in those days, all the students considered anything published before Harry Potter as old) that myself and the other students in my Literature (English B) class studied and actually enjoyed. Many of us had a hard time coming to terms with and, therefore, sometimes not entirely managing to enjoy the older, somewhat denser prose of works that emerged from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that we were studying in the second and third forms, such as The Call of the Wild and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Then along came The Chrysalids (first published in 1955) to prove to us students that older books could be “cool”, resplendent with all the magic (in the form of science), the heroes (as represented by the protagonist, David), the complex relationships (as seen in the one David has with his deeply religious father) and the terrifying villains (like the “spider-man” character) that we came to associate with and love in the contemporary literature we enjoyed reading at the time. Perhaps it was our first lesson in the truth that many of the literary features we appreciated in the literature of our time as high school students had actually been in existence for many, many years (sometimes centuries) before we first encountered them.

The Chrysalids, for example, presents the reader with that literary feature of a world that seems brand new but, in reality, is actually more than similar to the world we know. In fact, the world in the novel is actually a post-apocalyptic version of our own earth – where a nuclear disaster has resulted in a depletion of the population, a loss of communication, the rise of physical and mental abnormalities in all species still surviving (including humans) and the escalation of a religious zeal that strives for purity by destroying or banishing (to a wasteland called the Fringes) anyone or anything that is perceived as abnormal or not pure.

After we have been introduced to the world, Wyndham then gives us his excellent conflict. David, our protagonist and hero, is the son of Joseph, a strict Christian fundamentalist who is adamant that all people bearing mutations (even the slightest kind, such as having an extra toe) must be sterilized and banished to the Fringes to keep the human race pure. The irony involved in the conflict is the fact that David himself is a mutant since he possesses telepathic abilities which enables him to communicate with several other telepaths who, like David, must keep their mutant abilities secret. Petra, David’s younger sister, is one of the strongest telepaths and is able to make contact with a society that encourages and appreciates deviations and mutant abilities. Together, the telepaths band together and plot their escape, attempting to journey to the land where they will not be condemned.

The book deals with big themes like religious fundamentalism, genetic mutations, and morality – but it is the recurring motif of othering (the discrimination, destruction and disdain for anyone who stands against what the majority perceives as “normal”) that would be most interesting to Guyanese readers, particularly with our history of tensions between races and the way in which some of our religious groups continue to promote segregation and discrimination against people from smaller factions like the country’s LGBT community.

(Penguin Books, 2008; first printed in 1955)

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

VII

The Phoenix Recovery Project Hey Everyone, I hope this week has treated you well.

Today I would like to talk about an institution that I greatly respect, admire and have worked with for some time. Phoenix Recovery Project (PRP) is an inpatient drug rehabilitation facility in Mon Repos. This means that the clients live within the facility and work together to become sober and remain abstinent.

Phoenix was founded in 2000 and is registered under the Friendly Society Act. It is run by Mr. Clearance Young and is the only inpatient facility in Guyana who admits both men and women. PRP was awarded the Silver Medal of Service as they have dedicated over 10 years to good public, government and industry service within our society. Phoenix has 24 hour staff, including live in house mothers.

The clients are there for many different types of substances such as alcohol, marijuana, crack- cocaine, prescription drugs and sometimes, a combination of many.

There are also clients present that have mental health issues, especially due to drug use such as marijuana induced psychosis.

For the clients that do show signs of mental illness, PRP has a relationship with GPHC where the clients go for clinic days to get the medication they need. Currently, about 14 of their patients do so.

Phoenix has worked with people from all 10 administrative regions of Guyana as well as individuals from Cayenne, Brazil, Suriname and Trinidad. They work with individuals from any ethic, socio-economic or religious background.

The most recent detailed data about PRP comes from the 2014 Drug Information Network Report.

In 2014, there were 40 clients: 30 male and 10 female. It is not clear whether this means that men are more at risk for substance use or whether men are simply more likely to seek help. The clients were of a wide age range, spanning from adolescents to adults.

Of the 40 clients living in PRP in 2014, 57% abused crack cocaine, 22% abused marijuana, 18% abused alcohol and 3% abused prescription drugs. Therefore, any individual can attend Phoenix, despite their drug of choice- it does not discriminate.

The current situation There are no detailed statistics available for the clients at Phoenix but I did as much research possible at the moment.

Currently, there are 24 clients living in: 18 males and 6 females.

The most prevalent drugs abused by the clients are still crack cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. The current age range is 17-74 years.

When someone enters Phoenix for recovery, they are entitled to a one week detox. This means, they get that time to rest, without

having to participate in the activities available (which I will get into).

This detox week is important as the abusers needs to adjust to a new way of life, one obviously without drugs. Once this detox week is completed, the client begins taking part in all of the daily rituals/ routines.

This starts off at 5am with devotion, then breakfast and goes on to daily classes which include relapse prevention, occupational therapy, computer training, disease concept, self- help meetings and general educational and experimental workshops. They get exercise by going into the National Park or running on the seawall.

The clients are also encouraged to write daily logs about their feelings/emotions, which is known as a huge help during recovery.

The average stint per individual is 6-9 months, six being the minimum amount allowed. It is very difficult to recover from an addiction is less time than that. The cost per month is 60,000GYD. If one cannot afford that, it is important to note that Phoenix also hosts open meetings for the public with substance abuse issues. This means that one does not have to live in PRP to be able to attend. All you need to have is the will to seek help.

The meetings available are: Alcoholics Anonymous: Tuesday’s 6- 7:30pm Cocaine Anonymous: Thursday’s 6- 7:30pm Narcotics Anonymous: Sunday’s 6:30- 8pm Phoenix Recovery Project has also opened a half- way house in February of this year. Half way houses are where the clients go after their stint in rehabilitation in order to successfully reintegrate into society. It is located right next door to the rehabilitation centre in Mon Repos. It is currently a male only dorm and hosts 3 individuals. In the half- way house, the clients work, have visitors and go and come as they please (with a curfew!)

The Phoenix Recovery Project has high success rates, which I’ve seen myself as I used to teach classes there. The clients love to be there, are cooperative and supportive of each other. If you have issues with drugs or alcohol, it’s the best place for you to be!

The centre can be contacted on 220-6825 or at email prpsarx@yahoo.com Thank you to those to write in to caitlinvieira@gmail.com .

Please continue to so I could know what you would like to talk about.

Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always!

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

In 2006…

Buggery convict lost appeal against conviction and sentence

I

N 2006, convict Vaughn Thomas appealed and lost against his conviction and 10-year sentence for buggering a male on March 27, 1999.

His contention at the Court of Appeal was that he was not the assailant.

He appealed that the jury should not have been allowed to rely on the visual identification and that his self-inculpatory statement should have been excluded from the trial as a fabrication of his arresting policeman.

The Appellate Court constituted by Justices of Appeal Singh, Kissoon and Chang held: (i) The visual identification of the Appellant by the victim was weak, but in effect, the judge withdrew the case from the jury on the basis of the weakness of evidence of visual identification. If this was a mistake, it was to the benefit of the Appellant. Further, even had the judge not so withdrawn the case, the reliability of visual identification was supported by a number of items of circumstantial evidence from other witnesses. (ii) The self-inculpatory statement made to the police should not have been excluded from the trial.

Though the Appellant denied making the statement, the fact that his arrest preceded the victim’s visual identification does not demonstrate that that he was arrested solely on the self-inculpatory statement and not told about the allegation and cautioned. His claim that the policeman fabricated the self-inculpatory statement left it up to the jury to consider the evidence surrounding the policeman’s deposition and they weighed the evidence in favor of a guilty verdict.

Nigel Hughes with Roger Yearwood appeared for the Appellant and Jo-Ann Barlow for the respondent.

Justice of Appeal Chang, delivering the judgment of the Court said : The Appellant , Vaughn Thomas was indicted by the Director of Public Prosecutions on behalf of the State on a two-count indictment which alleged that on the 27th of March, 1999 in the County of Demerara, he committed the offences of Buggery and Common Assault on a male.

On arraignment before Justice Moore in the High Court, he pleaded not guilty to both offences. However, the jury found him guilty of both offences and he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. It appears that the sentence related to the offence of Buggery since only that offence of the two offences could have attracted such a sentence. It appears that the judge did not see it fit to impose any sentence in relation to the offence of Common Assault.

The accused appealed against the convictions and sentence.

At the trial, the main issue in the case was one of identification, since the Appellant denied that he was the assailant but did not deny that the offences were committed.

The case for the state was based on (1) Visual identification of the Appellant by the victim (2) Circumstantial evidence relating to identification (3) An oral self inculpatory statement to Assistant Superintendent of Police Lancelot Lawrence contained in

Lawrence’s deposition made in the Magistrate’s Court at the preliminary inquiry.

It was not doubted that the visual identification of the Appellant as the assailant by the victim, R.A., was attended with weaknesses because: (1) the victim had limited opportunity to observe the face of his assailant, since the occasion in which he had to focus on the face of his assailant with the aid of light was when a minibus approached the car in which he was the front seat passenger and the assailant was the driver; it was a side-view observation and for a limited period of time since, on that occasion, the assailant instructed him not to look at his face.

(2) He was in a state of fear during the time that he had opportunity to observe the Assailant.

(3) He gave a limited description of the assailant when he reported the matter to the Police.

