Pepperpot epaper 10 23 2016

Leprosy patients battle stigma, discrimination ‒ gov't to step up awareness as new cases pick up

Cured not cursed Page XVIII

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“Everywhere you turn, you go to the market, people does look at you and turn up their face, and walk away. I was in a bus one day, and a guy look at me and seh you is a alligator, and he just pass me and went down to the back of the bus, and when he come out, he turn and tell the conductor look at that man like he get AIDS,” Daniels said as he broke down in tears.

Daniel – one of the many Guyanese who have been cured from Leprosy. However due to the severity of the disease, he has shortened fingers and toes.

II

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Coconut Festival Launch and River appreciation Day in Region # 2

The Essequibo Chamber of Commerce in Collaboration with the Ministry of Business and Ministry of Agriculture has successfully pulled off its first Coconut Festival and River Appreciation Day held on Saturday 15th October 2016 at Charity Essequibo Coast.

This came a week ahead of the Country’s main Festival at the Arthur Cheong Center schedule for Friday & Saturday 21 & 22nd October 2016. The day’s activity commenced with a Boat Cade in the Pomeroon River creating awareness on the appropriate usage of the river and the dangers of polluting same by dumping damage coconuts and its waste. Several accidents occurred as a result of these practices which at times caused loss of life and damage to engines and boats by persons utilizing the River.

The Official opening Ceremony started about 13:30hours with Prayers by Brother Brently and welcoming remarks by the Charity NDC Chairman Ms. Deandre Parks. 84 year

old Historian Mr. Isahack Bashir enticed the crowd with history of Cotton farming from 1620 by the Dutch to the takeover by the Portuguese in the 1840s who manage to start coconut and other crops in the Pomeroon. This continued with the Indentured labourers from the abandon sugar plantations in Essequibo in the 1920s. He stated that five varieties of coconuts were cultivated during that period; however the impact of Climate change, the workers migration to the mining sector has had some effect to the industry. It was evident that in the 1990s the coconut industry started to diversify and scale up with the establishment of the Pomeroon Oil Mill by Alfro Alfonso, processing Copra into coconuts oil; also the introduction of a few coconut processing facilities exporting the water locally, also to Trinidad and other countries. Smaller industries includes virgin pressed coconut oil, casereep and handicraft were also created.

Mr. Deleep Singh President of The Esse-

quibo Chamber of Commerce exclaimed his happiness about the Festival. He stated that when he was invited to the planning committee in Georgetown for the Festival, he suggested having the Launch in Essequibo since

Pomeroon is touted to be the largest Coconut producing area in the Caribbean. He extended thanks to the Farmers, Agro Processors, exhibitors and all donors and sponsors who made the event possible. It’s the first of its kind in Essequibo and he noted not only hoping to make it bigger and better next year but to have an Trade Fair where Agricultural produce, Rice, Dairy products, Timber amongst others will be on display.

Ms. Joyanne Ramnauth a representative from the Ministry of Business told the gathering on the concept of the coconut festival was derived in December 2015 from representatives of the Tourism Hospitality Association which was then stream lined by Mr. Donald Sinclair – Director General of Tourism. This was done to promote the coconut industry and to lay the foundation of Agro Tourism in Guyana.

Ms. Malini of Republic Bank Guyana Ltd Essequibo Branch in her brief remarks pledge the support to farmers offering loans at reasonable interest rate and work the exiting borrowers enabling them to fulfill their obligation to the Bank.

Mr. Davenand Ramdatt welcomes this activity as a historic day and looks forward for more this nature to be held at Charity. He stated that like the rice industry, coconut is equally important and for our country to move forward we need to recognize our farmer efforts which brought them a long way among many adversities. He rain praises for the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce and all stakeholders including the various Ministries for the success of the

Coconut Festival and River Appreciation Day. Minister of Agriculture, Mr. Noel Holder in his featured address stated that his ministry is delighted to collaborate with the Ministry of business and the ECC to host this first ever Coconut Festival and River appreciation day. Coconut is Guyana’s main nontraditional crop, he stated as it ranks third after rice and sugar based on the amount of acreage cultivated. According to Mr. Holder the industry generates an annual income of $4.6m US dollars. He believes that the festival serves as a boost for coconut and its products such as coconut water, virgin coconut oil, craft, etc. The coconut industry has great potential for expansion and development particularly for processing and value added products. The Ministry of Agriculture, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute and the Guyana Marketing are actively involved in facilitating this process. He said we should work to reclaim being the bread basket of the Caribbean as we have started and we should persist in increasing our agricultural production and exports.

