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Blood Child

A story of rejection, bitter memories and revenge

A

By Maureen Rampertab

little girl in her pink floral dress skipped around the garden, bare-footed with her little basket picking flowers and fallen ripe fruits, chasing colourful butterflies and playing with her bunny rabbits. On sunny days and rainy days, she played in the garden, a child of pure innocence, like a little lamb.

Her mother washing clothes at the stand-pipe watched her, a sweet child, dear to her heart. She would often imagine how beautiful she would be when she grew-up, and the special wedding celebrations she would have for her when it was time for her bethrotal.

That was twenty two years ago to this day, a dark day.

A storm had been brewing for the past few days, and tonight it unleashed its fury with screaming winds, deafening thunder and frightening lightning. The roads were desolate, except for two black vehicles that drove cautiously along the dark country road to a bungalow, standing almost in isolation. A small, flickering light shone through the windows, like a guide for the four strange men, who stepped out in the rain, men with steely looks and stone cold eyes, on a mission commanded by their superior officer in the military, a Major General.

What would the military be doing deep in the countryside in the farming backlands?

What illegal activities gathered by intelligence network merited the presence of army personnel from a neighbouring Spanish country?

A small, farming family in deep slumber as the storm drowned the farmlands was awoken by the armed invaders, and forcibly taken away before they knew what was happening.

The abductors drove to a secluded army reserve off the highway, and the family was roughly hauled into the deserted base. The mother, father and brother were bound to chairs in one room, and the younger ones locked into another room with an armed guard.

They stared at their abductors, terrified beyond their limits. What would foreign soldiers want with a simple, farming people? sure, this was all a mistake. The soldiers left the room and returned after a long while, dressed now in black clothes and leather gloves.

They said not a word.The look in their eyes, so cold it sent shivers down the spines of the harmless family.

The duct tape was ripped from their mouths and they inhaled deeply, tears welling in the mother’s eyes.

“Why have you brought us here?” The father asked hoarsely, “We have done no wrong.”

A fist hit him so hard it rocked his head back, and the mother cried: “Please, why are you doing this? We are farming people.”

One soldier straddled a chair and two stood by specialists of torture. The soldier sitting said to the father, “Investigations have proved that you are involved in an illegal trade.”

“I don’t know anything about that.”

A fist thudded against his jaw, drawing blood from his mouth.

“You have been under surveillance for some time now, and tonight you will have to disclose your part in this trade if you value your life and your family’s. Do you understand?”

The father nodded, scared and confused and the soldier continued his questioning.

“How often have you met with mysterious traders in the backlands?”

“Twice.” He answered.

“Did you take any of your children there with you?”

“No.” He said hesitantly.

A thunderous fist hit him, knocking him down with the chair.

The mother screamed: “Please don’t!”

“Quiet!” a voice thundered, silencing her.

The question was asked again and the same answer given.

The soldier hit him again and the question line was changed.

“How many children do you have?”

“I have two sons.”

He was hit to the floor now, blood tricking from his mouth and nose. The son, unable to witness the torture shouted, “Why do you want to know that?!”

The soldiers turned on him like angry pitbulls until he was left crumbled on the floor, gasping for breath.

“Why aren’t you asking me?” the mother sobbed.

“Because we can’t hit you, their pain is your suffering.”

Father and son were hauled upright and given a short moment to breathe easy, before the interrogation started again.

“We know of the boats that docked in the ocean and the people who came to the backlands who you did business with.”

The father didn’t answer, afraid now to say anything.

“You have two sons and you’re sure you don’t have another child you sold to be used as a drug mule?”

“No,” the father groaned, “I didn’t do that.”

“We have evidence you did.

You wanted to be rich to become powerful.”

“No!” he shouted, his voice cracking, “I did not sell my daughter!”

A sudden hush fell in the room and the soldier in the chair rose to his feet.

“So you have another child, a daughter?”

“Yes,” he sobbed, “I had a daughter.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know,” he continued to cry, “I gave her away, a long time ago.”

“How old was she?”

“She was six.”

“You gave away your little daughter to be used as a drug mule?

“No I didn’t want her anymore, I couldn’t look at her.”

The soldiers looked at the glass partition beyond where a silent figure watched and listened to every word, the General who had ordered the abduction to find answers from the family in that room.

Twenty-two years ago, they had done a grave injustice to an innocent child, and tonight revenge will be enacted against them.

“Why, as a father, would you do such a thing to your own child?”

“She was violated and her impurity became a shame to the family, something I couldn’t live with, so I sent her away.”

“On a storm night like this, you wrapped a sleeping child in a blanket, ignoring the mother’s pleas and gave her away, not caring what happened to her because of traditional beliefs?”

He said nothing, his head bent and the soldier said to the son.

“You became the golden child because of your lies.You were supposed to watch her while your parents were away at the market,

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014 but you were so engrossed in gambling you didn’t hear her call for you to help to find her bunny, and she wandered too far from the house, where bad boys saw her. You didn’t hear her scream for you until she found you, much later, her dress torn, her face streaked with tears, her bunny in her arms.”

The mother stared at the son, shocked and angry. “All these years you’ve been living a lie. How could you? Your heartless father took away my baby and you helped with your lies.”

The son was so choked with guilt, he couldn’t answer.

“Would you like to know what happened to your child?” The soldier asked the mother.

“Please, if it’s something bad, I don’t want to know, I can’t bear any more of this.”

A TV screen was turned on and the photograph of a pretty little girl was shown, a sad face. The pictures changed as she grew, step by step into a beautiful young woman, graduating from high school and college and joining the army, just after college. Her intelligence and dedication awarded her medals and higher ranking at a young age; until today that she has now attained the position of Major General.

A pin could be heard dropping as the family stared, dumbfounded at their daughter and sister standing proud and dignified in her uniform, her strength and character personified. A child they had rejected over two decades ago, their own blood child.

“Where is she now?” The mother asked, highly emotional, “Can I see her?”

The door slowly swung open….TO BE CONTINUED

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014 tury/ early twentieth-century) represented by poets T. R. F. Elliott and J. E. Clare McFarlane nurtured racial pride or protested about social injustices.

Martin's Poetry

Selected Poems

by Egbert Martin

E

INTRODUCTION

By DAVID DABYDEEN University of Warwick

gbert Martin, who published under the pen name 'Leo," was the most accomplished and prolific of Guyanese writers in the nineteenth-century, highly praised by his contemporaries. The great West Indian/American collector and bibliophile, Arthur Schomburg, described Martin as "one of the greatest Negro poets in history." Nineteenth-century Guyanese journals commented on the quality of his writing. The Daily Chronicle declared him to be "the ablest of the poetical writers of whom British Guiana can boast" and the Berbice Gazette spoke of him as "one whose works plainly bespeak talent and ability of the highest order." Lord Tennyson was said to have admired his work.

Today Martin is almost DAVID DABYDEEN totally forgotten, his work routinely ignored in anthologies of Caribbean writing. Only two copies of his first book of poetry, Leo's Poetical Works (1883), are traceable in libraries worldwide; only one copy of his second collection, Leo's Local Lyrics (1886), has survived; his collection of short stories, Scriptology (1885), is untraceable.

Very little is remembered and recorded of Martin's life. He was born around 1861, presumably in the capital, Georgetown. His father, Richard, was a journeyman tailor. No information survives about his mother or any siblings. A. J. Seymour, who described him as "a fair mulatto," states that "from early youth he was confined to an invalid's bed, as a result of illness. The Colonist, a Guianese journal, first published his poetry when he was nineteen years of age, and thereafter he was a frequent contributor to The Argosy and Echo. His patrons were James Thompson, editor of The Argosy, and George Anderson Forshaw, Mayor of Georgetown. It was said that Thompson would visit Martin at his home in East Street, Georgetown, to collect his poetry for printing in The Argosy. Martin gained a degree of international prominence in 1887 when he won an empire-wide competition for adding two verses to the British national anthem,an event sponsored by the London Standard to mark Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. He died on the 23rd of June 1890.

His death certificate states his age as twenty-nine and the cause of death as "phthisis" (tuberculosis, or 'consumption', also known as the 'White Plague' because its sufferers appeared markedly pale. It may well be that Martin was a "fair mulatto" because of his medical condition). His death was registered by his cousin Edwin Heyliger, so it would appear that Martin was partly of German ancestry.'

CONTEMPORARIES AND CULTURAL MILIEU British Guiana, though a lonely colony in South America, separated geographically from the rest of Britain's Caribbean colonial

possessions, was not a backwater in cultural terms. In 1851, the Athenaeum Society (possibly modelled after London's Athenaeum Club, founded in 1823 for men of scientific, literary and artistic talent) was established in Georgetown and hosted dramatic performances. The Assembly Rooms, owned by the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society, was also a leading theatre venue, containing an auditorium which could seat up to one thousand people. In the 1860s, establishments like the Adelphie Theatre and the Philharmonic Hall staged "numerous plays, musicals and operas ... by local clubs and foreign theatrical companies." There were regular performances by members of societies like the Amateur Dramatic Club and the Histrionic Club, and later, the Demerara Dramatic Club and the Georgetown Dramatic Club. On April 17, 1890, two months before Martin's death, the Georgetown Botanical Gardens was the venue for a program of music, played by the Militia Band, including works by the French composers Daniel Auber and Emile Waldteufel.

Literary texts were available in the reading rooms of the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society and in educational establishments like Queen's College: N. E. Cameron lists public readings of works by Shakespeare, Horace, Byron, Homer, Racine, and Ovid at Queen's College in the 1870s. Learned people like Martin's patrons would have owned personal libraries and made their books available to each other. The cultural milieu of nineteenth-century Georgetown produced local musicians, actors and directors. Among the most notable poets were Simon Christian Oliver and Thomas Don. Oliver was a schoolmaster who was writing and publishing in the 1830s. He was relatively wealthy, his son being a businessman and his daughter receiving an education in England.

Don, by contrast, was a former slave, and like African slaves in the New World, he became literate by exposure to the Bible. His book, Pious Effusions, published in 1873, consisted of hymn-like stanzas on religious subjects.

These poets belonged, according to P. H. Daly, to "a generation of Spiritual Men ... however much they were engrossed with the affairs of their temporal order, they saw only the spiritual side of the synthesis."9The following generations (late nineteenth-cen-

Apart from the odd poem like 'The Negro Village', which speaks of the African-Guianese history of "toil and struggle" and asserts their humanity, their capacity to love, to form families and to be governed by "nobler passions", Martin's poetry is more preoccupied with spiritual matters. Given his frail physical condition, it is unsurprising that he writes extensively on change, disintegration and death. His meditations on the passage of time can be startlingly postmodern in their sense of dimensions beyond the linear.

'Tis looking back that gives the future colour, Because, in life, we find The past analogizes all the future Upon the plastic mind; Foreshadowing what "will be," and what "had been", A mingled repetition Of words and deeds, events, and many a scene, And fantasy and vision. ('Looking Back') And yet, whilst recognising the ways in which time ravishes

Please see page V

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Selected Poems ... the human body, moulding and sculpting past and future together into an aesthetic of suffering, Martin is constantly seeking a perfection of form that transcends the material,that is not, nor cannot be, shaped by time. Sudden moments of natural beauty ('Thanksgiving'; 'Along Yon Stretch') yield intimations of divine truth, and of a space beyond time "Where all that's rich is permanent/ Where visions bright endure/ Unchanging, blessed and beautiful/ And true for evermore." The echo here of Keats is diminished elsewhere, for Martin constantly struggles to maintain his faith in the truth of beauty. In 'Disappointment', Wordsworthian sentiments about intimations of immortality are dismissed in favour of a Darwinian vision of nature: With hasty hand I tore the flower And flung it from its place; And since that agonising hour, For me it lost all grace.

Anon I thought, in pensive mood, How 'midst a gem so fair, In hidden ambuscade there should Repose a viper's lair. ('Disappointment') Martin effects a Christian synthesis between the truth of decay and the truth of beauty: it is through suffering that man is made perfect (Made Perfect Through Suffering'). For Martin, the poet is almost a divine figure — "he weaves a song divine" ("The Poet').