(4) A.S.P. Hughes diminished the value of the identification parade by pointedly informing the vic-

tim immediately before the viewing that the suspect was on parade.

While the trial judge clearly took the view that the evidence of visual identification of the Appellant as the assailant by the victim was weak, he ought to have withdrawn the issue of visual identification from the jury.

It does appear from the summing up of the trial judge that the trial judge did just that when he told the jury at page 90 of the Record of Appeal.

The court carefully examined the deposition evidence of A.S. P. Lawrence. It was clear from the deposition that A.S.P. Lawrence was saying that the Appellant was not put under arrest until after the allegation was put to the Appellant and he was cautioned.

He was further saying that it was only after the Appellant had responded with an oral self-inculpatory statement, which amounted to a confession of buggery, that he arrested the Appellant after making a diary entry.

Clearly, A.S.P. Lawrence was saying that the Appellant made an oral self-inculpatory statement after the allegation was put to him and he was cautioned and consequently he arrested him.

By clear implication, A.S. P, Lawrence was saying

By George Barclay that his decision to affect the Appellant’s arrest had to do with the self-inculpatory response he received from the Appellant.

In such circumstances, though, the trial judge omitted to instruct the jury that the arrest of the Appellant did not necessarily mean that he had made some self-inculpatory statement or confession, such an omission, though perhaps undesirable, could not have caused justice to have been miscarried.

Evidentially , the arrest was casually linked to the oral self-inculpatory by A.S.P. Lawrence and the trial judge was merely inviting the jury to consider whether A.S.P. Lawrence’s as to the arrest of the Appellant at Grove Police Station tended to lend support to his claim that the Appellant had voluntarily made an oral self-inculpatory statement to him – especially as no arrest was effected even at the stage when he put the allegation to the Appellant and cautioned him.

It should not be overlooked that the Appellant in his unsworn statement had accused the deceased A.S.P. Lawrence with having fabricated or concocted testimony of an oral self-inculpatory statement against him at the preliminary inquiry.

In the face of such a serious allegation of dishonesty and perjury against A.S.P. Lawrence, it was open to the trial judge to invite the jury to consider the evidence of A.S.P. Lawrence , it was open to the trial judge to invite the jury to consider the evidence of A.S.P. Lawrence as a whole as against the unsworn statement of the Appellant to determine whether it revealed any inconsistent or implausible conduct non his part which could cause them to reject or have doubts as to his story particularly in relation to making of the statement .

The jury was quite entitled to consider whether A.S.P. Lawrence would have gone to Grove Police Station that early morning, failed to put the allegation to the allegation to the Appellant or even to arrest him but then belatedly arrested him later at Brickdam Police Station without putting the allegation to him.

In the particular circumstances of this case, while the summing up of the trial judge was not without misdirections, such misdirections weighed heavily in favour of the accused and rendered the summing up unbalanced against the State.

The Court found no basis for interfering with the verdict of the jury. With proper directions, the jury would inevitably have rendered the same verdict of guilty.

The proviso is therefore applied and the conviction and sentence affirmed. The appeal is accordingly dismissed.

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

BOUQUETS FOR GPHC

A

few days ago, a member of the Guyana Consumers Association (GCA) had a sudden attack of appendicitis. He has only one relative in Guyana who did not know of the attack since she was at work.

Fortunately, he got in touch with another member of the Association who immediately took him to two private hospitals, both of which told him of a charge of over $400,000, which he could not afford. He was told that he had to be operated upon within four hours or he would die. He managed to get a referral to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was admitted.

He tried first going to the private hospitals because he was conditioned to believe that the Georgetown Public Hospital offered a vastly inferior service to the private hospitals.

The public in general is so conditioned because the media, over the years, have been carrying negative reports on the hospital.

For example, over the last few weeks there were reports of a stray dog entering a public hospital in the countryside and taking away a foetus, or there being persistent drug shortages, or patients in one of the wards having to share beds, or a mother in the Maternity Ward having to lie on the floor with her newly-born.

To those who know the Georgetown Hospital, those negative reports are selective and in any case are soon corrected. Fortunately, the patient's friend knew the Public Hospital better.

At the Public Hospital, he was given immediate attention, operated upon and is now rapidly recuperating.

The professionalism of the doctors on duty compared

with the best anywhere and the aftercare treatment has been quite good. When it is assimilated that the GPHC, and presumably the other public hospitals countrywide, are committed to offering a service second to none at no personal cost to the patient, citizens would realize the imperative of paying their taxes willingly and honestly.

The media rarely ever carries a negative story on the private hospitals. The last time a negative story was carried was a few years ago when a patient had a limb incorrectly amputated and the hospital had to return to that patient most of the fee of several hundred thousand dollars. This Law for hospitals returning fees for faulty service was enacted during the time Dr Leslie Ramsammy was Minister of Health but the general public are not very aware of it. Our Committee insisted that this Law be mentioned in this article as part of Consumers Rights Education.

The more affluent patients tend to go to the private hospitals or they often go abroad for treatment. Many of the not-so-affluent also, at great financial pressure to themselves and family, go to the private hospitals.

The GCA did a limited survey of the reasons why those who should normally go to the Georgetown Public Hospital subject themselves and families to great financial pressure by going to the private hospitals. Our findings were that private hospitals have a more positive and better image than the Public Hospital; but far more serious is the emphatic complaint of the great length of time one has to wait for service at the Public Hospital.

In addressing these findings, we feel that the Public Hospital should make greater public relations effort

in giving the public a better insight into its services and activities. It could also use the Internet to receive complaints and comments.

When patients have to wait in a line, a numbering system should be established, and also those who need immediate treatment such as patients in severe pain or may have heart problems should be given some priority. Also, "Friends of the Hospital" committees could be again be instituted where interested citizens are asked to serve.

Such Committees could often bring ideas for improvement and may also help in fund-raising activities.

Many consumers have from time to time been urging us to make representations to the Authorities in respect of quickly establishing a Specialty Hospital. We will therefore conclude this offering by mentioning the importance of a specialty hospital.

Every progressive country in the world has at least one Specialty Hospital.

Cuba, for example, has long had a Specialty Hospital and India and China, despite the fact that they still have segments of the population needing basic health care, have several such hospitals.

Guyana should have had a Specialty Hospital by now but this seems to have been delayed by bureaucratic equivocation. The advantages to Guyana of a Specialty Hospital are many: It will transfer cutting-edge medical technology and practice and will help younger practitioners to perfect their skills. It would open a door of hope to those who do not have money to go abroad for treatment and would save foreign exchange by those who would normally go abroad remaining at home for treatment.

It would allow older Guyanese from the Diaspora to return home and re-join their families since there

PAT DIAL

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CONSUMER

CONCERNS:

would now be first class medical facilities available.

It would save the lives of many who may need urgent emergency treatment but cannot go abroad because of the danger of travel.

For instance, it is believed that had there been a Specialty Hospital when the late President Burnham fell ill, he would have survived.

A Specialty Hospital would also help the Tourist Tr a d e , s i n c e t o u r i s t s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e h i g h e r-

spending ones, prefer destinations with high-grade medical facilities.

A n d l a s t l y, o n c e a Specialty Hospital is built others will follow to provide opportunities for the lucrative medical tourism trade since patients from Europe and North America who go to India which has the largest medical tourism trade, may well prefer Guyana because of its location and the fact that it is English-speaking.

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Surviving cancer as a baby, successful at NGSA, and now secondary school

M school student

- The Mekyla Belgrave story

ekyla Belgrave had both of her eyes removed after she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a cancer of the eyes when she was just a baby. Alva Solomon caught up with her at one of her recent Saturday swims at Colgrain House in Georgetown and reports that Mekyla passed the National Grade Six Assessment and is ready for the her new life as a secondary

She sang the chorus of her song “I can,” by Mekyla Belgrave.

“I can hop, I can skip, I can jump and also run” “I can could wash, I could cook, I can weed I can also read” “Just put me to the test and I will do my best “ “I am able and capable to do the things that I want to do” Young Mekyla is articulate, brave, she mingles well with her friends and this September she will be embarking on another educational journey. On this occasion, according to her, she is prepared to take on the challenges which lie ahead.

This is despite her visual impairment, which is one of several reasons she plans to excel

in the years ahead. Mekyla, who is a student of the St Agnes Primary School on Church Street in the city, obtained 459 marks at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examination. A creditable performance, given her condition, the 11-year old appears excited and anxious for the new school term to commence.

During an interview at near the swimming pool at Colgrain House on Camp Street, the young lady’s mother, Celeste Belgrave , informed that when Mekyla was five months old , she observed a “glossiness” in her eyes. She said she visited several doctors but no one could say what the problem was.

Eventually, she visited Dr George Norton, the current Public Health Minister, who performed a scan of Mekyla’s eyes. Her parents fears were confirmed when Dr Norton advised that there was a cancerous tumor affecting Mekyla’s eye sight. Her parents Mekyla sits on the sidelines of the swimthen sought treatment overseas based on his ming pool at Colgrain House on Camp Street. The talented young lady swims advice.

In 2005, when the she was 10 months at the pool each Saturday old, medical practitioners at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex at Mount Hope in Trinidad and Tobago diagnosed her with bilateral advanced retinoblastoma, a cancer of the eyes.