The activity attracted displays from coconut farmers, agro processors, craft manufacturers, Ministry of Agriculture, Guyana rice development Board, Guy Oil amongst others.

Farmers were very happy and receptive of the festival. They exclaimed that this came the right time and were thankful to the organizers for this stimulating activity. Over 1000 viewers including women and children were observed interacting at the activity.

Trophies were given for the best decorated boats depicting coconuts and its products to Henville Farms and Pomeroon Oil Mill for the Boat Cade and to Original Juice center, Henville Farm and Pomeroon oil Mill for Best boot display. Fisher Primary School was awarded a trophy for Schools Participation in the Craft competition. Thanks were given to the students of Charity Secondary School for performing a coconut skit and Charity primary for performing the coconut song along with a steel pan piece. (By Ravi D. Mohan)

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

III

Experts warn more monitoring needed for the Guiana Shield …the ‘greenhouse of the world’

By Akola Thompson Millions of years old and encompassing six countries, the Guiana Shield could be at risk without better monitoring of mining and more robust community planning.

Along the west coast of South America Guyana sits nestled roughly south of Venezuela and north of Brazil. Referred to as the “Lost Land of the Jaguar” in a 2008 BBC TV documentary, Guyana is one of six countries that comprise the much-revered Guiana Shield.

The Shield is an eco-region that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) describes as being of “regional and global significance,” and is home to a variety of ecosystems and “keystone species of biodiversity.”

Covering 270 million hectares, the Shield encompasses Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela and small parts of Colombia and northern Brazil. The more than two billion year-old geological formation represents 18 percent of the world’s tropical forest carbon and 20 percent of the world’s fresh water allowing it to capture large quantities of carbon monoxide.

Guyana’s president, David Granger, has described the Guiana Shield as not only essential to enriching and replenishing the world’s biodiversity but as consequently essential to the planet’s survival. With an economy heavily dependent upon extractive industries and recently discovered oil reserves however, the Shield may be at risk due to the inability of environmental agencies to effectively monitor operations within its area.

Guyana’s Minister of Governance, Raphael Trotman, credits illegal mining operations in the gold industry as being one of the main drivers of forest degradation in the Shield, given their large numbers spread out across the area. According to Trotman, this is due to the operations usage of mercury in trying to obtain the natural resource, which leaves the land bare and unable to sustain life. While agreeing that illegal mining operations contribute heavily to the damage sustained to the Shield, there are other dangers.

Vanessa Benn, director of resource management and training at Iwokrama International Centre and vice president of the Guyana Society for Biodiversity and Ecosystems said more needs to be done. For Benn, even with all of the country’s combined extractive industries such as logging and mining, the risks to the Shield are not major but monitoring should be improved. “One significant thing we need to remember is that in the mining sector, the historical methods have been changed over time with supposed advanced technology from countries such as Brazil who have more invasive techniques,” said Benn. “An example of this is river mining – Guyana was never

involved in this. Still, even this is not to an extent which should cause alarm.”

Despite the small amount of contamination, extractive industries have impacted not only the Shield’s large expanses of fresh water and soil but also indigenous tribes who often rely on it for a living in relation to fishing, hunting and planting. According to Benn, there is an inability to properly monitor small and large-scale extractive industries due to the industries’ continuous movements and a lack of funding for monitoring. She believes that

with proper monitoring, there will be a drastic decline in the damage to the Shield caused by pollutants such as mercury and cyanide and the ability to curb illegal operations and impose sanctions upon legal ones not following environmental laws.

“We need to have in place proper systems in which persons are fined for breaching certain regulations put in place,” she said. “The consequences should be prohibitive enough for them to not even think about breaking the rules.”