The poet is God's alchemist: He takes into his hands the clay All shapeless, black and dull, Tears every harsher vein away, And leaves it beautiful; Leaves in the place of what had been A mass of baseless mould, A figure, shape, or fantasy, Transformed to purest gold. ('The Poet') Men like Sir Walter Raleigh came to the Guianas in search of

gold, but died in penury, for the true gold is the poet's imagination.

The poet creates, through his imagination, but he also perceives the perfection of what already exists: A golden glow of rippling clouds Serenely saileth by, As if the hand of God has writ A poem in the sky. ('Along Yon. Stretch') Perfection of form is what Martin's poetry strives to achieve. His body is that of man, subject to decay, but his poetry is testament to faith in a perfection that survives such decay. Martin is above all a poet. Hence his mastery of the cadences of Victorian verse as well as the network of allusions to English poetry from the Medieval period onwards.

Hence too, his utmost delight in the spaciousness and poetical quality of English words: His poetry is sprinkled with adjectives like 'umbrageous', 'eocene,' 'auriferous' and the like. Martin may have been a Victorian writer in terms of using the language and formal models of his age, but he was also conscious of his role as a Guianese poet. In the 'Preface' to Leo's Local Lyrics (the title of the volume being provocatively "native") he admits to having been criticised for composing too many precious, universalist poems, and declares his intention of providing a few "tropical studies" for his Guyanese readership. A poem like 'The Sorrel-Tree', celebrating the gracefulness and lushness of the Guianese fruit, is, for its time, a radical effort: in the next century Derek Walcott was to confess to a nervousness about introducing local fruits, like the mango, into a poem, since they lacked the English canonical status of, say, A. E. Housman's cherry (from 'A Shropshire Lad'). Poems like 'The Creek' and 'The Spirit Stone' attempt to convey Guiana as the habitation of spirits alien to a Christian worldview. Although he does not name the ghosts (jumbies", 'chin-Hes', 'or higues', 'backoos', etc.) and in the 'Preface' appears to belittle "Creole superstitions and the peculiar beliefs of Indian animism", his poems still strive to recognise a landscape haunted by non-human presences: I fear the forest and its rivers clear, I fear its loneliness, its depths I fear,

There are 1792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower. **************************************** In mediaeval England, pots and dishes were made from a clay called “pygg”, and spare change was often saved in such a pot. Around 1600, an English potter unfamiliar with this custom was asked to make a “pygg bank.” Misunderstanding the instructions, he created a clay vessel in the shape of a pig. This is how the piggy bank came to be. **************************************** You would have to drink 100 cups of coffee in four hours to get the lethal dose of caffeine which is 10 grammes. **************** **************** ******** Flamingos get their pink colour from the shrimp they eat. The more shrimp they eat the deeper pink they become. **************************************** Dolphins don’t automatically breathe they have to tell themselves to.

The average heart beats 100,000 times each day. **************************************** When you crack your knuckles the pop you hear is a bubble of gas bursting. **************************************** An elephant’s penis is about 1.5 metres long, the longest

of any animal

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For spirits live, and moan, and wander there.

(The Spirit Stone') It would take some seventy years before Guianese writers Edgar Mittelholzer, Wilson Harris, Jan Carew, Martin Carter, and more recently Pauline Melville and Fred D'Aguiar — began to use as resource the mythical dimension of the Guianese landscape.

In the months before his death, the Guianese newspapers waxed wroth on the impropriety of language in the streets of Georgetown: "it is exceedingly painful to hear and witness the extraordinary amount of indecent language and unbecoming behaviour exhibited by drunken women every hour of the day ... in the very face of the police, the most offensive language is used ..." (Daily Chronicle, April 18,1890). It was not until the next century that a new poetry arose, based on the thew and sinew of the Creole language of the streets." The 'vulgarity' (diction and tone) of the new writing would appear to be utterly different from Martin's, but the poetic project was the same: the quest for El Dorado, sifting through the rubble of experience for the gold of the imagination.

Notes 1 The self-naming is ironic, in light of the Classical names — Caesar, Horace, Juno, etc. — given mockingly to slaves; in light, too, of Martin's frailty.

2 See Eleanor Sinnette, Arthur Alfonso Schomburg (1989).

3 Quotations from newspapers are to be found on the end-page of Leo's Local Lyrics (1886).

4 According to The Argosy and The Guiana Herald, both quoted in Leo's Local Lyrics, ibid.

5 A. J. Seymour, in Kyk-Over-Al, Vol. 1, No. 3, December 1946.

6 I am grateful to Evan Persaud for helping me to locate Martin's death certificate in the Georgetown Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths (Superintendent Registrar's District K, Division No. 28, Page 119, Entry 1188). His death and burial at Le Repentir Cemetery Georgetown, are reported in his obituary, in Daily Chronicle, 25th June, 1890. Between 1834 and 1838, 1,300 German immigrants landed in Jamaica to work on the sugar plantations. Others migrated elsewhere in the Caribbean. See M. S. Wokeck, Trade in Strangers. The Beginnings of Mass Migration to North America (1999).

Daily Chronicle, 17th April, 1890. See also Stabroek News, 8th April 2004, pp. 14-15.

N. E. Cameron, A History of the Queen's College (1951), pp.

25-26.

9 P. H. Daly, Currents in Caribbean Life (1955), p. 37. See too N. E. Cameron (ed.), Guianese Poetry (1931) and A. J. Seymour, The Making of Guianese Literature (1982). w English novelists like Arthur Conan Doyle, in The Lost World (1912) and W. H. Hudson, in Green Mansions (1904), had already used the Guianese/Amazonian jungle as a setting for mythic fable.

11See my 'Introduction,' in Slave Song (1984).

**************************************** No word in the English language rhymes with silver, month, orange or purple. **************************************** Just 20 seconds worth of fuel remained when Apollo 11’s lunar module landed on the moon. **************************************** You can see the stars during the day from the bottom of a well. **************************************** The Australian emu holds the land speed record for birds at about 50 kilometres per hour.

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

(A look at some of the stories that made the news ‘back-in-the-day’ with CLIFFORD STANLEY)

CID ISSUES “JOBS” WARNING (Guyana Graphic July 26, 1970)

Assistant Commissioner (Crime), Mr. Dalrymple Heyliger, yesterday issued a warning to Guyanese to carry out thorough investigations before responding to job offers by overseas employment agencies.

So far, two agencies which have advertised from bases in the United Kingdom have been discovered to be bogus.

At least 160 Guyanese have been defrauded of about $1,536 after each of them transmitted $9.60 to the two agencies in Britain.

This discovery was made after Scotland Yard had been requested by the Crime Chief to investigate the genuineness of the two agencies which advertised in Guyana, offering to help Guyanese by procuring jobs for them in the UK if they made an initial transmission of €2 ($9.60) each.

THE WATER BED (Daily Chronicle October 26, 1970)

Ever been spanked as a child for wetting your bed? Well, this would not have happened if you had slept on a water-bed.

Costing $500, the water bed can be seen on display at T. Geddes Grant (Guyana) Ltd. In Main Street, and it carries a 50-year warranty.

The revolutionary water bed holds one ton of water, and it can bear the weight of two persons with a total of 350 pounds.

With advertising slogans like “Enjoy the most relaxing sleep of your life every night”, the “Signature” water-bed is something to see for the adventurous to sleep on.

You may say: “It’s all right for couples but what about me, I have kids.”

Well the manufacturers cater for “Bat Man,” “Superman” and the whole army of swordsmen who carry pins and other sharp-edged playthings. It comes with a patch kit, and if punctured, the hole can be covered before the water leaks out. When moving, the water bed, can be emptied and refilled with a hose.

For a more attractive bed the water can be coloured and there would be no need for a sheet.

Perhaps later, a means could be devised to even have a few fishes swimming around in the water bed.

Want to sleep like a mermaid, then try it.

Scotland Yard carried out the investigations, and according to Mr. Heyliger: “We have not found the agencies of which you sought information. There are no such agencies in the areas stated.”

IN MEMORY OF SIR DAVID ROSE (Guyana Graphic October 31, 1970)

Part of the celebrations to mark the recent festival of Diwali was a torchlight parade through the streets of Georgetown to the tomb of the late Governor General Sir. David Rose.

Lady Rose, widow of the late Sir David led the parade which was attended by a large cross-section of Guyanese.

Lady Rose also addressed those present at the tomb of her late husband at the Seven Ponds in the Botanic Gardens.

Clifford Stanley can be reached to discuss any of the foregoing articles at cliffantony@gmail. com or cell phone # 657 2043.

EXCITING REGATTA (Guyana Graphic October 25, 1970)

The Demerara Rowing and Aquatic Club holds its fourth annual Regatta today from 11.00 a.m. at its Ruimveldt headquarters.

Promising to be the most exciting yet, this year’s programme includes speedboat races, skiing, swimming, rowing and the event of the day the flying of the ski kite.

This will be the first time that Guyanese will have the opportunity to see this magnificent display of wizardry, strength of body and mind, and the dare-devil spirit of Maurice Amres as he flies his ski kite.

The Regatta will be opened by President Arthur Chung.

WE HAVE ROCKS 2.5 BILLION YEARS OLD, SAYS BOOKLET (Guyana Graphic September 6, 1970)

A new booklet written by former expatriate staff members of the Geological Surveys Department has disclosed that radiometric tests in the Barama-Mazaruni area show that some of the rocks there are over 2,500 million years old.

Others in the Roraima area, believed to the source of river bed deposits and diamonds, have been dated as originating 2000 million years ago, before the period when the sea invaded Guyana and reached as far as the foot of the Pakaraimas.

These disclosures are contained in the booklet: “The folded Precambrian of northern Guyana related to the Guiana Shield” written by Dr. E. Williams, Dr. R.T. Cannon and Dr. R.B. McConnell, who were formerly attached to the Geological Survey Department but are now in various parts of the world.

The booklet, which contains a series of geological studies, and was recently published, is available at the Ministry of Information, which said that it was written as a follow-up to the Provisional Geological Map published in 1962.

The Ministry said that it was intended to set out the facts on which the authors based their conclusions concerning their interpretations of the Guiana Shield area.

BOGUS DOCTOR WEEPS AS HE IS FINED $126 (Guyana Graphic October 14, 1970)

Magistrate Roopan Singh, after being urged to show leniency in meting out punishment for the last time before leaving the magistracy, yesterday imposed a fine of $126 on Harry Persaud, who was found guilty of false pretence.

Persaud who wept in court when convicted, was also ordered to pay $79.58 costs, with an alternative of three months imprisonment.

He was found guilty of obtaining $3.50 from aged Sylvanie Nugent after pretending that he was a medical doctor who could cure her.

The Magistrate overruled no case submissions by defense counsel, and said he believed the victim’s story that Persaud gave her something to rub on her hands and face and posed as a doctor.

After Persaud admitted 20 previous convictions, the Magistrate said he was doubtful whether his lenience would be appreciated in this case.

But Counsel said that Persaud may have chalked up the convictions because he had not been treated with leniency before.

CATTLE SURVEY IN THE RUPUNUNI (Guyana Graphic October 20, 1970)

The plans for development of livestock in the Rupununi Savannahs took a step forward recently when a U.S graduate in ranch management, Mr. Terrence Arthur, was posted to Lethem to conduct a survey of cattle in the government ranches.

Mr. Arthur is working in collaboration with Mr. Tom Gordon of the Interior Department.

A report from the area said that work had already begun at Meritezero.

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Injunction granted to City Council dubbed wrong exercise of court’s jurisdiction

T

HE findings that a Magistrate’s Court had indulged in a wrong exercise when it issued a mandatory injunction restraining Mr. Insanally from making additions to his building earned the comment about wrong exercise from the Federal Supreme Court.

Because the Council did not relate the matter to the Attorney General etc. the Federal Court allowed the appeal by Insanally, since it was a wrong exercise of the Court to give a declaration that a defendant has committed a criminal offence.

At the end of the four-day hearing, judgment was entered for Insanally with costs awarded.

The facts of the case disclosed that, in 1961, the Georgetown Town Clerk obtained a declaration from the Magistrate’s Court that Mr. Insanally by altering and making additions to a building, had committed acts of nuisance and was in breach of the Public Health Ordinance.