“The cancer was already advanced in her eyes, one was 90% and the other was 60%,” her mother informed. After discussions with her parents, a decision was taken by the Trinidadian medical practitioners to enucleate or remove her right eye. According to the medical report, a similar procedure was taken on her left eye and according to the doctors, both surgical procedures healed well at the time. The condition never affected her cerebral functions, that is, the functions of her brain.

The doctors also recommended that frequent MRI scans be performed on Mekyla until she was 5 years-old and according to her mother, the advice was followed with six courses of chemotherapy.

Celeste said that she believed her daughter was in pain but since she was a child at the time, this was a task to bear-up with.

Recounting her daughter’s childhood, Celeste noted that Mekyla started to walk prior to the diagnosis and after she lost her eyes, she stopped walking for several months. She noted however, that Mekyla , who is the eldest of two siblings , grew up as a normal child. To travel around , her father would ferry her from their East Ruimveldt home.

At nursery school, Mekyla was able to function well, including making mischief like any other child, “because she took the paper for my cupcake and beads and paste them up.”

A talented young lady, at four-years old, Mekyla was well versed in Martin Carter’s “Looking at your hands”, a poem she recited from start to finish.

In 2014, during the Mashramani celebrations, the aspiring teacher and another student performed the song “I can”, which was written by a visually impaired teacher at the Unit for the Blind. She was the lead singer while her colleague provided back-up.

Last year, Mekyla upped her preparations for this year’s grade six exams. According to her mother, her class teacher would send her books with her notes. “I would read to her and I would ask her questions. In addition, she has a recorder which she would listen to”, her mother noted.

On the day of the exam, she said her daughter utilized the services of a scribe. “She is a good little sponge,” her mother chuckled. Having obtained a place at a city secondary school, her mother noted that she will be seeking a transfer from the Ministry of Education for a school which is closer to her place of employment. She said Mekyla usually seeks assistance while walking around to get to the washroom and to the canteen, as has been the case at St Agnes Primary on Church Street.

Mekyla is gifted at using the computer, and she operates the device using the software, JAWS ( Job Access With Speech) which was is utilized globally by the visually impaired. It is said to be the world’s most popular screen reader, developed for computer users whose vision loss prevents them from seeing screen content or navigating with a mouse. JAWS provide speech and Braille output for the most popular computer applications on your PC. Recently, the Three Rivers Foundation donated a laptop computer for her to use and according to her mother, the device will aid her well in future.

As the interview continued at Colgrain, Mekyla came across and sang her song. She sat, composed herself after a few seconds and she sang lustily as those nearby grew emotional as she belted her lyrics.

“I would like to be a teacher, to teach special needs children; it is fun actually”, Mekyla said. As regards secondary school, she said she is nervous but optimistic. “I’m a little nervous, because it’s a different environment, different children, different people, different teachers but I’m looking forward to September,” she said.

Minutes later, she sat with a broad smile, on the sides of the pool as her picture was taken. “She comes here every Saturday to swim,” her mother said, as Mekyla relaxingly played with others nearby.

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

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Art and social media marketing

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here is no doubt that social media has transformed the way engage with each other and, to an even greater extent, the way we curate our own personalities before presenting them to the world. Earlier and much more juvenile virtual platforms like ICQ (1996) and Hi5 (2003) didn’t pretend to be anything else other than a space where the primary goal was to connect people (predominantly teens and pre-teens) across the globe. And that was exactly what they were used for. At the time, no one imagined the window of opportunities they would open.

Thinking back on it (yes, I’m not ashamed to admit that I had accounts on both ICQ and Hi5), it should’ve been criminal to waste that much time asking strangers ASL (age/sex/location). Maybe it was sheep syndrome but this is just what teenagers did at the time, at least the ones with access to a computer or Internet café.

And because those platforms were created specifically for that demographic, there wasn’t much consideration given to expanding the way those sites functioned. But as with most things, it was just a matter of time before developers found a way to create new platforms that fulfilled our need to connect globally while creating needs we never imagined we would ever have.

Out of the desire to connect with long lost family members and friends or even to meet potential love interests, social media websites have grown to include services that cater more to the “pay for publicity” trend. But we didn’t always have to pay to reach our audience. There was a time when anyone with a product or service to offer could’ve reached every single subscriber of his or her page, absolutely free of charge.

Of course it wasn’t long before this all changed and heavy restrictions altered how we engaged with our virtual audience.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not opposed to developers and persons working for those platforms getting paid. Everyone has to live right? I can’t begin to imagine the work and resources involved in keeping millions of persons connected 24/7 with very little to no bugs ruining their experience. However, I can imagine a system of fairness that doesn’t force users to “boost” their posts by paying in order to reach subscribers they acquired organically. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with social media platforms like Facebook and more recently Instagram.

In my own experience as a visual artist using both platforms I can testify to the not-so-subtle shift in the performance of both. I created my first Facebook page in 2010 I believe (I’m terrible with dates and the page no longer exists), as a space where I could share my process, my artwork and news about art exhibitions in Guyana. It was a fun time when I would post content and they would actually reach my 600 plus viewers.

Whether they chose to engage with the content was a different matter, but the point is they saw the posts.

Then came the restrictions.

I imagine that Monday morning conference meeting went something like this: “Okay guys, here’s the deal. We need to make as much money as possible

from this. Entrepreneurs, artists and musicians have found ways to use their online presence to generate sales and I’m mad as hell we didn’t think of this first!

Now how can we make them pay?” And so the scramble to find ways to tax us began.

Before Facebook announced that they were making changes to our news feed, page owners were already experiencing a significant decline in user reach and interaction. They claimed that their decision to switch from a chronological display to one based on most engagement with “high quality content” was not driven by profit potential (side eye). In fact, they chalked up our lack of user engagement to ever-increasing content posted by our subscribers’ friends, resulting in a system that was stretched thin trying to accommodate everyone.

But here’s a thought: maybe there would be room for our content in their newsfeed if our subscribers weren’t bombarded with every single status or photograph their friends liked or commented on, that 99% of the time had nothing to do with them. That’s one way to solve that problem.

Although I didn’t pay for my subscribers (which is now a thing, apparently), I have to pay if I want them to see my posts. On the other hand, if I did pay for my subscribers then I would also have to pay every time I want them to see the content. As it is, the posts on my new page of 100 plus subscribers reach, on average, 20 persons (and this is post reach not engagement).

If I want any significant engagement with a big announcement I would pay to have them “boosted.” All other posts are left for a more organic engagement, which now translates to “nothing happens.” But it’s not about making money for them right? Why else would there be options to boost the page, individual posts and website?

I’m observing a similar trend with the photo and video-sharing app Instagram (acquired by Facebook in 2012). Posts are no longer chronologically listed.

Instead, as in the case of Facebook, they are listed based on most engagement with “high quality content” (which should really be renamed “people who paid content”). How does your content qualify as “high content” if no one sees in the first place? And now the introduction of sponsored ads on our timelines threatens to push our content even further off the map. I can hardly wait to see what else is in store for us.

Being seen or getting your work out there has become somewhat easier but it has also become very expensive. You’re forced to play the game if you want even the smallest chance of establishing a successful and sustainable creative practice.

This is what no one prepares you for in the art school environment. The hardest part isn’t making the work, it’s selling it. And don’t be fooled, the objective for even the most romantic of us doing it for the “love of art,” is to sell. A house filled with painted canvases or sculptures is a lovely idea until you remember that bartering is not an acceptable form of payment at the supermarket.

At the end of the day money talks and, well, you know the rest.

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Celebrating the Caribbean

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his week, Guyana joined with the rest of the Caribbean to observe CARICOM Day, in recognition of the regional trade and integration bloc founded in 1973.

Last Friday, students of IBE, a private school on the East Coast, with branches at Lusignan and Enmore, decided to showcase the cultures of the Caribbean.

The students, from various classes, were asked to pick the name of a country out of a bag, and then they designed costumes and prepared foods representing those countries. Photographer Delano Williams visited the school and shared these photos.

Lincoln Emanuel and Leanna Timothy enjoy the moment as they are photographed portraying the culture of St Kitts and Nevis

Form One students of IBE’s Enmore branch sing Poonam Singh’s G.U.Y.A.N.A. They chose to dress in the colours of the national flag

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Students of Form 1 B Enmore showing the colours and foods of Barbados

Students of IBE’s Enmore branch represent St Lucia

Tiffany Davis opted for a skirt with colours of the Antiguan flag while Latchmi Bhimsain showcases a beautiful national dress of St Marten Form 3 students of the school’s Lusignan branch donned the national colours of Jamaica, and here, they take a break from preparing jerk chicken to pose for a photo

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The importance of makeup

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ome of you are confusing vanity with decorum, and humility with respect.

I'm not a fan of false modesty but I am also not a fan of pompousness, delusions of grandeur and a disregard for civility.

Some believe that caring for their appearance is vanity, narcissism and selfishness. The same people believe that burdening others with their problems and personal issues will earn them sympathy.

Do you know it's rude and impolite to relay your trials to others, especially when it's something that has absolutely nothing to do with the individual, or if the resolution to the problem is not benefiting anyone but you?

Candide said "Il faut cultiver notre jardin," which is French for "we must cultivate our own garden."

I've noticed a culture being cultivated in Guyana where people (especially women) are comfortable asking for what they want instead of working for it.

Women feel guilty about getting the house they want, the shoes they want, or for things they don't want like marriage, children and happiness. Societal assumptions are that those women who look good should be married, and having babies; that the purpose of dressing is for the attention of men.