INDIGENOUS POPULATIONS Realising the role of indigenous people in not only the pursuit of a green economy through the Shield but also its protection, countries under its cover are currently pursuing relevant policies. Some of those policies are aimed at “establishing biodiversity corridors,” as well as the protection of the rights of “Indigenous Amerindians to their territories and of access to their natural resources, in order to preserve their livelihoods and cultures,” according to the UN-REDD programme.

Some inroads have already been made through the 2009 Low Carbon Development Strategy, which made water more accessible to persons

residing in hinterland areas through the Guyana National Water Safety Initiative.

Guyana’s Minister of Governance, Trotman, notes that the processes, benefits and expected outcomes of Guyana’s green economy are still being examined. The UNDP has agreed to partner with Guyana to develop a plan and methodology for its implementation and integration. That should help to mitigate some of the negative effects that contamination of the Shield has had on Guyana’s indigenous population. Trotman added that indigenous communities would benefit in both direct and indirect ways. Research and the payments from carbon sequestration should also help to create what Trotman calls “sus-

tainable wealth.”

“Indigenous peoples have been living on this shield from time immemorial and have been its stewards,” said Trotman. “The renewed focus on greening the economy will bring respect, appreciation and interest for and in the shield.

Undoubtedly, those who know it best and are a part of it, will gain direct economic benefits through tours, and as beneficiaries of the income that will come from its preservation.”

Others see a different approach.

Jay Mistry, a professor of environmental geography at Royal Holloway University of London and an expert on the Guiana Shield, is one of them.

While she believes that interest in the Shield would benefit indigenous peoples greatly, she also sees a major problem in trying to use it in pursuit of a green economy. According to Mistry, that means most of the plans put forward are too

focused on commoditising nature.

This ideology can possibly lead to contamination of the Shield on a larger scale, she says. According to Mistry, there needs to be greater support for land-based economies where values and prices are set within a local, social context. That would create an exchange of goods and services outside of corporate-controlled markets, as this would have more socially just and equitable outcomes for indigenous people.

“We can also learn from them as many of their own community-owned solutions have a lot to offer Guyana and the world in the way resources can be sustainably managed,” said Mistry.

Mistry stressed that there is a great need for alternative visions and approaches to development, instead of feeding the idea that economic growth can be infinite. “While the Guiana Shield is hugely ecologically and socially diverse, there are common environmental and social challenges and associated solutions across the region,” said Mistry. “People can learn from each other across the region on the kind of solutions that can create sustainable economies.”

Mistry points to a recent research project she was involved in called Project Cobra. The project identified community-owned solutions from Guyana and then took these to other indigenous communities of the Guiana Shield. According to Mistry, the results were overwhelmingly positive. “We found that focusing on sustainable local solutions and sharing these amongst communities inspired people to act and consider ways of doing things differently,” she said. “This kind of sharing of best practices can be done at any level of governance, from the village to a government, and more of this horizontal knowledge exchange across the Guiana Shield is necessary.” (This article was first published at mongabay.com)

IV

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Improved standards needed …Women miners urge improvement in living standards of interior cops

By Shauna Jemmott THE Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO) is calling for more determined efforts by government to improve social and security services in the hinterland especially the living conditions of members of the security forces.

President of the GWMO Urica Primus in an interview with the Pepperpot said the organisation is pleased with government’s plans to tackle lawlessness in the interior but believes that instead of only dealing with security issues, it should look at other areas. “In addressing lawlessness in the interior, you have to address it from all its fronts…not only from the security services, but also from social services,” Primus said.

Earlier this year, President David Granger said government is taking steps to address hinterland lawlessness. President Granger said a concept paper has already been developed and plans were being put in motion to strengthen security, with increased police presence already evident in some hinterland areas, and special training of wardens to be

Mabaruma Police Station

Aishalton Police Station

stationed specifically in those regions.

“Indeed, there has been some lawlessness in mining areas leading to deaths, sometimes traffic accidents, murders and fatal accidents in the mines… We already have a concept paper on the development of a corps of wardens who would be working mainly in the extractive industries and the tourist industry in the hinterland…that will come on stream after they are trained and properly equipped… will generally come under the Police Force, under the Police Act, but they will perform specialized functions in those areas,” President Granger had said.