A mandatory injunction was also granted to restrain the appellant Insanally from doing and making further additions or alterations.

But the Federal Supreme Court, constituted

by Chief Justice Sir Eric Hallinan and Justices A. M. Lewis and J. F. Marnan, held that the exercise was wrong.

According to the Federal Supreme Court, it is a wrong exercise of the Court’s jurisdiction to give a declaration that a defendant has committed a criminal offence.

According to the Federal Supreme Court, the acts alleged against the appellant did not infringe on any right vested in the Town Council, but constituted a public wrong and accordingly, the Town Council could not sue, except with the involvement of the Attorney General.

Representing the appellant were Dr F. W. H. Ramsahoye and C. A.F. Hughes, and Mr. C. Lloyd Luckhoo, Q. C and Mr. S. Rahaman represented the respondent.

Sir Eric Hallinan, in delivering the judgment, said: “The Georgetown Town Clerk, on September 1, 1959, issued a summons in the Magistrates Court against the appellant under Section 136 of the Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 145, for breach of that Ordinance. The building inspector has visited the appellant’s premises, lot 9, Camp Street, Newburg, and found that he had extended the building on the northern side by a structure 8’ 6” by 47’ 6”, so that

a building whose authorised area was 767 square feet had been increased by 403 square feet. After numerous adjournments in the Magistrate’s Court, the appellant during the absence of the Town Council’s lawyer, succeeded (in circumstances which reflect little credit on the Court and still less on the appellant) in amending the summons so that the area, the subject matter of the offence, was reduced from 403 square feet to a mere area of some 67 square

feet ; whereupon, the appellant quickly pleaded guilty and the magistrate fined him $10.

Even after the case in the Magistrate’s Court had ended, the appellant continued to extend his building; and by February 17, 1960, the area of unauthorised building had reached 496 square feet. The Town Council then launched the present proceeding in the name of the Town Clerk, claiming a declaration that the appellant had, by altering and adding to the building, done acts of nuisance and was in breach of the Public Health Ordinance, and of the by-laws made under the Georgetown Town Council Ordinance Chapter 152 ;also, the Town Council claimed a mandatory injunction that the appellant should pull down the unauthorised building, and an injunction to

VII

restrain him from doing further alterations or additions.

The Court granted the Town Council the declaration as claimed, and also granted an injunction to restrain the appellant from doing and making further additions and alterations.

The Chief Justice added: “It can be said at once that the declaration granted by the Court cannot stand. There was no evidence

By George Barclay of nuisance, and no authority has been cited to us where declaration was made in civil proceedings that the defendant had committed a criminal offence. On principle I am of the opinion that it is a wrong exercise of the court’s jurisdiction to give a declaratory judgment of that kind. However, had this action been properly constituted, an injunction might have been an appropriate remedy - A. G. V. Ashbourne Recreation Ground Co; (1903) 1Ch.D.101, and A.G. v. Wimbledon House Estates, [1904] 2 Ch. D. 39 are cases where suits were successfully brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the public, to restrain by injunction infringement of statutes dealing with public health and by-laws made thereunder.

Sir Eric, in his final remarks, said: “Obedience to bye-laws even to the construction of a dwelling house is, I think, a public duty, and disobedience to their instructions is prima facie a public wrong.”

“I think the judgment in this case should be set aside and judgment entered for the appellant with costs here and below”.

The other judges of the Federal Supreme Court concurred.

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

The pitfalls of home care

Barrel of Apples

M

y older sister and brother cut me off if I don't agree with them. Most of my life I've known this and kept my mouth shut and my opinions to myself.

Five years ago my sister cut me off because I told her I only had four days

to get together during the holidays. So two years later she sends me a letter, ex-

pressing how jealous she is of me because I have a good job, happy family and a nice house. But she has all those things too. I did not respond.

It's always something with her, and I'm tired of her head games.

My brother has always been a bachelor, going from one woman to the next. He prefers much younger women. Five years ago my son went to visit and my brother was mean to him, even cruel. I did not confront him; I just didn't put my son in that position again.

My brother travels abroad. His last girlfriend said he goes to prostitutes and brothels and forwarded emails and photos as proof. Again, I kept my mouth shut.

After he split with her, he decided not to get

For many dentists home-care efforts become vexing and frustrating for their patients who find out their activities are not working. That is because many people think that state-of-the-art home care is basically just brushing well two or three times a day, and flossing at least once a day. Most people now know to brush and floss after every meal, three times a day, and to floss thoroughly at least once a day, probably because this message had been drummed into their heads over the years in toothpaste or mouthwash advertisements that induce them to buy and use certain products.

Unfortunately, the public has been grievously misinformed about brushing, flossing, and using some advertised product; they all still fall short of what’s required for genuinely effective oral (systemic) health maintenance, by far, even though together they make up the current standard for oral care.

Let’s begin with the shortcomings of brushing. One has to obey the Rule of Thoroughness. This Rule states that the total time spent cleaning the mouth during every 24 hours must be equal to the amount of natural teeth in minutes. For example, if a person has 20 teeth they should spend at least 20 minutes every day brushing, flossing, etc.

Compounding the frequently ineffectual home-care regimen is the notion that flossing somehow cleans under the gums. It does, but only so far as the soft tissue on the tongue side and cheek of the tooth will let it. The depth below this level is where most of the disease occurs (gingivitis excepted). While flossing has definite benefits for many who perform this important task, it has been said that only 2 percent of the population flosses every day. Even doubling that to 4 percent still leaves 96 percent of the public not flossing even once a day. And those who do floss can’t clean the bacterial stew out from under the gums. In fact, although flossing does move the plaque and food debris that builds up between the teeth, and does dislodge some of it so it can be cleansed out of the mouth, the balance of the debris is forced into the sulcus (crevice between tooth and gum).

a place to live. He decided to travel to family members and friends' houses, staying up to two months at a time. I call it his I'm-taking-advantage-of-you tour.

He called a week before Christmas saying he was bringing his latest young girlfriend to my house. I told him no. He got irate and sent me a long email saying I'm a horrible person and he will never talk to me again.

I can live happily not being abused any longer, but because of what happened with my brother, our 79-year-old mother has little to do with me. It's sad. At the same time I'm emotionally exhausted trying to keep peace in this dysfunctional family. Any suggestions?

Kerry Kerry, we have one suggestion. Celebrate!

Your sister didn't have anyone to abuse at the moment, and she missed abusing you. She was willing to say she was jealous of you even though you know she was not. She should have apologised to you, but you know she never will.

Fortunately, you said no. And your brother? He doesn't belong in your home. Again, you said no.

In the real world, when a victim says no, the abuse continues. In the best of worlds, the victim says no and the abuse stops. In a perfect world, the victim says no and the abusers say, "I'm cutting you off."

You are living in the perfect world.

The only problem is your mother, who plays minion to the other two. Don't change what's right to please her. It's a small price to pay for sanity.

The apple is delicious, once you cut out the rotten spots.

Wayne & Tamara

The pitfalls of home care can be made even worse if you use a toothpaste or mouthwash containing ingredients that carry warnings “seek professional help or contact a poison control center immediately,” and are known to cause hard. And these products that are supposed to help us get healthy?

My professional advice is to stay away from them. Products containing ingredients that can kill people, induce oral cancer, cause allergic reactions, burning, itching, redness, and soft tissue sloughing, and degrade tooth-coloured fillings and cosmetic dental bonding agents are not improving the health of the user. People with gum disease already have enough problems without adding toxic products to their oral health program.

As far as I am concerned, oral health can best be accomplished by exclusively using healthy products and techniques.

I would like to make it clear, just for the record, that I am all for brushing and flossing. Both of these activities are fundamental oral health procedures, and both offer benefits if they are done frequently (brushing and flossing have to be done often enough to keep plaque, and other debris removed by these activities, at sufficiently minimal levels to ensure that the gum tissue remains healthy). I especially want a patient’s brushing and flossing efforts to be effective and non-injurious, but unfortunately I often see just the opposite.

It is extremely common for dentists to see toothbrush abrasion from improper brushing, or the effects of the wrong kind of brush. As I said in previous articles, hard and medium brushes should only be used for cleaning small motor parts and boots, not teeth. As far as flossing is concerned, gingival clefts (cuts) are also inflammatory injury to the gums not only allows microorganisms into the body but also causes gum and bone recession, even occasional tooth loss. (For some reason, I’ve seen moderate to severe flossing damage almost exclusively in women, some of it requiring surgery to repair the damage!) These are very poor rewards for such vigorous efforts intended only to improve health. Brushing and flossing can both be performed effectively, and without injury.

The public’s perception of periodontal (gum) disease and its consequences is, unfortunately, still not yet in tune with the health consequences associated with what is, in fact a systemic infection. Until those perceptions change on a widespread basis the medical and dental professions, as well as in the public domain, we will continue to lose the battle.

However, perceptions and concepts can occasionally change almost overnight, and I am encouraged that the public and the health professions may soon start viewing periodontal disease and its potentially lethal toll in a total new light. Only then will any meaningful improvement occur. I don’t know if a person’s cause of death will ever be listed as gum disease, since it was perhaps a heart attack or stroke that will ultimately be the cause of death, but I do know that it would certainly help elevate the public’s awareness of how serious this health problem is.

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

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By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally

5 Ways to Wear Matte Makeup After years of ubiquitous shimmer, it’s time to take a shine to matte makeup: subtle, beautiful, long-lasting, and oh-so-easy to apply. * Welcome, Matte 1. Its long-lasting. Matte makeup stays on better than more emollient (creamy or glossy) makeup, and it won’t pile up in creases, either. “Matte makeup generally contains no slippery mineral oil or petrolatum, so it’s not apt to migrate,” says specialist.

Instructions 1. Identify areas of your wooden furniture that are unsightly because they have been bumped or scraped.

2. Get your walnut.

3. Rub the walnut on the damaged area.

4. Watch in amazement as the damaged area begins to darken.

5. Step back and admire your work. Hey, you didn't even break a sweat!

Aspirin: Get Rid of Armpit Stains on T-Shirts

Grind up an aspirin tablet or two. Then make a paste out of it using water, lemon or vinegar. Spread the paste on the stained area and let sit for an hour before washing.

How to Clean a Shower Head

2. Matte foundation is ideal for oily skin. By definition, matte makeup is oil-absorbing. So it’s a happy marriage of form and function for people who start to shine within an hour of applying makeup.

For more coverage, apply with a sponge; for less, use your fingers or a brush, as for those with non-oily skin, no need to shy away—just modify accordingly.

3. It can divert attention from wrinkles. You know how shining a light on something calls attention to it? That’s what shimmer makeup can do to the creases on and at the corners of your eyes, “Matte shadow is flattering on crepey lids because it covers the inconsistency in texture, so all looks smooth.”

Freezer: Freeze Candles to Make Them Last Longer

4. It can be a subtle way to try a new shade. Not only can shine bring wrinkles to the fore but it can also make color appear more intense, says Mendelson. So if you want to give red lipstick a whirl but don’t want to broadcast it to the world, tap a matte version onto your lips. You’ll be left with all of the pretty pigment but none of the showy gloss.

5. It’s great in photos. Powdery makeup produces a porcelain finish that never looks greasy or shiny in pictures. “I always tell my bridal clients that even if they wear dewier makeup in real life, their wedding day is the one time they should rely heavily on matte,” says Annelise Nutt, a makeup artist and stylist in Nashville.

Put candles in the freezer for at least 2 hours before using. Once you burn them, the wax will melt at a much slower pace, making them last much longer!

Use a walnut to cover up dings in furniture.

Brown Sugar: Facial Scrub

Vintage furniture it has come in handy again and again, like magic, a single walnut covers up the small dings and scrapes in your wooden furniture.

What You Need Ingredients [OR] Materials dinged up wood furniture one walnut

A scrub is good to do about once a month to remove dead skin and bacteria built up in pores and remove excess oil from the skin.

Brown sugar does just as well as expensive products and will definitely result in a clearer and smoother complexion.

Can you believe the difference!? It looks brand new again.