And so the assumption is that women who go the extra mile and add makeup to their dressing routine are using their time inappropriately for selfish endeavours.

Any woman who attempts to look flawless and perfect, is often judged as an attention seeker; however, it's nothing but good manners. And the benevolence of manners has been skewed into rape culture to satisfy misogynistic behaviours and endeavours.

Showing that we can first take care of ourselves proves that we are fully capable of helping others.

It's imperative that we take better care of ourselves, or at least try our best, no matter the circumstances.

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Bumbary Hill Nursery also soaks up graduation fever

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raduation exercises are in the air, and determined not to be left out of the fun and celebration, Bumbary Hill Nursery, a relatively small school in the Mabaruma Sub-Region, Region One, last Friday held a graduation exercise that came off with a bang.

Today the Guyana Chronicle is proud to present to our readers, the proud graduating class of the Bumbary Hill Nursery School, Barima-Waini, Region One, blithe and excited as they prepare for the new educational experience of joining the ranks of the neighbouring Hosororo Primary School come September next.

It was a short but spicy programme, attended by parents, support staff including, Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley, Head Mistress, Sia Liverpool, Senior Schools Welfare Officer Cornelia Leitch, Village Captain Elizabeth Romascindo, Teacher Marie Romascindo and Petra Hernandez who attended on behalf of Pastor Victor Hernandez.

And here’s what the graduates have to say to you: “We are six in number. We might be few, from a small and little known school in a sparsely populated hinterland community. But while that is so, we have similar dreams, hopes and aspirations as our brothers and sisters in the developed communities of Guyana and are being prepared to grow up as God-fearing and law-abiding citizens of our dear land of Guyana. We were taught the value of education; learned to love each other and have come to like school. We are here whether in sunshine or in rain, and walk long distances across the grassy terrain.

“We want to thank our parents for their continued love and support to us; our Head Mistress Sia Liverpool, Senior Schools Welfare Officer Cornelia Leitch and others, for the role they play in assuring us a firm foundation.

“We also thank the government of Guyana for staffing and maintaining our school. Thanks to one and all from us, the proud graduating students of Bumbary Hill Nursery School!”

The programme included the spirited singing of national song “This Land is my Land,” rendered by the graduating Group and a Nursery song “Fishing in a Brook.” There was also the presentation of certificates to the graduating pupils as well as tokens of appreciation to the hardworking staff.

Situated about five miles away from, and overlooking, the community, which has about 20 households, is guided by or premised on virtues and values that make it imperative for them to have a Christian Church and a Nursery School so as to give them a good foundation.

Posing with graduates of Bumbary Hill Nursery School at their recent graduation are Senior Schools Welfare Officer Cornelia Leitch, Regional Chairman Brentnol Ashley, Village Chairperson Elizabeth Romascindo; Maria Romascindo (Teacher) and at extreme right is Headmistress Sia Liverpool.

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Acupressure may ease fatigue after breast cancer (Reuters) The targeted massage therapy known as acupressure may help breast cancer patients overcome fatigue, according to a new study.

Breast cancer survivors using acupressure significantly reduced fatigue compared to women who continued receiving normal care from their doctors, researchers found.

"This is a low-cost, low-risk and easy to use intervention to help with fatigue in many women who are breast cancer survivors," said lead author Suzanna Zick, of the University of Michigan.

She and her colleagues point out in JAMA Oncology that only limited treatments are available to combat the fatigue that is common among breast cancer survivors.

Acupressure is similar to acupuncture in that it target specific points on the body - but no needles are involved. Instead, pressure is applied to those points with fingers, thumbs or devices.

For the new study, the researchers randomly assigned 288 breast cancer survivors to one of three groups. One group was told to continue their usual care. A second group received acupressure that targets relaxation points.

The final group received stimulating acupressure, intended to increase energy.

The women were taught to administer their own acupressure at the beginning of the study. They were instructed to apply pressure in a circular motion for 3 minutes each day, for six weeks.

The women's acupressure techniques were also evaluated at the start of the study, three weeks later and at the end of the study.

On a scale of one to 10, with higher scores indicating greater fatigue, the women started the study with an average score of about five.

By the end of the six weeks, about 66 percent of women in the relaxing acupressure group and about 61 percent of those in the stimulating group had fatigue scores of less than 4 - in the range considered normal. That was true for only about 31 percent of women in the usual care group.

After another four weeks, 56 percent of the relaxation acupressure group and 61 percent of women in the stimulating group still had normal fatigue scores, compared to about 30 percent in the comparison group.

While neither of the two acupressure techniques outperformed the other in terms of fatigue, the relaxing method improved sleep quality and quality of life more than the stimulating method.

The researchers say their results are consistent with earlier and smaller trials that tested acupressure as a treatment for fatigue.

They caution that about 90 percent of the participants were white. Also, about 12 percent of women stopped acupressure, because they found it too time consuming.

Zick told Reuters Health that two participants experience bruising from the acupressure, and one of those women dropped out of the study.

She said her team hopes to publish a paper looking at how the brain responds to acupressure. They also want to see if applying pressure for only a minute leads to similar - and less time consuming - results.

They are also working on an app that people can use to teach themselves the techniques.

"Hopefully it will be something that’s easily accessible to use in the future," she said.

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Lithuanian village crowns prettiest goat in annual pageant

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

(REUTERS) The Lithuanian village of Ramygala held its annual beauty pageant on Sunday, the top prize going to a 16-month-old female goat called Demyte, or "Little Spot".

Around 500 people braved the summer heat to attend the parade in honor of the goat, a traditional symbol of the northern village. The pageant also included a marching band, dancers in fancy costumes and a "king" and "queen" presiding over ceremonies.

It was the first time Demyte's owner, 74-year-old retired veterinarian Ferdinandas Petkevicius, had won the competition after six years of trying.

"The only thing we didn't do to prepare the goat for the pageant is we didn't polish its nails - because we thought of it too late," said Petkevicius, holding the leash of the winning white goat with black spots, who was decorated with two roses on its head.

Six goats decorated with flowers were paraded on a red carpet before a jury comprising the local member of parliament, the head of the local school and a cucumber farmer. Several contestants stubbornly refused to walk and were instead carried by their owners.

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

ESSEQUIBO GEARS UP FOR OCTOBER COCONUT FESTIVAL

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ssequibo is the heartland of coconut cultivation in Guyana and the owners of coconut groves and farms are gearing up for major participation in the October 2016 Coconut Festival. The main venue is the Arthur Chung Convention Centre.

The coconut entrepreneurs and product developers in the “Cinderella County” plan to host a “Speedboat-cade” on the Pomeroon River and at the Festival they will set up a specially branded “Essequibo Zone”. The main players include the owners of Henvil Farms, Original Juice, Golden Brook Edible Oils and Ramotar Investments. They have put forward several proposals, one of which is to have Coconut Water officially declared the national drink of Guyana.

Director General of Tourism, Donald Sinclair heads the Coconut Festival Coordinating Committee. Accompanied recently by Raymond Trotz, Chairman of the National Coconut Stakeholders Platform; Agri-Tourism Specialist Gemma Wenner; and Norman Sukhu of the Guyana Tourism Authority, the committee toured the Essequibo Coast to assess the full scale of private sector investments in coconut plantations and production. They visited the operations run by Alfro Alfonso (Golden Brook), Ramesh Ramotar (Rooster), Henry and Vilma da Silva (Henvil Farms), Beni Sankar and Daleep Singh.

They inspected coconut farms, coconut water and coconut oil producing facilities, fish and goat farms, and hospitality facilities.

The Planning Committee shared with these stakeholders some plans for the upcoming Coconut Festival, and they participated in a lively discussion about the challenges facing the region, as well as the prospects for immediate development.

The stakeholders also discussed the pollution of the Pomeroon River with coconut shells and other matters related to maintaining the cleanliness of Charity and to boost its image as a tourism destination. The stakeholders are also considering the establishment of the Region 2 Tourism Development Association.

The “Speedboat-cade” is slated for Sunday October 16, the first day of Coconut Awareness Week 2016. One objective is to increase awareness of the importance of the Pomeroon River to the livelihood of the community, and the need to maintain it in a clean and healthy state. (Department of Tourism)

XXI Vilma and Henry Da Silva at Henvil Farms

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Bringing Back Benefit Concerts (Mr. Henry Rodney – surrounded by some of the performers and organizers at the All Star Benefit Concert)

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By Subraj Singh

his month saw the production of two major events designed to raise funds in aid of Henry Rodney, one of the most easily identifiable icons of Guyanese theatre, who is currently ill from an ailment that he hopes to be identified and treated by seeking medical attention overseas. Mr. Rodney’s illness has been a catalyst for many activities but, more importantly, it has also helped both the artistic and non-artistic communities of Guyana to reflect on our country from varying perspectives. Questions regarding the state of our healthcare system and the need for locals to seek treatment overseas if they wish to get better again has been raised, the ability of the arts to serve as a method of bringing awareness to, and aiding with, an important cause has once again presented itself, and the role of the government in ensuring that our creative icons are helped and treated with dignity and the respect that should be allocated to people who are at the forefront of culture and the arts in Guyana.