POOR LIVING CONDITIONS Primus however told the Pepperpot that living conditions and stipends of policemen need vast improvement and while government is working on the corps and wardens improvement programme, these additional policemen must be comfortable and receive greater financial rewards in order to fight against crime. “You could walk the length and breadth of Guyana and

see the conditions that policemen (in the interior) live under when they go into mining communities…They don’t have proper beds for them, some cases they don’t have lights, they don’t have water, they don’t have transportation. We went to one area and where they’re living in has more holes than I have ever seen. The police station at Port Kaituma … the walls are falling down,” Primus explained.

She said while government may not yet be aware of the conditions some policemen operate under, an analysis of the situation is recommended. She said policemen in the interior live on the one menial salary in areas where everything is quite expensive and they still have to support their families on the coast. She said government could consider supplying its officers monthly with ration to ease expense and cut possibilities of them building strong bonds with criminals and potential criminals within the districts.

“You can’t afford to live in the interior even on their salary, moreso to live in the Turn to page VIII ►►►

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Pageantry and Sisterhood - Such a phenomenal journey – Brittany Singh After four years Guyana finally made it back into the top ten at the Miss India Worldwide Pageant this year, and it’s all thanks to the performances of one bright young lady – Brittany Singh - who rose to the occasion above all odds, and loved every moment of what she described as a phenomenal journey.

“Waking up knowing I've done my best with a satisfying feeling is worth being thankful for.

I thank the almighty for the strength and ability to experience such a phenomenal journey.” Brittany said just after the pageant ended in New Jersey, USA two weeks ago.

But in an interesting addition, she wasn’t the only Guyanese at the event enjoying the journey of representing Guyana at an international pageant. This year the inaugural Mrs. India Worldwide Pageant was held concurrently with the Miss India Pageant, so Brittany got the cherished opportunity of sharing the experience of preparing and competing with Guyana’s Mrs. India representative, Samantha Singh.

“It was really great having someone else that understands the

Samantha and Brittany in the US

situation and we both shared our opinions and views and together worked through everything.” Brittany spoke of sharing the experience with Samantha.

Sadly however neither of the two brought home a crown, but being the strong women that they are they refused to let this feel like just another failure.

“Not bringing home the crown does not define me or determine my final destination, yes I would have loved to but I feel I am bringing home much more than just a crown.

It’s not what we win, it's how and why we want to win and what we do after,” Samantha concluded.

But don’t dismiss these ladies as unsuccessful just yet. Though without the ultimate honor, Brittany copped the “Ms Photogenic” prize in her category, and Samantha took ‘Best Smile’.

It was no surprise that Brittany ended with the Miss Photogenic prize though, anyone who has seen a picture of this nineteen year old beauty would have no problem understanding why. Brittany has a warm, natural smile that just makes you feel so comfortable in her presence. And if the smile wasn’t welcoming enough, you start liking her all over again when

V

– Guyana’s Ms. and Mrs. India Worldwide

you get to experience the bubbly, adventurous and humble, personality of this former Business School valedictorian.

And then there’s Samantha! Always ready to flash you a dazzling smile and offer a word of encouragement. Samantha has about 18 years as a business woman in Guyana, and is passionate about women empowerment.

The two made quite the dynamic duo to represent Guyana this year.

Pageants being what they are, the pair enjoyed every moment of the experience, and gained invaluable opportunities to share about Guyana and learn about the culture of other countries. The way Samantha sees it “crowns and trophies gather dust, memories don't’.

“Every day was a fun filled day. We cruised the Hudson River and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of New York, the Lady Liberty. In all it was more than I expected it to be. There was always a lot of anticipation behind the scenes. A lot of excitement, it was nerve-racking at times,” Samantha recalled.

The business woman’s favourite part speaks of her deep sense of patriotism to her home land. It was when she got the chance to display the Golden Arrowhead on the international stage.