To clean your shower head: * pour distilled white vinegar in a plastic baggy * Secure it to the shower head with a rubber band. * Let it soak for 1 hour. * Wipe clean with a wet cloth.

Easy fix for a clogged shower head! Afterwards, dabbed a rag into the bag of vinegar and shined up the fixtures.

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Why Nollywood actress Uche Iwuji’s husband dumped her after 15 months of marriage Uche Iwuji has been celebrating her separation from her husband Juwon Lawal all-over social media.. However Encomium magazine claims the reason for the break-up was infidelity on her part.., “On Friday, November 16, 2012, when the estranged couple said ‘I do’ to each other, little did they know that the boat of their romance would capsize so soon. But to the surprise of many within and outside the industry, months after, rumour mills were agog that the hitherto Romeo and Juliet had gone their separate ways on account of infidelity on the side of Iwuji, linking her to a bank MD. According to an industry source, the real reason the relationship went sour was largely due to the alleged romance between Iwuji and the top banker.

“I learnt that when Juwon got a wind of the rumour of his wife’s romance with her banker lover, he couldn’t believe it because just last year, he bought a car worth N4m for her. So, what’s her problem? But when the guy returned from Europe, he found a lot of dirty and implicating text messages of the man in Iwuji’s mobile phone. I learnt all explanations by Iwuji fell on Juwon’s deaf ears. He just decided to call it quits with her.”

“I used to beg for food & clean rooms for N200”

- Tonto Dikeh tells her touching story

I Spent Half A Million Every Month On My Hair In Order To Look Outstanding From The Rest

In West Africa, hair style is not something that movie stars used to compete with each other just like the way we hear the movie stars talk about what goes into the type of dress they wear.

Ghanaian actress Salma Mumuni for some time now has been making noise on social networks about her hair style and how much goes into it; as if anybody cares.

The single actress revealed to Nigeriafilms.com that she spent over $ 3,000 to maintain the new hair style that will make her identity upstanding. “I maintain it every week too” she proudly said.

Here is what Tonto Dikeh wrote about her struggles before the fame...Read and be inspired..

Hmmmm looking back and all I can say iz Lord I thank you for talent oh life waz nt easy somtimz it seemz iz d end of d world, n somtimz I even sit n ask God why me? N somtimz I used to say why waz I nt born abroad cuz I used to think money fall frm tree ova der! Uni life waz so hard for me, handouts I could not afford I beg frm hand to hand jst to eat! Den wil be jeans @ alaba market if d jeanz is longer Dan me I will cut it to my size n I will say iz rugged jeans! I will ask frdz for favour b4 they help they will ask me to do somtin for dem eg clean their room, help with course work jst to hav 2000 nair gosh, I never allowed dat to pull me down play like play I finished my uni n graduate with 2nd class Engineering! Job waz hard to get mov frm place to place until 1 day I came across a poster dat says BE THE NEXT MOVIE STAR I applied and to GOD be the Glory THEY called me I waz sort listed for the realty TV show tho I dint win tho I dint win but I came out 2nd and the rest iz history so palz if I can make it in 9ja! U can also do d same life iz full of HARD TIMEZ but never let it break u down, never give up fight for what u believe cause God haz iz special plan for u! Diz my life my story hope to read urz som day n I see greatness in daz readn diz #EasyLionEasyTiger #poko

Monalisa Chinda: ?Lanre Nzeribe is Only a Friend?

I guess we won’t see Monalisa Chinda walking down the aisle with Lanre Nzeribe anytime soon.

The Nollywood star has revealed that she and her beau who creatively helped with her Monalisa Magazine, are not a couple.

On her relationship, she tells Punch Newspaper, “That is a personal decision. Some things are private— they are not meant to be discussed on the pages of newspapers. Lanre Nzeribe is only a friend and I won’t say more than that.”

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

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Bipasha confesses her love for Harman

Salman and Aamir bond

Bipasha admits dating Harman. From a long time there were speculations about Bipasha Basu and Harman Baweja dating. After repeatedly being spotted together at different events, both the actors kept denying the fact that they are a couple.

Bips has finally confessed her love for Harman on a social networking website. The actress tweeted this,”Stating the obvious! Yes Harman n me r a couple :). Finally I have met a person who is a far better human being than I am. “Blessed.”

The two Khans recently indulged in a hearty conversation. The two mighty Khans, Salman and Aamir, are known to be fond of each other.

So recently when the two happened to be shooting in the same studio (Aamir for Satyamev Jayate 2 and Salman for a show), they couldn’t resist meeting each other.

On learning about Salman’s presence, Aamir rushed to meet him in his vanity van. The two indulged in a hearty conversation for a good 20 minutes. Not just that, people outside could hear great laughter emanating from the vanity van!

Manisha Koirala joins hands with Sahachari Foundation to spread cancer awareness The initiative is called Design One and the foundation will donate specially designed mastectomy blouses to the woman’s cancer initiative for Tata Memorial Hospital and Manisha is excited about supporting the cause.

Bollywood actor and a cancer survivor, Manisha Koirala has joined hands with Sahachari Foundation to raise funds for cancer survivors. She says support in any form helps the healing process. “Having gone through the experience myself, I feel that support in any way or form is an important part of the healing process. I hope these specially designed blouses will give that much needed boost to women who have fought breast cancer and survived it,” said the actor.

“Sahachari Foundation’s support to cancer survivors in the form of the donation convinced me that I had to be associated with the cause,” added Manisha, who found solace in yoga following her successful battle against cancer in 2012.

Design One, a two-day couture extravaganza that brings together some of the leading designers to raise funds for deserving NGO’s working for women’s betterment, will be held at The Lodhi hotel from Feb 26.

The fourth edition will see designers like Pankaj and Nidhi, Mayank and Shradha, Atsu Sekhose, Falguni Mehta, and Rina Singh showcasing their spring-summer 2014 collection that will range from couture apparel, fine jewelleries to accessories.

Proceeds from the exhibition will be donated to select NGOs at the year end.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan clarifies about her comeback film – Read full statement!

There have been a lot of speculations about the Bachchan bahu’s comeback film A few days back we reported that Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is ready for an action-packed comeback. We had also got Ash’s look in P Vasu’s film as a Kalari fighter. However, the Bachchan bahu has issued a statement refuting confirmations of her doing the film. The statement says, ” This statement is in reference to the press release/ rumoured attachment of Ms.Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Mr. P. Vasu’s film which has been doing the rounds very strongly today in the media and the industry. With due respect to all the professionals concerned , I would like to state that this was one among the several scripts/ ideas she has been approached for but there have been no confirmations at all. This ” press release” came as a huge surprise to all of us.

An email clarifying this erroneous ‘press release’ has already been received by our office from the concerned parties.

Have Kareena Kapoor Khan and Bipasha Basu ended their cold war?

These two B-town beauties have never been best of friends. In fact, Bebo and Bips were at loggerheads when they worked together in Ajnabee way back in 2001. But now it seems there is dosti brewing between them.

We all know about Kareena Kapoor Khan and Bipasha Basu have always shared not so friendly vibes. But recently when they came face-to-face at IIFA press conference, both the actors didn’t shy away from greeting each other. That’s not all! The Kapoor gal and her Ajnabee co-star even shared a kiss and a warm hug. Now that must have surely been the defining moment of the evening.

We hear initially Bebo and the Bong beauty stood at extreme ends on the stage but later they changed places were seen chatting with each other. Kareena’s hubby dearest Saif Ali Khan also joined the duo. Besides their famous catfights, Bebo and Ms Basu didn’t get along coz the latter was also linked up with Saif around the release of their film Race.

With their kiss and make-up episode at IIFA press meet, it seems these two starlets have decided to let bygones be bygones.

Well, it’s always nice when B-town celebs patch-up. After all, we are all big fans of happily-ever-after endings.

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OLYMPIC TECH Powering the Sochi 2014 Games

HAPPY MASHRAMANI GUYANA! Cultural Folklore; Celebrating 44! Enjoy today, my fellow Guyanese. Wave “yuh” colourful flags high, have clean entrainment.

Moscow, Russia has the largest community of billionaires in the world. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth.

The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXII Olympic Winter Games, is a major international multi-sport event being

in the history of the Games.

The drones, facial recognition systems, patrol boats equipped to warn of underwater attackers, and extensive network monitoring are just a few to mention.

The games themselves depend on technology, not just for timing, scorekeeping, and communication, but to assure the presence of adequate amounts of snow: The ski runs around Sochi will be targeted by about 400 snowmaking cannons and swaths of snow will be preserved beneath thermal insulation blankets.

Let the games begin, and let the technology do more good than harm.

SNOW CANNONS - LET IT SNOW Unfortunately for the Olympic athletes, the choice to hold the winter games at Sochi - one of the warmest districts in Russia - might not have been thought through so well. To make sure there was enough powdery snow to go around, Russian event-organisers used snow cannons to generate vast amounts of the white stuff. About 230 million gallons of water turned into snow,Russian officials have stockpiled 16 million cubic feet of snow for the Sochi games. All that's missing is flavouring and cones!

WI-FI AT THE OLYMPIC VILLAGE Wi-Fi is everywhere nowadays. And no more is it so than in Sochi, with an estimate 54 Terabytes per second (Tbps) of traffic flowing through its networks during the games. This is a massive in-

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

crease from Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics, where the network could handle just 4 Tbps. The network, powered by Avaya, will serve 30,000 athletes, staff, and members of the media.

SAMSUNG'S WOW APP Smartphone maker Samsung, not wanting to miss out (or have anyone at home for that matter) on the latest from the games, created an app that allows Galaxy phone owners to keep up-to-date with the latest breaking news and scores. The Korean electronics giant released the app in late January, allowing its customers to have a customised view of the games, and get the inside track of what's going on.

OMEGA: OFFICIAL TIMEKEEPER Sochi is the 26th Olympic Games at which OMEGA will serve as Official Olympic Timekeeper since it was first appointed to the role in 1932. If you consider the number of people and the technology regarding timekeeping, there is no comparison between now and then. There has been a history of great development and OMEGA has played a major role in this evolution of timekeeping technology.

AERIAL DRONES Along with the heavy surveillance at the Sochi games, don't be too surprised if you see a drone hovering nearby. Your flying friends will be used to film Olympic events rather than for surveillance, allowing the media to get very close to the action without distracting the athletes. That's not to say the watchful eye of Big Brother won't be looming over the event.

SAVING FACE Arriving at the Sochi airport and being welcomed by an Artec 3D Face Recognition System is just amazing.Installed last summer,in preparation for the crowds, the system is capable of identifying a person on the walk, in hats or sunglasses and it can also tell apart identical twins.Yep, it’s that good.

INTERCEPTED When Russia wants to intercept electronic communications, it relies on a system called SORM. It's not a single device. Rather it's a system with many different components, made by different companies. Vitok-IP, a combination of software and hardware from Norsi-Trans, is one piece of the lawful interception puzzle in Russia.

held in Sochi, Russia in the tradition of the Winter Olympic Games.

Scheduled for 7–23 February 2014, Sochi was selected as the host city. A total of 98 events in 15 winter sport disciplines are being held during the Games.

The games will test both athletes and technology. For the competitors, the nature of the competition remains much as it always has been: an extreme physical and mental challenge. But the athletes' tools will be different, thanks to ongoing research and new approaches to the various winter sports at the games.

Sochi 2014 is the surveillance Olympics attendees are facing some of the most invasive and systematic spying and surveillance

TELECOMMUNICATIONS Some US$580M was spent on construction and modernisation of telecommunications in the region. Again, Avaya was named by the Sochi Organising Committee as the official supplier of telecommunications equipment. Avaya provides the data network equipment, including switches, routers, security, telephones and contact-center systems. It provides engineers and technicians to design and test the systems, and works with other technology partners to provide athletes, dignitaries and fans with information about the Games.

FILMING Several broadcasters are using the Games to trial the emerging ultra-high definition television (UHDTV) standard.

THE OTHER ULTIMATE DRIVING MACHINE BMW engineers have created a new two-person bobsled using lightweight materials, including Kevlar and carbon fibre, to maximize aerodynamic performance.

The above is just a few of the great technologies being used at the games. Technology, it’s ubiquitous, now and forever.