It is no secret that creative persons who have contributed significantly to the Guyanese cultural landscape in the past are often neglected and left to become forgotten simply because enough is not done to preserve the works and lives of such artists, nor is enough done to help these individuals in their times of need, nor has enough been done to make Guyana a

cultural hub of the kind that would enable such artists to be able to live solely by practicing their art. Wordsworth McAndrew, for example, one of Guyana’s greatest folklorists and a respected linguist, died abroad, poor and going blind. Johnny Braff’s name has never been heard by most of the younger generations and if work is not done immediately to bring our own to the forefront by highlighting and preserving the work of our great artists, then it is likely that they will never know his name. Then there’s the Mighty Rebel who has famously said that he is retiring from Calypso Competitions due to, among other reasons, the concerns of calypsonians not being addressed.

In the midst of what is still a barren arena for artists to exist in then, emerged two Benefit Concerts, designed and run by artists in aid of assisting a fellow artist – by raising funds for the ailing Mr. Rodney – which were both successful and, therefore, serve as reminders to us that we are capable of, and should be, assisting and supporting our artists in their times of need even more in the future.

The first benefit show to help Mr. Rodney was the successful “Rukatuks” concert, which was held at the National Cultural Centre, while the second was the “All Star Benefit Concert” that took place at the Theatre Guild on July 2nd. The second event is of particular interest because

(Mark Luke-Edwards, President of the National Drama Company)

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016 it is the first official production put forth by the National Drama Company (NDC) of Guyana, in collaboration with the Theatre Guild.

Mark Luke-Edwards, the current President of the National Drama Company, in an interview, was asked why the NDC decided to make a Benefit Concert its first production. His response was simply that the Company saw the need to aid someone who is “a champion folklorist, a cultural ambassador, a poet, a comedian, an artist, an icon, the consummate professional actor” and decided to take action in order to assist Mr. Rodney, whom Luke-Edwards notes has always been well-loved and approachable and has been a mentor to young people in theatre – an point that nicely complements the NDC, which itself is composed mostly of young theatre practitioners. He also noted that although the NDC had a short time to prepare, the difficulties were made easier by hard work and the cooperation of Company members. Luke-Edwards also said that donations are vital to Benefit Concerts and acknowledged the important contributions of the Theatre Guild and Banks DIH to the success of the show. He also emphasized that Benefit Concerts and giving back are two things that the NDC definitely wants to do more of, and says that the audience’s reaction to the show has been solid and encouraging.

The artists who performed at the event, like Mr. Luke-Edwards, also keenly recognized the importance of Mr. Rodney to theatre and to culture in Guyana and it is for this reason that all of them agreed to perform pro bono and consented without hesitation when asked to be a part of the program.

Adaeze Lumumba, the young violinist who performed a rendition of Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms, has said that it was important for her to be a part of the production in order to be one of many performers who would all come together to create a unique event that, although meant to raise funds, was also important for its ability to create feelings and leave an impression. Upcoming singer, Siestra, who also performed Kari Jobe’s “Healer” at the Benefit Concert was thankful of the opportunity to meet Mr. Rodney and says “as a gospel artist, it was a privilege to be a part of that particular Benefit Concert” because it was not for her own personal benefit but, rather, for someone who has contributed a lot to the society.

Juke Ross, one of Guyana’s fastest rising stars, like all the other performers on the night, showed that the artistic community in Guyana is capable of giving back and supporting each other. He noted that he has always enjoyed theatre in Guyana and that Mr. Rodney is an integral part of Guyanese theatre.

Humbly, he says that he was merely supporting someone he has “tremendous respect and appreciation for.”

Other performers included well-known actors and comedians, such as Michael Ignatius and Jumbie Jones; musical renditions Juke Ross

by Sweet Sax, Michael Smith, Jomo, Alabama, and Kwasi Ace; a dance

by Kreative Arts; various performances of poetry, and many other items, including several pieces of drama by members of the National Drama Company, such as Contradictions by Nicola Moonsammy and Lust

by Tashandra Innis. Sonia Yarde also directed a piece

by Henry Rodney him self called Family Grouse, while Mark Luke-Edwards, Michael Ignatius and Nir-

XXIII Siestra

mala Narine also staged an excerpt from an episode of Mr. Henry’s famous TV serial, Agree to Disagree. It should be noted that the final performance on the night of the production, a dance by NDC members, could not be performed due to the manager of the venue’s insistence that the show be finished at 11 PM, despite not indicating to the stage managers that there was a time limit nor, at the very least, informing them at what time the show must be finished by prior to the commencement of the show.

Mr. Al Creighton, of the National School of Theatre Arts and Drama, was also present at the Benefit Concert and delivered a short speech on Henry Rodney, on theatre, and on Benefit Concerts. He noted that benefit shows is a tradition in theatre that is centuries old. In fact, Frank Thomasson in his book, A History of Theatre in Guyana 1800 – 2000, is able to date a Benefit Concert in Guyana all the way to the early 1800s. Mr. Creighton believes that such Benefit Shows is one of the traditions of theatre that should be regularly practiced in Guyana, and that the Benefit Concert staged by the National Drama Company and the Theatre Guild on July 2nd was a way of publicly honouring Mr. Rodney, while simultaenously acknowledging his work and contributions and thanking him for everything he has done for theatre and Guyana.

(Women in the National Drama Company whose works were performed, from L-R: Tashandra Innis, author of Lust [Image by Keron Bruce] Nicola Moonsammy, author of Contradictions [Image by Linden Isles] Sonia Yarde, director of Henry Rodney’s Family Grouse)

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Hydroponics

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- Improved technology, less labour

arming does not have to be backbreaking, dirty and boring. The utilization of technology could make farming a thought-provoking and financially rewarding venture. In fact, technological advancements in the agricultural sector have helped farmers to increase productivity, despite the adverse effects of climate change on the environment.

WHAT IS HYDROPONICS?

One such technology is Hydroponics- a technique used to grow plants in water. This technology allows the roots to absorb a balanced nutrient solution dissolved in water that satisfies the developmental requirements of plants.

While this farming technique is a popular choice of students at Science exhibitions, it is not common among local farmers. However, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) wants to take this technology to farmers, particularly those operating on the coastland, where it is susceptible to flooding.

In April 2015, a hydroponics facility was established at NAREI, Mon Repos, East Coast

Demerara under the Organization of American States’ project: Organic, Hydroponic and Hybrid-System Growing for Caribbean Schools and Modeling for Local Caribbean Entrepreneurship Project.

NAREI is currently engaged in two projects aimed at determining the economic viability of leafy vegetable and fruit type vegetable productions using hydroponics in shaded condition.

Lettuce was one of the green leafy vegetables selected to conduct the study. It was observed that it took about 3½ weeks to produce lettuce using hydroponics- one and half weeks less than it would have taken to grow lettuce in soil. This is owing to the nutrient solutions presence in the system.

RECYCLING METHOD HYDROPONICS NAREI is currently using the recycling method, which involves the continuous flow of nutrient solutions through the system. The system is powered by a submerged pump. It is housed

Elton Wray, a research assistant, examines pepper plants in the NAREI hydroponics facility

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in a 50ft by 24ft wooden structure, with concrete fill base. A shade net is placed around the structure to deter the presence of insect pest.

The system being used to grow the leafy vegetable comprises eight 40-foot 2�

PVC pipelines with 49 holes per pipeline with a one in 40 slope. It has a maximum capacity of holding 392 seedlings. Meanwhile, the system used to grow fruit type vegetables comprises three 40-foot PVC pipelines with 18 holes per pipeline with a one in 40 slope. The system has a maximum capacity of holding 54 seedlings.

ADVANTAGES OF HYDROPONICS The advantages of hydroponics include the possibility of obtaining more produce in less time than that of traditional agriculture cultivation of the same species, repeatedly since there is no soil depletion and the elimination of soil borne pest and diseases.

Additionally, hydroponics facilitates higher planting densities, efficient use of water and nutrients, and no weeding is needed. Minimal labour is required, hence saving the farmer time and money.

After harvesting, the nutrient rich water used in the system could be used to water crops planted in the soil. It is advisable not use reuse this water to grow another crop in the system since each plant requires different amount of nutrients. However, if the farmer wants to reuse the water a nutrient analysis should be done.

Lettuce being grown at the NAREI hydroponics

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A man picks up a two-bolivar Venezuelan bill with a drawing by artist Jose Leon at his workshop in Maracaibo, Venezuela June 16, 2016. (REUTERS/ Stringer)

Venezuelan protests economic crisis through currency art (Reuters) With Venezuela's highest denomination bill now worth less than a stick of gum, one local designer is protesting his country's economic crisis through currency art.

Jose Leon, 24, has been covering the faces of national heroes on the smallest bills of two bolivars - worth one fifth of a U.S. cent at the black market rate - with the intricately-stencilled faces of American superheroes.

"One day, I was paid in two bolivar notes: what a pain!

At night, watching the (U.S. superhero) film 'Deadpool,' I decided to draw it on the bills," said the tatooist and amateur cartoonist.

"People started rejecting the two bolivar bills. I travel a lot by bus, and they wouldn't accept them. Not even for a cigarette. Nothing."

Bills in Venezuela have become a serious nuisance after the currency's precipitous fall in value. The largest 100 bolivar note is worth just 10 cents on the black market and people often carry bags full of money for basic purchases.

Leon has been covering the faces of Venezuela's independence heroes including Francisco de Miranda with images from Star Wars to Batman.

After exhibiting his work on Instagram, he received hundreds of reactions and a hashtag was born: #VenezuelaDevaluada (#VenezuelaDevalued). (instagram.com/ lion_mix/) "It is a protest against a government that takes away my hopes and dreams," Leon said from Venezuela's second city Maracaibo where his murals adorn city walls.