“The best part however for me was the flag dance, holding the Guyana flag with so much pride and joy on the international stage was an emotional dream come true that I never imagined was possible. I'm beyond proud, honored and elated with the way I executed my responsibilities as Mrs. India Guyana. I made a bigger impact and touched everyone I met with my story, experiences,” Samantha said.

Ever since the local competition Brittany has enjoyed meeting and bonding with her fellow delegates, this was amplified when she got to do it with o t h e r women from all across t h e world.

Ms India Guyana Brittany Singh and Mrs. India Guyana, Samantha Singh

“My favorite part of this entire competition is the bonding moments with my pageant sisters. I enjoyed every single second I spent singing, dancing, learning their cultures and languages. Gaining friends from all over the world for me was a blessing,” Brittany said.

And of course the best relationship was Samantha. Despite having the same last name these two are not related, but you would hardly believe so when you see them together.

“The bond in our relationship is truly an unbreakable one. I hold Samantha as a big sister. I met Samantha for the first at my pageant and I immediately fell in love with her charm. She's truly an amazing woman. We both encourage and motivate each other, she teaches me the old way of doing things while I teach her the new way,” Brittany laughed.

But now that the pageant’s over just what is next in store for Guyana’s 2016 Ms. And Mrs India Worldwide representatives? They intent to continue using their position to advocate their platforms that includes things like women empowerment and fighting against

Guyana’s suicide epidemic.

As it pertains to perhaps the chance of further pageants, both women are opened to the possibilities, but Brittany is more looking to hang up her hat – or crown – after this, as she wants to put more attention into her academics, and pursuing her career goal of becoming an accomplished accountant.

“I have no intentions in any other pageant, however, like everyone else I don't know what the future holds for me. I'll be focusing on my studies a lot more,” Brittany explained.

“Now that the pageant is over I can now fulfill my promise and focus on my platform which is empowering minds to acquire self-motivation. I truly believe in self-empowerment and self-respect.”

Samantha has plans of following new business ventures, and even think about starting up a family.

“Well firstly life continues for me as a business woman for several businesses. Mrs India Guyana does not define me buy rather amplify who I am, if opportunity presents itself again why not, I would definitely take the leap,” Samantha considered.

VI

Michael Lam A few weeks ago I sat down with Michael Lam, a local photographer whose works have been steadily gaining momentum both locally and abroad. We spoke about his participation in the recently concluded Un|Fixed Homeland exhibition at the Aljira Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, New Jersey; his local practice; ideas of “homeland” as well as the position of his work in a space where photography is, as he describes it, “still in the infancy stage.”

it was very surprising to see how Grace had chosen to display my three pieces, either she saw into my heart or the work affected her in a similar manner to which I am affected, they were displayed upon a black wall(s) as opposed to the customary white walls. To me, it was perfect!

Dominique Hunter: How were you made

ML:This might be a bit surprising, but my

aware of the Un|Fixed Homelands exhibition?

Michael Lam: In 2014 Ms. Grace Aneiza Ali

received a curatorial grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation. The project centered around Guyanese photographers in the diaspora and at home. During the same year she contacted a few of us to begin networking and finding active photographers in Guyana.

We had given her a number of names, from stalwarts like Bobby Fernandes to more modern photographers who were new to the field.

She visited Guyana and whilst she was here she met with photographers in two or three small groups.

DH: How important was the title of your body

of work for the exhibition?

ML: Originally, the exhibition itself had a

different title, Guyana Modern, so I truly did not see the title of my own body of work [Oniabo] fitting into it. The title was important to me, to the series I was/am working on.

I had wanted a name that reflected not only the theme of the series, which was “water”, but to also pay homage to the first peoples of Guyana, the Amerindians.

DH: What was the most immediate observa-

tion you made about the exhibition and each practitioners’ work?

ML: My first observation would have had to

be that here were works by some amazingly talented artists, as I walked into the Gallery, I was welcomed not only by the warmth of the people of Aljira (and my family) but by Erika DeFreitas’ amazing pieces, and then onto others by Donald Locke and Hew Locke, and then to see Kwesi Abbensett’s installation on the wall right before my own pieces down the way. The works of each artist varied, in as much as the artists themselves are different, and to see the ideas and amount of work done by the artists based on something as simple as a photograph was amazing.