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Charles Darwin -On the Origin of the Species

C

harles Robert Darwin was born in S h re w s b u r y, Shropshire, England, on 12 February 1809 at his family home, The Mount. He was the fifth of six children of wealthy society doctor and financier Robert Darwin, and Susannah Darwin (née Wedgwood). He was the grandson of two prominent abolitionists: Erasmus Darwin on his father’s side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother’s side.

Both families were largely Unitarian, though the Wedgwoods were adopting Anglicanism. Robert Darwin, himself quietly a freethinker, had baby Charles baptised in November 1809 in the Anglican St Chad’s Church, Shrewsbury, but Charles and his siblings attended the Unitarian chapel with their mother. The eightyear-old Charles already had a taste for natural history and collecting when he joined the day school run by its preacher in 1817. That July, his mother died. From September 1818 he joined his older brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican Shrewsbury School as a boarder.

Darwin spent the summer of

1825 as an apprentice doctor, helping his father treat the poor of Shropshire, before going to the University of Edinburgh Medical School, at the time the best medical school in the UK, with his brother Erasmus in October 1825. He found lectures dull and surgery distressing, so neglected his studies. He learned taxidermy from John Edmonstone, a freed black slave who had accompanied Charles Waterton in the South American rainforest, and often sat with this “very pleasant and intelligent man.”

Darwinism is a theory of biological evolution developed

by Charles Darwin and others, stating that all species of

organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Also called Darwinian theory. It originally included the broad concepts of transmutation of species or of evolution which gained general scientific acceptance when Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, including concepts which predated Darwin’s theories, but subsequently referred to specific concepts of natural selection, the Weismann barrier or in genetics the central Please turn to page XIV

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Charles Darwin ...

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dogma of molecular biology.[1] Though it usually refers strictly to biological evolution, the term has been used by creationists to refer to the origin of life, and has even been applied to concepts of cosmic evolution, both fields which have no connection to Darwin’s work. It is therefore considered the belief and acceptance of Darwin’s, and his predecessors, work in place of other theories including divine design and extraterrestrial origins.

The meaning of “Darwinism” has changed over time, and varies depending on its context.[4] In the United States, the term “Darwinism” is often used by creationists as a pejorative term in reference to beliefs such as atheistic naturalism, but in the United Kingdom the term has no negative connotations,

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

being freely used as a shorthand for the body of theory dealing with evolution, and in particular, evolution by natural selection.[5] The term was coined by Thomas Henry Huxley in April 1860,[6] and was used to describe evolutionary concepts in general, including earlier concepts such as Spencerism. Many of the proponents of Darwinism at that time, including Huxley, had reservations about the significance of natural selection, and Darwin himself gave credence to what was later called Lamarckism. The strict neo-Darwinism of August Weismann gained few supporters in the late 19th century. During this period, which has been called “the eclipse of Darwinism”, scientists proposed various alternative evolutionary mechanisms which eventually proved untenable. The development of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s, incorporating natural selection with population genetics and Mendelian genetics, revived Darwinism in an updated form.[7] While the term has remained in use amongst scientific authors when referring to modern evolutionary theory, it has increasingly been argued that it is an inappropriate term for modern evolutionary theory. For example, Darwin was unfamiliar with the work of Gregor Mendel, and as a result had only a vague and inaccurate understanding of heredity. He naturally had no inkling of yet more recent developments and, like Mendel himself, knew nothing of genetic drift for example.

Darwinism” soon came to stand for an entire range of evolutionary (and often revolutionary) philosophies about both biology and society. One of the more prominent approaches, summed in the 1864 phrase “survival of the fittest” by the philosopher Herbert Spencer, later became emblematic of Darwinism even though Spencer’s own understanding of evolution (as expressed in 1857) was more similar to that of Jean-Baptiste Lamarck than to that of Darwin, and predated the publication of Darwin’s theory in 1859.

What is now called “Social Darwinism” was, in its day, synonymous with “Darwinism” — the application of Darwinian principles of “struggle” to society, usually in support of anti-philanthropic political agenda. Another interpretation, one notably favoured by Darwin’s half-cousin Francis Galton, was that “Darwinism” implied that because natural selection was apparently no longer working on “civilized” people, it was possible for “inferior” strains of people (who would normally be filtered out of the gene pool) to overwhelm the “superior” strains, and voluntary corrective measures would be desirable — the foundation of eugenics.

In Darwin’s day there was no rigid definition of the term “Darwinism,” and it was used by opponents and proponents of Darwin’s biological theory alike to mean whatever they wanted it to in a larger context. The ideas had international influence, and Ernst Haeckel developed what was known as Darwinismus in Germany, although, like Spencer’s “evolution”, Haeckel’s “Darwinism” had only a rough resemblance to the theory of Charles Darwin, and was not centred on natural selection at all. In 1886 Alfred Russel Wallace went on a lecture tour across the United States, starting in New York and going via Boston, Washington, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska to California, lecturing on what he called “Darwinism” without any problems. 9Source Wikipedia)

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Diabetes:

W

By Michelle Gonsalves

e hear the terms Type I and Type II Diabetes a great deal, but what do they mean? Firstly, as defined in the previous article-Diabetes is a malfunction in the body’s ability to convert carbohydrates (sweet and starchy foods such as fruit, bread and vegetables) into energy to power the body.

In a normal body, carbohydrates are converted to glucose and other simple sugars in the stomach and small intestine, which circulate in the blood through the body and goes to the liver, muscle and fat cells, either to be stored for later use or to be used immediately as energy. In a person with Diabetes this process is interrupted and the glucose is unable to enter the cells. This process relies on a hormone called insulin which is produced by the pancreas – a six inch long gland located behind the stomach.

So to distinguish between Types I and II - people with Type I Diabetes do not make any insulin so they must have insulin by in-

jection to live. This form is caused when insulin producing beta-cells in the pancreas are mistakenly destroyed by the immune system.

Type II-which is the most common type of Diabetes and accounts for about ninety-percent of cases, occurs when the body becomes resistant to its own insulin, which means it has to produce more. Over time the pancreas may just wear out, which is why it takes time to detect Type II Diabetes – it happens gradually. As time passes, about forty percent of people with Type II Diabetes need insulin injections to control their blood sugar levels.

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON DIABETES

Peoples Medical Society: Pennsylvania in 1997 defines four other types of glucose abnormalities, some of which are though technically not Diabetes, signal that Diabetes is developing. These are: Secondary Diabetes, Gestational Diabetes, Impaired Glucose Tolerance and Increased Risk of Diabetes.

SECONDARY DIABETES is used to describe a host of other conditions which can give rise to Diabetes, such as pancreatic diseases (especially chronic pancreatitis in alcoholics), hormonal

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Types of Diabetes (and also distinguishing the blood glucose abnormalities)

abnormalities, and insulin receptor disorders, drug or chemical induced Diabetes and certain genetic syndromes.

Certain prescription drugs-including glucocorticoids (used as anti-imflamatories); furosemide (a diuretic used in blood pressure control); thiazide diuretics (used in blood pressure control); and estrogen containing products such as oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy.

dizziness, fatigue, headache, sweating, trembling and in severe cases loss of consciousness.

Left untreated, the picture is bleak: Blindness and kidney disease, blood vessel damage, infection, heart disease, nerve damage, high blood pressure, stroke, limb amputation and coma may result.

So learn to recognise the symptoms of Diabetes and seek medical advice. (See box at end of article with early warning signs) Early Warning Signs Some of the early warning signs of Type I Diabetes are: Frequent urination accompanied by unusual thirst Extreme Hunger Rapid weight loss with easy tiring and fatigue Irritability, nausea and vomiting Some of the early warning signs for Type II Diabetes are: Frequent urination accompanied by unusual thirst Blurred vision or any change in sight Tingling or numbness in legs, feet and fingers Frequent skin infection or itchy skin Slow healing of cuts and bruises Drowsiness Vaginitis in women Erectile dysfunction in men

GESTATIONAL DIABETES is any type of Diabetes that is first recognised during pregnancy. It develops because of the distinct hormonal environment and metabolic demands of pregnancy. In ninety-five percent of cases, the Diabetes disappears after birth. For some women though the Diabetes remains and once a woman had had gestational Diabetes, she’s at risk for developing another form of Diabetes (usually Type II).

IMPAIRED GLUCOSE TOLERANCE is when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as Diabetes. The impairment is indicted by a fasting blood glucose reading between 115 and 140/mg/dl. Symptoms of Diabetes are generally absent.

Doctors don’t consider this a true form of Diabetes, but instead an abnormality in glucose levels – something between normal and “overt Diabetes”. A person with this condition may improve so that blood sugar levels become normal, or may remained unchanged.

About a quarter will go on to develop Diabetes, usually Type II. INCREASED RISK OF DIABETES is not a category of Diabetes but persons in this group may be at increased risk of developing Diabetes one day. This group normally includes two categories: The first refers to people with previous abnormality of glucose tolerance.

These people have no sign of abnormal glucose metabolism, but the experienced a period of impaired glucose tolerance or high blood sugar in the past. Women who have had gestational diabetes are also placed in this group.

The second category is called potential abnormality of glucose. People who have a close relative with Type I Diabetes or persons with islet cell anti-bodies are part of this group.

Each day, millions of diabetics walk a tightrope between too little sugar in the bloodstream and too much. Too much can result in weakness, fatigue, excessive thirst, laboured breathing and loss of consciousness. Too little and the diabetics may be overcome by

Sources: 1. Diabetes Questions you have… Answers you need. Published by: Peoples Medical Society: Pennsylvania in 1997.

2. 1,001 tips for living well with Diabetes. Published by: American Diabetes Association: Virginia, 2004.

3. The Home Remedies Handbook: Over 1000 ways to heal yourself. With John Renner, M.D and the Consumer Health Research Institute. Illinois: Publication International Ltd, 1993.

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Anna Catherina: a quiet village where residents bask in solace and contentment

By Alex Wayne WE rolled into this quaint little village, and I was totally enthralled with its quiet, scenic beauty, fused with the residents’ seemingly contented smiles that oozed a somewhat dreamy solace and quietness to the village.

All around, everyone was quietly going about their chores with a serious look of concentration on their faces, as if their lives depended on the tasks in which they were involved.

The tailor was sewing quietly, humming his favourite lullabies; and the fishermen were plying their trade, all ready to pitch in a few extras to keep their customers. Food vendors were doing their best to keep their customers satisfied, and the shop and boutique owners were all cheerful and welcoming, with a sweet undercurrent to their actions.

There is something very beautiful about the early morning in this beautiful West Coast Demerara village of approximately 2,000.

Here, the cool of the night lingers in the dawn’s early shadows, as the birds compete in song before the air is filled with man’s noise and the roads are taken over by smoky trucks and speeding buses.

We began our work in the middle of this intriguing village, which is located about eight and one-half miles from Vreed-en-Hoop, has an estimated terrain elevation of two metres above sea level, and with Latitude readings of 6°51’0”, and Longitude readings of 58°16’59.98” There were just a few people out in the streets when we started our work, and according to most residents, Anna Catherina is a quiet place and, above all, harmonious. It is divided into two parts, the housing scheme, and the squatting area, popularly known as ‘Sea View.’ The latter, as its name might suggest, provides an avenue of entertainment for the farming community, with sandy space, a spot for a fireside meal or bush cook, and plenty of cool, salty breeze blowing in from the Atlantic.

Most people in the village, the majority of whom are of Indian descent, earn their living as sugar workers, farmers or fishermen.

The housing scheme residents have access to electricity and landline phones, and have good roads and drainage. The squatting area residents, though, may not enjoy those luxuries of life, but they seemed ready to cope with travails with the hope that they will soon have a comfortable life like their neighbours on the roadside.

One may be tempted to enquire how the village got its name, and even though the very elderly Telochnie Persaud could not shed much light on its history, she informed us that the village was named after the famed Anna Catherina, the daughter of a famous Dutch colonial estate owner who had bought a part of Guyana and named two areas after his daughters. This Dutch family had resided in Guyana during the days when it was a colony. Hence today we are quite acquainted with Anna Catherina and Anna Regina, which are said to be historic villages.