Looting and food protests are occurring daily in Venezuela, hit by triple-digit inflation and a scarcity of basic goods.

While critics blame 17 years of socialist policies, President Nicolas Maduro says the opposition, business leaders and Washington are sabotaging the economy.

A pro-government website blasted Leon's "childish" work, saying he was replacing homegrown heroes with "Yankees."

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What’s in cigarette smoke?

Most people don’t know (Reuters Health) – Many people in a recent study said they’d tried to find out what chemicals are in tobacco products or smoke, but most were not familiar with components other than nicotine.

Surveyed by phone, more than half the respondents said they’d like to see this information on cigarette packs and a quarter would like to have access to it online.

Of the 7,000 constituents of cigarette smoke, 93 in particular are quite toxic, said Dr. Kurt M. Ribisl of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

“It’s pretty surprising how relatively few people have heard of these yet many were interested in hearing more about them,” Ribisl told Reuters Health by phone.

The most simple and effective messaging may be to list the chemicals and, briefly, their health effects, he said. For example, cigarette smoke contains arsenic, which causes heart damage, and formaldehyde, which causes throat cancer.

Ribisl and colleagues surveyed nearly 5,000 U.S. adults by phone, targeting high smoking/ low income areas and cell phone numbers.

Almost a quarter of respondents reported being smokers, most saying they had smoked every day for the past month.

The researchers chose 24 harmful chemicals in tobacco and divided them into six groups of four. Each participant answered questions about one group of four chemicals, selected at random.

More than a quarter of respondents said they had looked for information on the constituents of tobacco smoke, most commonly young adults and smokers. More than half said they would most prefer to see this information on cigarette packs.

Only eight percent of respondents knew that at least three of the four chemicals they were asked about are present in cigarette smoke, the researchers reported in BMC Public Health.

“Many people seek information on smoke components but not many find it,” said Dr. Reinskje Talhout of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment at the Center for Health Protection in The Netherlands.

“Here they also seek it but in general don’t understand it very well, so we developed fact sheets for the general public,” Talhout told Reuters Health by phone.

Having this information may help smokers make an informed decision, but there is no evidence yet on how it may change smoking behavior, Talhout said.

“If people hear about these components they are quite shocked,” she said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a list of harmful and potentially harmful tobacco components available to consumers and tobacco manufacturers are obliged to send this list and amounts in their products to the FDA, Talhout said.

It’s still not clear how providing this information on packs might change behavior, Ribisl noted, and it is possible that listing amounts of chemicals will simply lead consumers to “comparison shop” and choose a brand with marginally lower amounts of the same dangerous chemicals, rather than quitting altogether.

“Both the Centers for Disease Control and FDA are very credible sources about this information,” he said.

“One of the things I would like the FDA and others to think about is what they can put on the side of the cigarette pack, what kind of message can we put there to help create informed smokers,” he said.

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The use of xylitol

C

onsistent maintenance of oral health, and by extension relatively perfect teeth at the age of 18, can be compared to achieving a professional degree from a recognized university. In other words, one is more likely than others to have perfect teeth for life just as the professional education will provide that person for life with an aspect of social accomplishment. Parents have the power to give their children a lifetime of cavity-free

teeth, but there are some critical times to take action. However, the window of opportunity is small.

Parents must be aware of the sequence and timing when teeth erupt and will want to allow sufficient time to change the quality of mouth bacteria before new teeth come into the mouth during childhood and adolescence. In a research project, a significant benefit for children was seen when mothers ate a few grams of xylitol each day, starting before birth of her child. Researchers

Dr. BERTRAND found that children had R. STUART, DDS. healthier teeth and beneficial effects continued for years, even after the preventative program stopped. If a new mother will eat some xylitol each day during the first year of her baby’s life, she will have the opportunity to improve her baby’s dental health by up to 80% compared with control groups.

Yet, a few months ago, the wife of a friend of mine was about to have a baby, and I described the details of this study to him. I ordered xylitol-containing chewing gum from the same company that made chewing gum for this research project twenty-five years previously. I gave some of the gum to the expectant couples in the hopes that they would start a preventative programme.

The young man talked with the mother, who in turn talked with her obstetrician/gynecologist.

The doctor told them he had never heard of this method of dental disease prevention and advised her not to eat the product.

Studies show that the greatest reduction in harmful bacteria comes from eating products sweetened with 100 percent xylitol. Parents who chew xylitol gum or eat xylitol mints each day from the time the baby is born will gradually

clean way unhealthy bacteria from their mouths before the eruption of the baby’s first tooth. With a little effort, parents can give their baby a great start to dental health.

Friendly germs and cavity germs fight to live on your child’s tooth, and the first one on the tooth wins! If friendly germs are first to reach a new tooth, they will take over, and the child’s chance of future cavities can be reduced. For added protection and to ensure your baby’s mouth is healthy before teeth begin to erupt, wipe his or her gums with a 100 percent xylitol wipe such as Spiffies, or let your baby enjoy xylitol-sweetened water between feedings.

Baby teeth first erupt at around six or seven ► Contiuned on page XXIX

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016 ◄ From page XXVIII months of age and continue, a few at a time, until the child is around two years old. Some of the last baby teeth to emerge are baby molars that have wrinkled biting surfaces perfect for chewing and grinding food. There are natural pits and crevices in the biting surfaces where bacteria can quickly become entrenched. If harmful bacteria aggressively populate these areas, any sugar in the diet will feed them. With energy from the sugar, the bacteria reproduce and form acids that cause tooth damage in the depths of the pits and crevices.

The enamel of new molars takes almost a year to become strong

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enough to resist attacks. Pediatric dentists often need to fill cavities in the biting surfaces of new molars before a child’s third birthday, before the teeth have even had time to fully mature and harden. Whether a mother is breast-feeding, using formula, or feeding her child solid food, she should worry about the kind of bacteria in these molar crevices and also try to control the acidity and sugar content of drinks and foods, especially when her child has a dry mouth while napping or sleeping.

Because proper cleaning of your baby’s teeth is often difficult, make sure your baby is protected at all times by encouraging the growth of healthy bacteria in the mouth both before and during the time that molars erupt. For babies, toothpaste is not necessary. In fact, many children’s toothpastes are bad for teeth, because they contain sugar or sorbitol. Use of a soft toothbrush dipped in a solution made from an individual packet of granular xylitol dissolved in warm water or a xylitol-containing toothpaste or spread a xylitol gel on the teeth and gums. Baby wipes containing xylitol can also be useful.

The art of breast-feeding can be difficult, and the last thing a new mother needs to hear are unfounded concerns that she may be inducing cavities in her baby’s teeth. A 2007 – 2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey provided data that were used by the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry to evaluate more than 1,500 children between the ages of two and five. They found that neither breast-feeding nor its duration is associated with increased risk of early tooth decay in children.

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

ARIES - Your message is as upbeat as you are today and you feel like you're as good as gold. For once, there's no need to monitor your words before speaking them since your positive attitude won't likely offend anyone. Don't waste energy defending your behaviour. There's no reason to curb your enthusiasm now; accelerate confidently in the direction of your drive while it lasts.

TAURUS - You're eager for a play day and, fortunately, reality seems to be conspiring with you to make it happen. However, you might be so confident that everything will fall into place today that you don't put any effort toward manifesting your vision. It doesn't matter how smoothly events unfold; you need to take the first step by voicing your intention. Circumstances will follow a different trajectory unless you share your ideal scenario. Your words are very convincing now, but only if you speak them out loud.

GEMINI - The sparkle in your eyes tells it all today; you're looking to create some mischief and you should be able to do so without too much delay. But flying by the seat of your pants won't work now because thoughtful Mercury trines Mars in your 6th House of Logistics, requiring you to think through your day in advance. You are better equipped to take advantage of a sudden turn of events if you have a rough schedule sketched out. Ironically, spontaneity is especially kind to you if you already have a plan in mind.

CANCER - You're quite content in your own little corner of the universe today. Although your friends might encourage you to join them in a variety of activities, you're more inclined to spend some quiet time with your family or partner. You're not interesting in changing the world when you can carve out a piece of paradise to be your very own. Emotional rewards are yours now if you go deep instead of wide.

LEO - You're more flexible when it comes to making plans today than others expect. You're often the one with the inspiring agenda, but you're not usually willing to negotiate. However, the diplomatic Libra Moon is visiting your 3rd House of Communication, blessing you with an extra helping of people skills.

Even if your friends have conflicting preferences, you're capable of facilitating easy conversation that leads to a common goal. But don't wait for a better time to initiate a sensitive discussion; your chance to find a resolution now is as good as it gets VIRGO - You may be reconsidering your position on a complex issue because of a recent mind-altering experience. You might have learned something important that catalysed your thinking and is now rippling inward to impact your core beliefs. But don't let anyone push you one way or another just yet. Continue to gather information with an open mind and draw your own conclusions in a natural and organic process. It's been said that you're not using your mind if you can't change it LIBRA - Your notorious ambivalence is a bigger problem for others than it is for you. However, the ever-changing Moon's return to your sign is annoying if you thought you already made up your mind about your feelings. You might wish you took decisive action early in the day because your certainty seems to fade as the hours tick by. But things happen (or don't happen) for a reason.