Contemplative (Thomas Lands, Georgetown, Guyana), from the series, Oniabo, 2013 – 2016.

Archival pigment print on canvas, 20 x 30 in.

(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)

of “home” or “homeland” as experienced by someone living and working in Guyana?

series Oniabo is actually based on a different idea of “home” or “homeland” than the obvious home I have in Guyana. I am very patriotic. I love my country. I chose to live here even through all the good and bad times but my relationship with the sea/ocean is one of longing and wonder about how we came here, where we came from, the people who came and the home that they left for a distant shore and a new home. There’s a common phrase that goes “Home is where the heart is”, and while that [applies] to family and friends, I am easily “at home” on the seawall in Guyana, staring out to the horizon.

DH: A lot of the critiques thrown at diaspora

artists are grounded in the concept of [working through] rose tinted glasses; that somehow living outside of Guyana makes you out of touch with the actual lived experiences of the “home” in question. How do you feel about that?

ML: I don’t necessarily agree with that. Yes,

their idea of home won’t be the same but from what I saw at the exhibition, much of their ideas of “home” as it pertains to “homeland” or Guyana, is either based on memories of a childhood here, or on shared memories from parents and family; the stories of the old days as told by the ones who were there.

The ideas that are formed in the minds of the new artist may be tinted by life in a different place, but the basic homeland idea remains, that of “family.”

DH: What was it like exhibiting alongside

Guyanese art giants like the late Donald Locke and his son Hew Locke?

ML: When I first saw the email from Grace

was your work positioned in terms of the actual art objects and their aesthetics?

ML: Given how I am accustomed to galleries

DH: How was the public’s reception to the

displaying art, and from what I am also accustomed to seeing online and in magazines,

– Picturing Guyana’s seascape in black & white

DH: How would you describe the concept

and in the same sentence she mention myself and Hew Locke I was floored. Never did I think that I would be exhibiting in the same space as Hew Locke. I only learnt of Donald’s piece being included when the official announcements were being made. To stand in the entrance to the Gallery and see Donald’s piece to my left, one of Hew’s pieces further down on the right, and in the distance my own pieces was an amazing experience, almost unbelievable.

DH: Beyond the theme of the exhibition, how

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

exhibition and your works in particular?

ML: This being my first exhibition outside of

Guyana I was probably expecting something similar to my experiences here, but I was to be a very surprised person. The reception far exceeded my expectations. The people there were vocally expressive and you could feel the excitement and enthusiasm in just how they looked at the pieces. But what surprised me was the demand placed upon me for my time and attention, to help the patrons understand what it was like as a Guyanese living in Guyana; how my pieces were taken; what was I thinking and the questions never stopped. Here I was surrounded by works of artists who I thought to be, by far, my superiors and yet people were interested in my work too. I was treated the way artists want to be treated, like their works were

important. I think my appreciation for my own work rose considerably that day.

DH: Have you since, in any way, reconsid-

ered how you frame your own work in terms of being commercial/non-commercial, the subject matter(s), techniques, finished works etc.?

ML: Based on the exhibition, I would say no.

I have never really wanted to commercialize my work and still don’t have any great inclination in that direction. The subject matter of my work has always varied. The Oniabo series, being my first seriously curated set, has [put] me on the path of thinking along Turn to page VII ►►►

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016 ◄◄◄ From page VI

the lines of projects or series of photographs.

Techniques always need adjusting or improving, and in terms of the finished product, that has always been an issue in this digital age, where we think of photographs as pixels on a screen rather than a print. I have been printing more and experimenting with different finishes, but the Oniabo series has always been envisioned as gallery wraps.

DH: Having had this exposure to the inter-

national art scene, how would you describe Guyana’s position regarding contemporary photographic exhibitions?

ML: We are still in the infancy stage in Guy-

ana, getting the photographers themselves to approach it as an art form is the stage where many are at, but other than the GVACE and our own smaller VISIONS Exhibition, there are very few avenues other than social media for exposure in terms of displaying to the public. This is something that we have to work on.

DH: What do you think needs to happen to

improve Guyana’s position within the arts regionally and further afield?