“Bass, life stiff as ever, and meh really ah suffa since them plenty store start sell ready-made clothes. The competition is terrible, and nowadays people prefer to buy ready-made items than fuh wait a few days fuh me sew wha dem want.

“Me get this ole pedal machine fuh many years now, and me can’t afford fuh buy ah electric wan fuh speed up things, because de wuk nah come in.”

Yet he still has a few faithful customers, who are mostly the elderly; but even though he is single and lives alone, it’s very difficult to make ends meet as a result of the competition.

Fishmonger Saitram Prashad was a merry, contented soul, despite the fact that his trade of selling bush fish can be a gruelling one at times. “Bass, dis wuk wah me does do is really hard wuk, but it ah keep me head above wata.

“Most times, early marning me does get up when cack ah crow, and guh down in de backdam wid me cast net fuh catch bush fish in dem drains and trench. Sometimes me gat fuh feel in de drains fuh catch dem hassa, and many times meh does pull up snake. But dis is how me does mek me living, suh wha me guh she? Me does enjay it most times.”

UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS AND LIVELIHOOD Several very young residents lamented that, despite the calm and quiet of the village, unemployment is seeping its horrid head into their environs. Carpenter Looknauth Singh put down his hammer and nails for a while to talk about this.

“Things really quiet and peaceful in this village,” he said, “but my problem is that there is an unemployment problem that is creeping up on us. Many young boys are out of school and unable to find jobs because our village is still developing. So at times many of them could be seen liming at the street corners, with just about nothing to do.

“This is very dangerous, since idle minds can very well be lured into doing unsavoury acts in society”.

That aside, a large majority of the villagers are employed at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate as cane cutters and labourers, while a few occupy the administrative offices.

Some complained that it’s very expensive to work outside of the village, because transportation expenses take a large slice out of their small salaries and wages.

There are a few who are employed in the schools outside the village, and a small number tend to their farms in the backland areas of the village. Others have taken up the thriving trade of making concrete blocks, which brings in a quick dollar.

A FEW MISGIVINGS A few concerned housewives are lamenting the fact that the Anna Catherina Government School has come close to almost collapsing,

THE ANNAS OF OLD Under the sub-head of ‘Spanish,’ the names Santa Rosa, El Dorado, Anna Catherina and Anna Regina are cited. The last two are both plantation names, and Anna Regina specifically is in Essequibo, a county which is the subject of a spurious claim by Venezuela.

Anna Catherina is a Dutch name (‘Anna’ is a fairly common female name in both the Latin-based and Germanic languages), while the ‘Regina’ in Anna Regina is the Latin word for ‘queen’. This village was the first on the West Coast of Demerara to have housed a branch of the Royal Bank of Canada. The famous Monarch Cinema of olden times was also erected in this historic village.

CHATTING WITH RESIDENTS We stopped at a nearby food stall to chat with the cheery and bubbly ‘Tejram’, who was elated to have captured the media’s attention. While he was very happy with the dividends he was receiving from selling water coconuts, channa, polouri, egg balls and puri, he was very angry that vendors at the nearby Lenora Secondary School were locking the gates to prevent students from buying his items, which he said he keeps fresh and hot for the happy kids.

“Look, dem people does really get me mad! When de school ovah at 11:45 hours, dem canteen vendah ah get dem teacha fuh lack de gate and keep dem pickney inside till bout 12:15 hours, fuh ensure dem students buy frum de canteen. Dis ah cause me fuh get little sales, because de children prefer to buy frum me. Me get me gas stove right heasuh, and me a keep them snacks fresh and hat fuh de children. Dem ah de school deh ah carry in dem stuff since before seven in de marning, and ah sell de cold food tuh dem pickney.”

This man and his wife reportedly get up at 03:00 hours to prepare the snacks, and they would sell sometimes until 18:00 hours in the evening. This family undergoes hardship to make a living.

Our next stop was to converse with a tailor, 55-year-old Ganesh Persaud, who has been living in the village for over 40 years. As he pedalled away on his very outdated sewing machine, he narrated a tale that reflected his sufferings in his line of trade as a result of the many stores which have popped up in the village selling ready-made clothing.

Relaxing by the roadside

forcing the students to be relocated at Den Amstel Centre Ground.

Among them was single-parent and fish vendor Babita Tulsieram, who cried out at the constraints it puts on her pocket.

“Me ah wan single-parent and things really hard pon me without a fada in de home. Me gat three pickney fuh look afta, and now that dis school nah good nuh moh, me now gat fuh struggle fuh send two ah dem till ah Den Amstel. It really hard pon me, man! Every day me a wanda whey dem ah guh reparir dah ole thing wha dem gat deh fuh school or build wan new wan”.

Some housewives expressed the need for a proper playfield and entertainment facilities in the village to gainfully occupy the youths, who are often seen idle around the village, especially during the evenings.

ENTERTAINMENT AT ITS BEST Anna Catherina is certainly not lacking in the field of entertainment, despite the fact that it only has one major entertainment hub.

Villagers converge in large numbers, especially on weekends, at the Caribbean Temptation Night Club, Restaurant and Bar for nights of wild revelling and festive abandon. This joint offers varying party concepts to satisfy the whims and fantasies of all concerned.

That aside, villagers welcome their customary weddings, birthday parties, and anniversaries, which serve as more than enough entertainment for them.

Villagers have also grown accustomed to their roadside drinking, and gathering at a few roadside rum shops to ‘tek a drink’, or ‘a lil tups’, as they prefer to say.

The horse drawn cart still serves as an effective means of transport in and around the village

Everyone tries to make a living in Anna Catherina

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

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The mosque in Anna Catherina serves as a place of great solace and worship for villagers

Anisa Totaram finds life comfortable in Anna Catherina

Villagers have selective choices on footwear and clothing with the many stores and stalls marketing such items Fetching water in the old and traditional way

years ago.

Tailor Ganesh Persaud battles to keeps his trade alive in the light of intense competition from the ‘ready made stores’ DISMAL TIDINGS In the midst of the almost serene allure of this village, Bhagwattie Singh still gets goose pimples as she relates the tales of a villager whose body was found floating at the seawall this very month.

While a post-mortem examination conducted on the remains of Abdool Nazir Hack, whose body was recently found floating facedown at the Cornelia Ida, West Coast Demerara seawall. An autopsy conducted on his remains revealed that he died from asphyxiation due to drowning. The woman was hinting that since criminal elements from outside the village sometimes target the village, Mr. Hack’s death could have been a circumstance of ‘foul play.’

The 48-year-old man, popularly known as ‘Dara’, had resided at 35 Gas Station Street, Anna Catherina, West Coast Demerara with his 82-year-old mother, Zabeeda. He was, however, said to be an alcoholic.

It is believed that the man was drinking alcohol during the course of the fateful night, and wandered to the waterway, where he fell and eventually drowned. A female resident who went out to the seawall to pray had discovered Hack’s body floating in the water. She raised an alarm, and it prompted other villagers to rush to the scene. Family members who turned up were able to identify Hack from a scar at the back of his head, which he had sustained from an accident some

CONCLUSION Its peaceful streets lend an air of solace and comfort.

Its dusty dunes and beaches reflect serene tropical beauty.

Its peaceful people wear smiles of contentment and exude great camaraderie amidst even pain and sorrow.

The solitude, peace and quiet allure of Anna Catherina will take you on a journey that would play havoc with the blissful side of your senses. Why not stop in for a visit and soak up the calm and simplicity of this village?

I would be more than happy to join you there.

The sale of water coconuts surely rakes in a fast dollar for villagers

See you next Sunday when we bring you the tale of another village that will ignite your adventurous whims and fantasies.

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Guy Norman Low: A man with a deep passion for medicine and karate

By Telesha Ramnarine

GUY Norman Low, a medical doctor and karate instructor, believes in utilising his time gainfully.

“Life is short and there is a lot to learn so you shouldn’t waste time doing fruitless things,” he says, and so liming around too much is not his cup of tea.

Low, 53, was born in Suriname but came to live in Guyana ever since he was about three years old.

He has been here since then, he told the Sunday Chronicle a few days ago. After attending Central Primary School, he pressed on to Queen’s College in the early 1970s where he also did his A-Level exams.

Afterwards, he went to study medicine in Romania on a scholarship he obtained. He came back to Guyana and worked for a few years here before pursuing his diploma in Obstetrics and Gynecology in Dublin.

Low returned and worked for a few years in Guyana before moving to work at a university in South Africa for a year, after which he returned home permanently. Presently, he is doing a Masters in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Georgetown Hospital.

Because of this four-year programme, Low stopped private practice at the Medical Arts Centre last year so he can focus on his studies. It is an American-run programme that collaborates with the University of Guyana. He had applied and was selected by a panel. Not everyone who applies usually gets through, so he counts this as one of his big achievements.

His work right now sees him dealing with women with pregnancy and child birth. “So my aim is to deliver a healthy baby and have a healthy mother.” He treats women for diseases like diabetes and hypertension in pregnancy, abnormal uterine bleeding, fibroids, cancer of the cervix, cancer of the uterus, etc.

Low is also a former lecturer to medical and pharmacy students at the University of Guyana. He enjoys the medical field, noting the following about it: “The medical field is a nice one because you help people but it is a lot of hard work. But it’s very rewarding because you see the results when you help people and they are cured or relieved.”

less fortunate. As a member of the South Georgetown Lions Club, he holds voluntary clinics from time to time where he and the group go into impoverished areas and help the needy free of charge.

In addition, he does voluntary work for the Byer’s Senior Citizens Home on Robb Street, also free of charge.

The easy going, humble, fun-loving, soft-hearted Low plays table tennis, jog, read, look at documentaries, and rears German Shepherds, Pit Bulls and aquarium fishes for fun.

His love for animals came about as a result of growing up with many animals. His parents, Samuel and Eunice, had chickens, dogs, cats, parrots, and guinea pigs. “I love to care for them and I guess by extension, I love to care for people too.”

His father died about two years ago and sadly, his mom died six months later. This was a very traumatic time for him, he said. It was his parents who really made him remain in Guyana.

He wanted to be close enough to care for them. His three siblings, Regan, Peggy and Joy had all migrated. Low’s two children are Amber and Zane.

KARATE TOURNAMENTS But many may be surprised to know that Low is not just academically oriented. He is also a highly skilled karate expert who is currently an instructor at the Guyana Karate College located inside the building of the Boys’ Scout Association.

He is very proud that he holds a fifth degree black belt which is the second highest rank in Guyana.

Low has competed, quite successfully, in various tournaments representing Guyana.

In 2010 he competed in the first International Shotokan Karate Federation Tournament in Guyana; in 2011 in the Caribbean Karate Tournament in Grenada; in 2012 in the first World IKD Karate Tournament in Toronto, Canada and in 2013 in the Guyana Federation Karate Tournament.

One of Low’s passions lies in karate and he explains the reason for this : “Karate teaches discipline; you do physical exercises; it enhances self- confidence, your mental alertness, discipline and self-control.”

He is hoping to see the fruition of a top of the line karate school at Liliendaal, East Coast De-

With his mom Eunice and sister Joy.

Low with friends in Grenada at the Caribbean Karate Tournament. merara, which will have all of the needed facilities. “We have one acre of land that was donated by Government of Guyana. So we are in the process of making it a reality.”

The projected sum is $50M and so various fund raising activities would be held to garner income for the project which is expected to come on stream within the next two years or so.

On the point of karate being a means to do physical exercise, Low remarked: “People need to exercise more, whether old or young. They need to be encouraged to exercise and be healthy. Especially when people get a little bit older, they decide that they won’t exercise anymore. But that’s wrong. Exercise is like brushing your teeth. You have to do it on and on.”

KINDHEARTED Apart from karate and the medical field, Low also spends some of his time caring for the

With his brother (at left) Regan.

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

XXIII

Meryl Streep (born Mary Louise Streep; June 22, 1949) is an American actress of theatre, television, and film.

She is widely regarded as one of the best living American film actresses.

Streep made her professional stage debut in The Playboy of Seville (1971), before her screen debut in the television movie The Deadliest Season (1977).