It's better to wait until you're sure than to regret an overly passionate but premature reaction. Silence can be a source of great strength.

SCORPIO - Although you have a silver tongue today, you don't want to waste it on meaningless chatter. In fact, you want to investigate unspoken motives while talkative Mercury harmonises with energetic Mars, now moving direct in your penetrating sign. It's not as much fun splashing in the shallows when you can be fully immersed in the deep end of the pool. Luckily, there seem to be others willing to join you on your mystery mission. It's unnecessary to hesitate while the cosmic waters are calling your name.

SAGITTARIUS - People are attracted to your big ideas today. Everything you talk about seems like a grand adventure while still sounding feasible.

But you're probably not telling the whole story; if you did explain everything, others might be scared away. Some exploits are better experienced in the mind than in the real world. Don't hide any perilous details when stirring up interest for your undertaking. Arm everyone with all the facts so they are empowered to make the best decisions for themselves.

CAPRICORN - You have a rare opportunity to forge a new path in a current relationship today if you're willing to open your heart. Powerful communication is facilitated by a Mercury-Mars alignment that energises your 7th House of Relationships. But you won't be able to hide behind safe formalities or intellectual analysis as emotional water signs are prominent. It may feel awkward, or even scary, to express what you are feeling in the moment.

Allow your words to flow directly from your soul and your fears will dissipate as the conversation deepens.

AQUARIUS - You would like to follow your regular Sunday routine but it's impossible if your schedule is disrupted by events that are beyond your control. Luckily, you are blessed with the ability to adapt to the unexpected changes today, even if this is not your normal modus operandi. The most important tool in your toolbox now is your skill of putting your perceptions into words. Helping others see things in a new light initiates conversations that inspire you to greater heights.

PISCES - The most complex relationship dynamics are temporarily simplified today by some unknown cosmic intervention. For some reason, you're suddenly able to talk about a subject that was previously taboo. Thankfully, an honest discussion now reduces conflict to the point of non-existence, even if it would have started a war just a few days ago. But you must take the initiative or you'll lose the chance to finally clear the air. Don't let an opportunity that could change your life pass you by.

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Nintendo shares soar as new Pokemon mobile game captures hearts (Reuters) Shares in Japan's Nintendo Co surged on Friday as consumers flocked to try out its new Pokemon GO smartphone game, raising hopes that the company's long-awaited shift into mobile gaming will pay off.

Seeking to protect its console business, the Japanese group had for many years resisted introducing mobile games with its best-known characters such as Super Mario Bros and Pokemon, finally yielding to investor calls last year when it announced a tie-up with mobile specialst DeNA Co. Its first mobile title, Miitomo, was only launched in March after some delay and was also a social networking-sytle application, leaving investors disappointed and impatient.

But Wednesday's launch of Pokemon GO in the United States has seen the title shoot up to become the No. 1 free app in Apple Inc's U.S. iTunes store. It was also launched in Australia and New Zealand this week and is expected to be rolled out in Japan soon.

Many reviewers said they were keen on the game although they hoped that technical glitches would soon be resolved. Shares in Nintendo jumped 10 percent to their highest level in more than two months with the stock the most heavily traded by value on Tokyo's main board and giving the firm a market value of about $23 billion.

The game, in which players search out and capture Pokemon characters and do battle with other Pokemon, is free, but it also offers in-app purchases for power-ups and extra items.

"It has more (monetisation) than we expected; as users build their PokĂŠmon inventory, spending money becomes needed to store, train, hatch and battle," Macquarie Securities said in a note to clients, adding that purchases so far in Australia were not being driven by big spenders but by a large number of users.

The company has promised four more smartphone games in the financial year to end-March and has said it expects mobile gaming to help boost annual operating profit by a third to 45 billion yen ($450 million).

Nintendo also plans to release its next console globally in March 2017.

"The company has huge intangible assets like characters but it hasn't been trying to use them seriously. But the success of its Pokemon GO shows the company has got great content," said a fund manager at a UK asset management firm in Tokyo.

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Fun holiday activities for the kids Short Story…

The rooster that wouldn't crow (Part I)

By Artie Knapp

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS Food Chains (Part I) A ‘FOOD CHAIN’ consists of a series of animals that eat plants and other animals.

All food chains begin with plants, which get their energy from the sun. Plants use the sun’s energy to make their food through a process known as photosynthesis. These plants provide food for herbivores, and the herbivores are, in turn, eaten by omnivores and carnivores.

Omnivores feed on both plants and animals. Carnivores are meat eaters, and so feed only on animals, while herbivores feed only on plants.

Group the animals below in the following categories: Carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

See you next week when we bring you more on food chains.

Environmental Matters was written especially for children, and is brought to you courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency, 7 Broad and Charles Street, Charlestown, GEORGETOWN.

IT was the driest summer on record, and all the crops were wilting away. Every farmer in the region was reeling from their losses.

Desperate to change his fortunes, Peter Harpole decided to try his luck with poultry farming.

Peter didn't know much about chickens, but selling eggs would be a great source of food, and, hopefully, income for him and his family. If he was successful at it!

As the sun got closer to rising over the Harpole farm, Toby, the Harpole's new rooster, took his place atop a wooden fence next to the barn. It was Toby's first chance to showcase his ability to crow. Peter purchased Toby the night before from the McHenry farm down the road.

The Harpole's were desperate for a good crower, because the other rooster on their farm had laryngitis.

With the purchase of Toby, the Harpole's now had a total of two roosters, and 12 hens.

When the sun broke across the horizon, it triggered Toby's internal clock; he clinched the spurs of his feet against the wood, and then proceeded to belt out the loudest MOOOOOOOOOOO! you ever heard.

Again, and again, Toby proceeded to belt out MOOOOOOOOOOO! MOOOOOOOOOOO! and MOOOOOOOOOOO! some more.

Toby's mooing shocked everyone on the farm, especially since the Harpole's didn't own a cow.

"Ma, did you hear that?" Peter asked his wife.

"Are you referring to the biscuits in your stomach, or our new cow you forgot to tell me about?"

"I didn't buy any cow."

Peter got up from the table, and proceeded to walk out the front door of his home. His two daughters, Annie and Ellie, followed him.

What could it be? Find out next week when the story continues. But just in case you have an inkling as to what it is, write telling us about it and win yourself a fabulous prize. Waiting to hear from you.

Our mailing address is: Fun Holiday Activities ℅ Sunday Chronicle Lama Avenue Bel Air Park You may also deliver your answer by hand at our office at the above address.

DYEING FOR SOME COLOUR

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Fun holiday activities for the kids Festive Paper Pines Kids will get a real kick out of decorating these little evergreens; the mini bulbs come alight when you punch holes in the outer layers, revealing the coloured paper sandwiched between them.

CRAFT MATERIALS: Red and yellow stationery (or other colours you like for lights) Green and brown cardboard Pinking shears or decorative craft scissors Hole punch Glue or glue dots Pushpin 2 buttons Monofilament Time needed: Under 1 Hour 1. Sandwich the red and yellow paper between 2 pieces of green card stock. Cut out a tree shape.

2. Remove the red sheet and punch a few random holes through the 3 remaining layers, then remove the yellow sheet and replace the red one. Punch several new holes through the stack.

3. Cut a tree trunk from brown cardboard (make it a little taller than needed) and glue the top of it between the red and yellow layers. Now glue the green layers to the outside.

4. Use the pushpin to poke a hole through the 4 layers, about 1/4 inch from the treetop. Thread a length of monofilament through the hole, then slide a button tree topper onto each end of the line. Knot the ends of the line to create a loop for hanging.

Denim Pocket Purse Turn an old pair of blue jeans into a hip over-the-shoulder bag.

CRAFT MATERIALS: Pair of old jeans Scissors Needle and thread Ribbon or braided rope Iron-on transfers, paint or patches Velcro strips or snaps 1. Begin by cutting out a back pocket of an old (but not threadbare) pair of jeans, being careful to cut outside the seams so the pocket stays intact.

2. Sew a long piece of ribbon, an old belt, or braided rope to the sides of the pockets to make a shoulder strap.

3. Next, let the outside of the purse become a canvas for ornaments. Decorate with iron-on transfers, fabric paint, beads, patches, or appliques. More ambitious kids might embroider their initials or other designs on the denim for an authentic seventies look.

4. To hold the purse shut, sew strips of Velcro, buttons or snaps to the inside of the pocket.

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Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Communities can and should participate in environmental management W

e all have at some time or the other experienced the ‘bystander effect’ - a situation where something was happening where help was needed and everyone thought that someone else would make a call or step in – but in the end, no one did or someone did when it was too late.

With the rise of industrialization and its numerous resulting impacts, sustainable use of the world’s natural resources has been the driving factor and priority of many international agreements. What is evident in these agreements is that the responsibility for resource use and their effects have shifted from being solely that of governments to that of increasing stakeholder participation. As such, it has become increasingly necessary to establish mechanisms to allow for increasing community participation to achieve environmental management goals.

Through a ‘bottom-up’ approach, it is possible to capture the invaluable contribution of communities in the environmental decision-making process.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has mechanisms that seek to involve communities in many of its decision-making processes. For example, the community participation is factored into the process for the permitting of new projects. If the EPA determines that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is not needed for a new project, a notice is published in at least one daily newspaper to inform the public of the EPA’s position. Members of the public can then make any appeals to that decision to ► Continued on page XXXV

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Communities can and should participate ... ► From page XXXIV the Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) within 30 days of the notice. The EAB will then confirm or reject the decision.

When an EIA is required, a notice of the project is provided to the public in the newspapers to invite public submissions on issues of interest to inform the EIA process within 28 days. A summary of the project is also made available to the public via the EPA, developer and sectoral agency. When the EIA is submitted, the public is again informed and given 60 days to make submissions regarding the EIA. The EAB considers these submissions when reviewing the EIA as part of the permitting process.

As a member of the public you can also file complaints confidentially regarding the breach of environmental standards and environmental nuisances within your community.

Don’t be a bystander! Never miss your opportunity to voice your concerns on issues which may affect you or your community.

Adapted from the UNEP-International Environment Technology Centre (IETC), Environmental Management and Community Participation: Enhancing Local Programmes See more on community participation at http://www.unep. or.jp/ietc/kms/data/1459.pdf

Share your ideas and questions by sending letters to: “Our Earth, Our Environment”, C/O EIT Division, Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, GEORGETOWN, or email us at: eit. epaguyana@gmail.com or you can contact the Agency on 225-5467-9.

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How to grow a baby dragon (Reuters) A handful of extremely rare lizards have been bred by scientists.

Eleven Lesser Antillean iguanas have hatched at facilities managed by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, based in Jersey.

The emergence of the hatchlings is significant,

as the Lesser Antillean iguana is now considered to be critically endangered in the wild.

Found only on a few islands in the Caribbean, the lizard is threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting. Invasive predators, including fe-

ral and pet cats and dogs, have also killed many.

But perhaps the greatest threat is now posed by a relative of the Lesser Antillean iguana.

The far more common green iguana is now spreading into the range

of its rarer relative, and cross-breeding with it, threatening its future survival.

The new hatchlings will help efforts to breed and conserve the Lesser Antillean iguana, and Durrell is the only place that has successfully managed to breed this species.

Their appearance is

also significant as "it's the first breeding success of a second generation in captivity," says Matt Goetz, Durrell's Head of Herpetology.

"This year's youngsters are the offspring of an adult pair that hatched at Durrell in 2011. This proves to us that we have reared the previous offspring in the

best possible conditions."

As well as supporting efforts to preserve the remaining in the wild, says Matt Goetz, "the youngsters will be sent to zoos around Europe, which we hope will promote and support the urgent conservation work for this species in the Caribbean."

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English

Chronicle Pepperpot July 10, 2016

Movie Review:

Sultan The bad guys may be missing, but “Sultan” has everything else that makes for a satisfying Bollywood film (Reuters) The distinguishing feature in Salman Khan’s last two Eid releases –“Bajrangi Bhaijaan” in 2015 and this year’s “Sultan” – is that there are no bad guys. The conflict in both these films does not come from the quintessential Bollywood villain but from existential issues.

Khan, though, is still beating up people to a pulp in “Sultan” and breaking bones with alarming regularity. He plays a wrestler, a plot point that must have been pencilled in just so it could contribute to the high-octane action quotient that is a known part of Khan’s brand of blockbusters.

When we first meet Sultan, he is a broken man – working in a ramshackle government office, riding a rickety bike and waiting for a glimpse of his lady love Aarfa (Anushka Sharma), who looks through him every time she sees him. There’s a history there, we are told – the greatest love story the village has known that went horribly wrong.

Through a series of flashbacks, we meet a younger Sultan who is touching 30 (a difference of 20 years from Khan’s age in real life), a happy-go-lucky DTH dealer who falls hook, line, and sinker for Aarfa, a wiry young wrestler who is driven, ambitious and determined to win an Olympic gold medal for India.

Blinded by love and convinced that the only way he can win over Aarfa is by learning to wrestle, Sultan trains hard. After a particularly harsh talkdown from her about his lack of purpose, he turns into a world-beating wrestler almost overnight.

Medals in international competitions are hard to come by, but Sultan pockets them like they were loose change and even wins an Olympic gold medal to be crowned “King of the Ring”. When it all goes bust, Sultan goes into hiding, only to be resurrected by Akash Oberoi (Amit Sadh), a promoter who runs a pro-wrestling league and is looking for a “son of the soil” hero to save his venture from failing. The second half of this 170-minute film is full of well-shot fight sequences that give Khan ample opportunity to flex his muscles.

“Sultan” works because director Ali Abbas Zafar injects enough wry humour into the proceedings and eschews melodrama. Sultan and Aarfa’s romance is low-key and the interactions between them are the only time where Khan is forced to bring out his deeply-hidden and limited acting talents.

Sharma is luminescent as Aarfa and tries her best to inject some chemistry into her romance with Khan. Randeep Hooda, in a brief role as a fighting coach is the perfect foil to Khan’s often sardonic demeanour, and Anant Sharma shines as Govind, Sultan’s sidekick and long-time friend.

The bad guys may be missing, but “Sultan” has everything else that makes for a satisfying Bollywood film.

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On 'Wannabe' 20-year anniversary, Spice Girls trio hint at reunion (Reuters) Three members of the Spice Girls hinted at a reunion as they released a video on Friday marking 20 years since their band's debut single "Wannabe" stormed the charts worldwide.

Emma Bunton, known as Baby Spice, Mel B, Scary Spice and Geri Halliwell (now Horner), Ginger Spice, thanked fans for their support in a video posted on YouTube and a website called "Spice Girls GEM", thought to refer to the trio's initials.

There was no sign of the other two original band members, Victoria Beckham, Posh Spice, and Melanie Chisholm, Sporty Spice, in the video.

"We hope to tell you soon what you want, what you really really want," a written message in the video said, referring to lyrics from "Wannabe".

"We want to celebrate and have a party ... And when we do, you're all invited," Mel B, real name Melanie Brown, said alongside Baby and Ginger.

The Spice Girls released "Wannabe" in July 1996 and went on to sell more than 80 million records worldwide.

Songwriter and music producer Eliot Kennedy, who previously worked with the band, told a British morning television show on Friday he had been in the studio with Mel B, Horner and Bunton.

"We wrote a brilliant song and the energy was exactly like it was 20 years ago," he told "Good Morning Britain", adding that the band had had "a massive effect" on pop music.

Asked about the song's potential release, he said: "Who knows right now. It's in a bit of state of flux ... They've got lots of plans."

Chisholm took to Twitter to mark the anniversary saying: "Happy 20th Birthday #Wannabe you haven't aged a bit".

The Spice Girls perform during the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium, August 12, 2012. (REUTERS/STEFAN WERMUTH) The group left millions of fans distraught when they said they would be going on an indefinite break and focusing on their solo careers in 2000. All five members briefly reunited at the 2012 London Olympics.

New 'Ghostbusters' cast shakes off criticism to revive classic story (Reuters) The four lead actresses of the new "Ghostbusters" are out to prove that women can fight supernatural entities just as well as their male predecessors.

"Ghostbusters" is based on the 1984 film of the same name that saw eccentric ghost hunters played by Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson save New York City from supernatural destruction.

The new film, due in theaters on July 15, follows a similar plot. Eccentric parapsychologists battle ghosts wreaking havoc on Manhattan, this time with Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones.

The cast know a little something about being underdogs.

When the new "Ghostbusters" movie was announced, it garnered strong positive and negative reactions for its all-female cast, a point subtly referenced throughout the film.

The film's first trailer released in March divided audiences

Director of the movie Paul Feig poses next to ECTO-1, the vehicle used in the upcoming movie ''Ghostbusters,'' during a photo-call at Sony Studios in Culver City, California March 2, 2016. (REUTERS/ MARIO ANZUONI) and garnered more than 900,000 dislikes, YouTube's most-disliked movie trailer.

"I did not respond well. I might have tweeted out my address to a couple of people to come see me," Jones said, adding that her costars "had to calm me down."

Fans of the original franchise may see some familiar faces - human and paranormal - pop up as cameos, as well as gadgets such as the Ecto-1 car and proton packs.

But the real nostalgia is reviving the chemistry of the original foursome, who became cult film heroes.

"I wanted to bring from the spirit of the old ones that even if you don't believe in us, we're going to do the right thing

anyways," McCarthy said.

"I think that's why I love them so much, they're still saving everybody even though people aren't rooting for them."

Director Paul Feig, known for collaborating with McCarthy often in films such as "Spy," said, "There's nothing worse than trying to slam a woman into a part that was written for a man," and instead wanted to provide a platform for the film's lead cast to showcase their skills.

"It's just time for women to get to establish themselves in these big leading roles that are three-dimensional, that have foibles and they have vulnerability in a way that women aren't sometimes allowed to be shown," he said.

Actor Damon promises plenty of action in 'Jason Bourne' movie (Reuters) Hollywood star Matt Damon on Friday promised some "great action" in the high-

ly-anticipated upcoming "Jason Bourne" film, citing fight scenes and a huge car chase as he reprises the role of the super spy.

Damon starred in box office hits "The Bourne Identity," "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum." He is joined in the latest production by British director Paul Greengrass who was at the helm for "Supremacy" and "Ultimatum."

"To be reunited with Paul Greengrass was really the main reason for making this movie for me," Damon told reporters in Seoul. "There's great action in this movie. There are some really great fight sequences that we worked really hard on...and also we've got a car chase in this movie that is bigger than anything we've ever done."

"Jason Bourne" hits cinemas worldwide from July 27.