In that same year, she made her film debut in Julia (1977). Both critical and commercial success came quickly with roles in The Deer Hunter (1978) and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) followed by, among others, Sophie's Choice (1982), Out of Africa (1985), Mamma Mia! (2008), The Iron

Lady (2011), and August: Osage County (2013).

Considered by many critics to be the greatest living actress, Meryl Streep has been

nominated for the Academy Award an astonishing 18 times, and has won it three times. Born Mary Louise Streep in 1949 in Summit, New

Jersey, Meryl's early performing ambitions leaned toward the opera. She became interested in acting while a student at Vassar and upon graduation she enrolled in the Yale School of Drama. She gave an outPlease turn to page XXIV

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Meryl Streep ...

From page XXIII

standing performance in her first film role, Julia (1977), and the next year she was nominated for her first Oscar for her role in The Deer Hunter (1978). She went on to win the Academy Award for her performances in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Sophie's Choice (1982), in which she gave a heart-wrenching portrayal of an inmate mother in a Nazi death camp.

A perfectionist in her craft and meticulous and painstaking in her preparation for her roles, Meryl turned out a string of highly acclaimed performances over the next decade in great films like Silkwood (1983); Out of Africa (1985); Ironweed (1987); and A Cry in the Dark (1988). Her career declined slightly in the early 1990s as a result of her inability to find suitable parts, but she shot back to the top in 1995 with her performance as Clint Eastwood's married lover in The Bridges of Madison County (1995) and as the prodigal daughter in Marvin's Room (1996). In 1998 she made her first venture into the area of producing, and was the executive producer for the moving ...First Do No Harm (1997). A realist when she talks about her future years in film, she remarked that "...no matter what happens, my work will stand..."

In September 1999, named Best Modern Actress in an Enter-

tainment Weekly online poll, substantially beating out runner-up Michelle Pfeiffer.

Learned to play the violin, by practicing 6 hours a day for 8 weeks, for her role in Music of the Heart (1999).

Has a fear of helicopters.

Listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1977" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 29.

In October 1997, ranked #24 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.

Educated at Yale University. Studied Drama.

Graduated from Vassar College in 1971.

Was romantically involved with actor John Cazale for a total of 7 years, culminating with his death at age 42 in 1978 from bone cancer. She is very reluctant to discuss the relationship with anyone.

Graduated from Bernards High School.

Before making it big, she was a waitress at The Hotel Somerset in Somerville, New Jersey, USA. Was a cheerleader and homecoming queen in high school.

She left her just-claimed Oscar for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) on the back of a toilet during the 1979 festivities.

Replaced Madonna for the lead in Music of the Heart (1999).

In 2001, her son, Henry W. Gummer ("Hank") was a student at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

Sister-in-law of Maeve Kinkead.

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014 In 2000, named an Officer of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Born at 8:05 a.m. EDT. Tennessee Williams wanted her for a film version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in the 1980s. When Streep proved unavailable, the project was refashioned for television and the role of Blanche given to Ann-Margret.

Has a deviated septum, which she refuses to have fixed.

The children's TV series Sesame Street (1969) has featured a character named "Meryl Sheep" in her honor.

Was originally supposed to play the role of Iris Hineman is the film Minority Report (2002), but had to back out. She was replaced

by Lois Smith.

Her character Karen Silkwood from her 1983 film Silkwood (1983) was ranked #47 on the American Film Institute Heroes list of the 100 years of The Greatest Screen Heroes and Villians.

Presented Paul McCartney with the 1990 Grammy Lifetime Achievement award. Attended The Beatles concert at Shea Stadium in 1965 with an "I love Paul" sign, which she mentioned when presenting the award to McCartney.

Older sister of Harry Streep and Dana Streep.

Spent a year as a transfer student at Dartmouth College where she participated in theater.

Originally applied to Law School but slept in on the morning of her interview and took it as a sign she was destined for other things.

Sigourney Weaver and Christine Estabrook were fellow classmates at Yale Drama School.

Back at the Drama school, she and Sigourney Weaver appeared in a play staged in a swimming pool together. The play was called 'The Frogs.'.

May 27, 2004 was proclaimed "Meryl Streep Day" by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields. [May 2004] She was voted the 37th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

As a young actor, she performed at the Yale Repertory Theater with Christopher Lloyd.

According to Katharine Hepburn's official biographer A. Scott Berg, Meryl Streep was her least favorite modern actress on screen: "Click, click, click," she said, referring to the wheels turning inside Streep's head.

Has only been turned down for four roles: Michelle Straton in American Gigolo (1980), Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams (1985), Miss Kenton in The Remains of the Day (1993), and Elizabeth I in Elizabeth (1998).

She often works with Academy award-winning director Mike Nichols.

Mentioned by first name only (with two-time co-star Jack Nicholson) in Michael Crichton's 2004 novel "State of Fear.".

Tony Nominee in 1976 as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for Tennessee Williams' "27 Wagons Full of Cotton.".

Premiere Magazine ranked her as #46 on a list of the Greatest Movie Stars of All Time in their Stars in Our Constellation feature (2005).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom McDonough

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

FOLKLORE

Berbice Nite Ride

By Neil Primus Some say Robert fell asleep at the wheel of his taxi and had a nightmare. Others say that “de man lie.” But people from Berbice say that his story is not strange and that stranger things happen in the Ancient County. You decide for yourself.

Robert had dropped someone off in Berbice and was returning to Georgetown. It was a little before midnight on a bright moonlit night. He drove quickly, eager to get back to town.

Somewhere along a lonely stretch of road he spotted a figure in the distance. It was a girl. As he approached she waved for him to stop he did. Without waiting for any discussion she opened the rear door and slid in.

“Drive please!” It was all she said.

Robert hesitated then moved off.

“Where are you going?” He enquired.

The girl smiled and pointed straight ahead. Robert sped on. Even though they drove in silence he observed her in the mirror. She was young and beautiful.

He turned the radio on and listened to the music from 98.1 Hot FM. The passenger seemed to be enjoying it too. She rested her head on the headrest and closed her eyes. Her long jet-black hair cascaded down her shoulder into her lap. The taxi sped on.

They were now approaching Mahaica so Robert slowed down as he got closer to the bridge.

Swish!

He glanced into the rearview mirror and got a fleeting look as something exited his car swiftly. He braked rashly and heard a loud splash in the river below the bridge. Spinning around, he got the shock of his life. His beautiful passenger was missing.

In great alarm he exited the taxi and looked over the bridge and into the murky river. There was nothing. His blood ran cold. Had this beautiful girl just committed suicide? What would he tell the police and the girl’s family? What would happen to him and his family? All these thoughts swirled around his head causing desperation to step in.

“Hello!” “Young lady are you there?” “Are you okay?” There was no response to his queries.

Robert scratched his head in puzzlement. How could this happen? The moon pushed it way from behind a cloud and the entire area was bathed in silver.

“Hello!” He tried again. Splash!

Robert stared hard at the water. There were ripples. Someone or something was moving down there.

“Hi there are you okay?” “Speak to me please!” Splash! Splash!

Someone broke the surface of the river. He could clearly see a head and on it long dark hair which shimmered in the moon beams and danced on the river tide. It had to be his unlucky passenger.

Thank god she was alive.

“I’ll come down and get you!” He shouted. “No!” Even though the voice was low it carried clearly to Robert’s ear.

“But…but….” He stammered in confusion.

“I am okay.” Again the voice was low and clear and accompanied by her beautiful smile.

“I just want to make sure you get home safely.” Robert insisted.

“I am home!” That statement really got his attention. There she was neck deep in the river and telling him she was at home. It was insane.

She beckoned him her with her inviting smile.

Robert shuffled towards the end of the bridge that would take him closer to the bank of the river. He was in a trance. All he could see was her smile. Then a minibus approached and the driver made good use of his horn as usual. Peep! Peep!

The sudden loud honking startled Robert out of the trance. He looked around and realised he was heading away from his car. He turned back. Splash!

The memory of the last 15 minutes flooded back. He looked over the side and there she was bright, bold and beautiful.

She beckoned him again. Splash!

Before his very eyes, a large luminous tail came up out of the water and flashed into the moonlight. She patted it as she beckoned to him. It was the sight of the tail that did the trick.

Robert recoiled in horror and sprinted back to his taxi. With added motivation, he raced like a “madman” for Georgetown.

As he drove he discovered that his taxi now had a new and overwhelming odour: FISH!

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Tuma Sálâ

A

By Michelle Gonsalves

N aromatic wild meat pepperpot or a juicy black water fish sauce, served with crisp fresh cassava bread washed down with a cup of sweet sage tea and followed by a dessert of homemade wine and fresh fruit would have previously been a hard meal to source in the capital; but that was before the advent of the recently launched Tuma Sálâ Restaurant and Craft Shop, located at 37 Middleton Street, Campbeville, Georgetown.

However, entrepreneur Michael Patterson, Tourism Manager at Roraima Airways, has thrown his cap into the proverbial ring, and has made the bold move of offering authentic Amerindian cuisine for the first time in such variety in this part of the country.

Menu choices include the perennial Pepperpot (Guyana’s national dish and a Christmas Day staple), but with more indigenous and exotic choices of meat, such as deer, bush cow (tapir) and labba (a step away

from beef and pork) served with cassava bread, farine, and tea or wine.

The Tuma pot choices include the same meats as the pepperpot choices, along with a selection of delicious hymara or lukanani fish, which is more tender, juicier and stronger than popular choices such as trout or snapper.

Side dishes include richly indulgent choices, such as seasoned farine and boiled and

fried provisions; or very healthy and nutritious choices such as calalloo or eddo soup, sweet potato salad, fruit salad and garden salad.

In keeping with the restaurant’s theme don’t expect beer, soda or canned and bottled fruit juices. Instead, wash down your meal with a refreshing glass of homemade fruit juice; chilled coconut water; favourite indigenous wines, Paiwari and Fly; or a nice cup of hot sweet sage,

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

- Guyana’s first restaurant offering Amerindian cuisine

sweet broom or capadulla tea, if you prefer.

In keeping with the Amerindian theme, the restaurant’s décor features charming Amerindian handicraft on every table, and visitors can go away with a beautiful piece of Amerindian jewellery or other souvenirs on sale at the craft shop up front.

Patterson said the idea for this venture has been around for about 20 years. He has been in the hospitality industry for decades, and is currently working for Roraima Airways, having previously worked with Iwokra-

ma and individually, starting many of the tourism services of Santa Mission, from where he originated.

Patterson says: “At this level, we would like to promote Guyana. The whole idea is to provide a service of authentic Amerindian cuisine, targeting the entire Guyanese population initially and then the non-Guyanese who visit here. I want them to have an experience of enjoying the culture -- especially the Amerindian culture -- of the Guyanese people. So while we are promoting our culture, we

want to demonstrate that we can have economic returns from it.”

Patterson noted that Amerindian food had previously been presented on occasions such as the yearly exhibitions at the Sophia Exhibition Site, where people come together -- small businesses and ladies with their craft; but the opportunity to present Amerindian food on a continuous basis has been lacking, and people desiring Amerindian food outside of those occasions have to wait Please turn to page XXIX

Mr. Michael Patterson, Owner of Tuma Sálâ A serving of Cadakura Hymara with cassava bread and fly

Beautiful craft items on sale at Tuma Sálâ

One of the unusual table decorations at Tuma Sálâ

This table decoration depicts the making of cassava bread

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Roxanne Winfield:

XXVII

Twelve years after that tragic day

T

By Michel Outridge

oday marks 12 years since the Mashramani Day jailbreak in which five convicted criminals shot and stabbed their way out of the Camp Street Prison. In their bid to escape, former prison officer, Roxanne Winfield was shot and injured while on duty at the main gate.

Mrs. Winfield’s condition has improved over the years, and SHE is presently residing with her sister, Jacklyn Gonsalves, who lives at 46, ‘A’ Enterprise West, East Coast Demerara.

During a visit, Mrs. Win-

field remembered me even after all the years, and was pleased to see me, she greeted me with a kiss on the cheek as she enquired about how I was doing.

Still very pleasant and full of smiles, she said that she is keeping well and tries to do some things for herself like changing her blouse.

She is pretty in-tune with what is happening around her, and is more able to communicate with her relatives, as some words are more audible.

Mrs. Winfield is unable to move into her house at Nabaclis, also on the East Coast Demerara, because there is no electricity or water at the residence. Its was completed in December last year, as sev-

is still being processed, so she is yet to uplift it to present to the utility companies in order to secure water and electricity supply to her home.

Mrs. Winfield is still supported by the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) with a ration of pampers and health supplements such as Complan, Please turn to page XXVIII

Roxanne Winfield eral organisations pooled their resources and constructed a one-flat concrete house.

She was given a plot of land at the location by a relative but the transport for the property

Roxanne Winfield before she was shot and injured.

XXVIII The house where Mrs. Winfield resides with her sister, Jacklyn Gonsalves

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

Roxanne Winfield ...

From page XXVII Ensure and sometimes groceries. She is also receiving monthly assistance from the Guyana Relief Council (GRC).

In addition, she is supported by kind donations from relatives and her National Insurance Scheme (NIS) payout, and will celebrate her 50th birthday in April.

As I was chatting with her, she asked to be taken out on Mashramani Day, since she wanted to see the float parade and be able to be around a lot of people to celebrate the occasion.

Mrs. Winfield has two children a son who works in the interior and a daughter still attending school.

She seems quite comfortable, but is anxious about moving into her own home, where she can have her children around.

On that ill-fated day, Mrs. Winfield showed up for work when five notorious prisoners — Troy Dick, Shawn Brown, Andrew Douglas, Mark Fraser and Dale Moore staged what later came to be called the 2002 Mash Day Jailbreak.

She bravely resisted their order for her to open the gate to allow them illegal freedom, even after they had stabbed dead her colleague Troy Williams, 21; and because of her defiance, she was shot and injured while the group managed to escape.

She is blind in the left eye, and has a hole in the left side of her temple, where she was shot.

She was placed on a life support machine for several weeks, and underwent very delicate surgeries performed by local doctors as well as Neurologist Dr Richard Spann. He determined that the bullet entered Mrs. Winfield’s right cheek, exiting through the left ear, causing damage to the brain necessitating a removal of a portion of her brain.

She lost her husband, Mark Winfield, in December 2006 and later her parents passed away as well.

She had been staying with her former sister-in-law, Alexis De Court, at Lot 83 Plum Park, Sophia, Georgetown, who had been taking care of her for several years.

She is still unable to walk, and is confined to a wheelchair; but that doesn’t prevent her from being her usual jovial self, still smiling and laughing with anyone who is up for a chat. Doctors have been able to achieve much success in her recovery, even though she is handicapped.

Mrs. Winfield, her sister, Jacklyn Gonsalves and her son.

(Michel Outridge photos)

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014 From page XXVI

until the following year.

Tuma Sala team members include head Chef Angela Williams, a seasoned cook and a person offers this type of food every year at the exhibition centre. The restaurant’s staff comprise youths with personality, who enjoy what they are doing. They responded to the advertisement on Facebook, and will have on-the-job training, Patterson said.

He said Pepperpot can be done in a variety of ways, and there is the Cakadura pot or the Tuma sauce -- a by-product of cassareep manufacturing.

“While you’re boiling (the cassava), you take off the froth at the top and you take it and make it into this sauce we call Cakadura sauce,” Patterson explained.

Wanting to know whether the food was uniquely Guyanese or was influenced by Brazilian cuisine, I asked Patterson to clarify; and he noted that Amerindians are unique to Guyana, with nine distinct tribes. Some of the tribes, such as the Makushi, live in areas close to Brazil. The Warraus live in areas near to Venezuela. He noted that there are certain commonalities between the tribes in food and beverage, even though what one tribe, such as the Arawaks call paiwari, another, such as the Macushi may call it parakari; but it’s basically the same product.

While Patterson might compromise with customising some food options to suit a client, there are some things he just won’t do-one of which is serving chicken. “You can go somewhere else and get chicken,” he said. “But something like a Guyanese food, like a (dish of) boiled and fried provision, you can have that. A corn soup you can have. A crab soup or some form of the soup you can have. We can cater for a vegetarian by preparing a nice vegetarian soup, sweet potato salad or a garden salad.

“So we can have these foods that are not necessarily authentic Amerindian foods (even though they) utilise some of the same ingredients and blend in well,” he said. But make no mistake: one cannot come to this restaurant and get drunk. “Only indigenous wines are available, and only in small quantities, at least on the premises,” Patterson disclosed He said he doesn’t know what will happen ‘down the line’ but the restaurant does not want to be “linked with that”. A lot of the miners may not want pepperpot made with cadakura-for them the restaurant can do stir-fried cutters – which they can take away.

BACKGROUND Most of Patterson’s professional background comes from Iwokrama, an international conservation project that has been around for quite a while. He was among the first batch of rangers undergoing training in 1996 and 1999.

“We were like the guinea pigs for that project; we had the best trainers, who would come in from different countries. We also imparted our knowledge. We were doing training and at the same time working. Most of my background is around natural resource management, and is based around the foundation of Iwokrama,” he said.

After he left Iwokrama, he went back into Santa Mission and was involved in Santa Mission development with a focus on natural resource management, in particular lumbering.

“To qualify to work at Iwokrama you had to send a letter about why they should hire you. And we had this situation where people were coming in to the village to raid the village and we didn’t have trained people. So I described the scenario,” he said, noting that the mainstay of the community is logging, handicraft and tourism.

When Patterson went back to Santa Mission, he started a small business, but it proved not to be enough to sustain his growing family, so he eventually moved his family from the community.

His wife, who was at the time a health care worker, is currently a Registered Nurse.

He returned to Iwokrama, this time as a Project Manager to manage an aquarium project on a two-year lease and afterwards worked as a Logistics Coordinator. He noted that it was a challenge to be away from his family. He wanted to be closer to his family so he came back to Georgetown in 2007. He sent his impressive résumé around, spanning a web of ministries and private sector entities, and Roraima Holdings responded.

He began working there as a tour superintendent and worked his way up to manager in only a year. He says: “Roraima is a fast paced company doing several things at one time. You have to be able to handle pressure, to make decisions and to be accountable for those decisions. So being there gives you the experience of being in an organisation that provides service with reliable consistency. Consistency is one of the keywords; you have to do well all the time.”

He added: “So I know about the tourism industry in Guyana.

I’ve been a member of the tourism and hospitality industry, familiar with the regulations of resorts and tour guides, and I have the experience of going from destination to destination.

So if I’m selling you a tour, I know from personal knowledge of having been there myself.”

Ladies dining at the Tuma Sálâ

Tuma Sálâ

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Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

English

Chronicle Pepperpot February 23, 2014

GREEN SPACES:A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BOTANICAL GARDENS

T

By Clifford Stanley

he Botanical Gardens, one of the population recreation parks/ Green Spaces in Georgetown, is one 137 years old this year.

Historical records reveal that the decision to establish the Gardens was the outcome of a resolution by the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society (RACS).

A meeting was held on April 3, 1877 and members were convinced that great benefits were to be derived for its establishment in the vicinity of the city.

Messrs. J. Hampden King, Henry Watson, Henry Kirke, W.H. Campbell and R.W.Imlach comprised the committee which was appointed to prepare a memorial to the Governor and Court of Policy.

The petition was favourably received and the Attorney General and Messrs. Robert Smith and William Russel appointed to plan a scheme.

The initial plans came to fruition when the backlands of Vlissengen were bought by the government to the extent of two hundred and seventy six (276) acres appraised at $72, 000, 185 acres of which were taken over for the gardens.

In 1878 Mr. Prestoe of the Trinidad Gardens came here for the purpose of examining the site and to prepare a plan.

In 1879 Mr. J. S. Waby arrived from Trinidad to begin operations in the gardens.

A great amount of work had to be done before planting could begin.

Originally most of the land was a swampy pasture. Trenches had to be dug, roads had to be constructed, propagating sheds had to be erected and the land raise by taking soil from what are lakes, while the front of the gardens was tile-trained.

To establish the garden seemed a truly insurmountable task; nevertheless Mr. Waby continued resolutely before preliminary work was accomplished in propagating plans in what was known as the Old Observatory on Brickdam.

Among the first seedlings raised by J. S. Waby was a lot of the samaan trees, some of which were planted along the north side of the gardens; others now form the avenue on Vlissengen Road.

In 1880 Mr. George Samuel Jenman arrived as Botanist and Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens.

The Botanical Gardens made great progress under the care and diligence of Messrs. Jenman and Waby.

In recognition of Jenman’s sterling contribution he was honoured and respected internationally.

Today a clock installed on the Botanical Garden’s Office (formerly the Curator’s Office) bears his name, testimony to his remarkable achievement in shaping the Botanical Gardens of Guyana.

After Jenman’s death in 1902 changes were made.

Drainage was improved; the famous arched ”kissing bridge” depicting the Victorian era was constructed and a bandstand was erected in memory of Mr. J . Brummel, the then Sheriff of Demerara.

The Botanical Gardens were continuously beautified-flowering and ornamental shrubs took root-pro-

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viding a landscape that was pleasing to the eye.

The Zoological Park was opened in 1952 but even before the Zoo was established there were manatees living in the ponds of the Botanical Gardens since 1895. There are also two harpy eagles, which are long-term “residents” of the zoo. The zoo sees almost 10,000 visitors every month.

In April 1988, the Ministry of Agriculture relinquished responsibility for the Gardens and the National Parks Commission assumed direction of this entity, under the Chairmanship of Mr. Bunny Fernandes A.A, who remained in this position until 1993.

Developmental works such as field upgrade, nursery rehabilitation and cataloguing of trees/plants were completed under the stewardship of Fitz H. Ogle, Curator/Manager of the Gardens during 1992.

Mr. Compton McKenzie continued to serve as Taxonomist until 2004 having joined the staff as a young apprentice in January 1951.

(Courtesy of the Evergreen Nature Study Club: www.evergreenstudy.org/)

Jennifer Lopez: Hot legs and booty bumps on new video shoot

Jennifer Lopez has legs for days! The 44-year-old superstar took

orange heels, the singer showed off her impressive set of pins

Miami by storm on Tuesday, where she was spotted filming the

as she shot the sure-to-be-sizzling video. J.Lo was seen sharing

music video for “We Are One,” which will be the 2014 World

a stage with Brazilian pop star Claudia Leitte, who wore an

Cup theme song.

equally revealing ensemble.

Wearing a colourful pair of hot pants, matching top and

Lil’ Kim pregnant?

Rapper debuts Baby Bump at Fashion Week

Lil’ Kim just debuted her not-so-lil’ baby bump! After taking a couple months off from the public eye, the rapper had a BIG surprise for everyone at The Blonds’ New York Fashion Week show on Wednesday night: her growing belly.

While the 39-year-old hasn’t made an official announcement about her apparent bun in the oven, the photos kind of speak for themselves, don’t they?

Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie steal Spotlight on BAFTA Red Carpet Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt both looked sexier than ever at the EE British Academy Film Awards (also known as the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Awards) on Sunday in London. Matching his and hers tuxedos, they appeared effortlessly chic when they arrived for the ceremony.

Jolie wore Saint Lau-

rent with Tiffany jewels, while her fiancé looked sharp in Valentino. The two were on hand to support “12 Years a Slave,” which Pitt appeared in and also produced. The movie ended up winning Best Film at the annual event.

They weren’t the only stars to stun on the red carpet though. Lupita Nyong’o looked gorgeous in green, and both Amy Adams and Uma Thurman dazzled in black. And then there was Michelle Rodriguez, who went glam in a green gown with leather embellishments.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Simon Cowell Shares First Photos of Adorable Baby Boy

Simon Cowell shared the first photos of his newborn son Eric, and the little guy is adorable. The new dad posted three photos of his two-day-old son on Twitter, showing him and baby mama Lauren Silverman cuddling with their bundle of joy.

“Now you can see how very handsome little Eric is,” Cowell posted about one closeup, the 54-year-old holding hands with the baby while caressing his face. In another sweet snap, the new dad is seen holding little Eric. “I nev-

er knew how much love and pride I would feel,” Cowell wrote about the picture.

Lupita Nyong’o

Amy Adams

Uma Thurman