ML: Throughout history it has always been

the arts, visual, performing and literary arts that have defined culturally progressive eras in nations, education needs to be a primary step in this direction, as a people, we have little to no real appreciation of the arts other than popular culture references. While many of the visual arts have people in the field who are not only practicing, but also teaching, photography is not so fortunate, there are now no qualified people in this field, but some who have experience.

DH: This being our 50th year of indepen-

dence do you think we’re any closer to shaping a Guyanese identity that doesn’t exclude any one group or the other, and doesn’t mimic any foreign cultures?

ML: No, I don’t think so, personal opinion

only. I think that instead of preserving our cultures and finding a way to not only move forward as a people but to develop a national identity, we have forgotten much of our past and where our ancestors came from. We have allowed our modern way of life to be influenced too much by the pop culture from North America and the Caribbean. While there’s nothing wrong with assimilating some of this, to have done so at the expense of who we were, are and should be, is a travesty in my eyes.

DH: You’re a part of a relatively young

group of photographers who have managed to accomplish quite a few significant achievements so far (even with limitations of space, funding etc.), how do you guys make it work?

ML: I think that since Fidal [Bassier] initiated

a group on social media, many of the original set of people who gravitated to the idea are still around, and it is this core that the rest have built upon. Whilst we are still primarily using social media as the primary means of communicating and sharing, the times when we meet face to face are invaluable. We have done less of that lately, but hope to have a resurgence soon. I believe that because even the more experienced people in the group readily admit that they are still learning, and from their work and interaction give evidence of this, the bridge between photographers with various degrees of experience is shorter than it might be otherwise.

DH: How important is it to you to have that

fraternity to help propel your own production?

ML: It is easy to be creative in the initial

learning stages, when everything is new, and experimentation leads to discoveries and to seemingly new photographs, as time goes on, there is a dry spell, or a period where you don’t feel as creative, that maybe you’re just repeating yourself; having others around who are in the creative phase, as well as having others who are in various stages of this is good, it keeps you grounded to the fact that its just a phase. I myself have stopped my annual Deck Project and let my mind relax this year, I am still shooting, but I have stopped forcing it as I think I did last year.

DH: Anything else you would like to add that

I might’ve missed?

ML: With specific reference to the Un|Fixed

Homeland Exhibition, I was struck by the fact that the three representatives from Guyana itself were the only ones that used art of photography to produce photography as art, while the artists in the diaspora took it further. I had mentioned to someone recently that looking at the artists there I saw my own works as the bottom rung of a ladder, where I simply take photographs of scenes as I see them, then there are the works of Karran Sahadeo and Khadija Benn who had many pieces that were conceptualized, the scene thought out and sometimes staged. The other artists took photographs and used them as part of a larger concept. It was amazing to see what they did with a simple photograph, and the message that they told differed or spoke more loudly than the original photograph did.

Seaward Bowline (Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana), from the series, Oniabo, 2013 – 2016.

Archival pigment print on canvas, 30 x 20 in.

(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)

Devotion Point (Bushy Park, Parika, Essequibo, Guyana), from the series, Oniabo, 2013 – 2016.

Archival pigment print on canvas, 30 x 20 in.

(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)

VII

VIII ◄◄◄ From page IV

interior and still support their family in Georgetown or wherever they may reside.

It is difficult for any policeman to function effectively and to consider not taking bribes if that is an area you want to look at,” Primus told the Pepperpot. She said while policemen in mining communities are mandated to do field visits at particular times, many are not provided with transportation, or stipend for hotel and meals.

“But you want them to ensure that they do this and do this thoroughly. You still have to take them into consideration. Even as you increase the numbers you also have to increase the benefits and the provisions that you are making for security forces,” Primus said. She pointed out that while many citizens criticise policeman for failing to execute their jobs properly, at the same time if they are not treated properly with basic facilities provided, “how do we expect them to function effectively?”

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

IMPROPER EXPOSURE The GWMO President warned against ranks often begging favours of miners and other businessmen in the area, saying this type of exposure can compromise their professional work. “If you’re in a mining community and a miner gives me transportation to go in the backdam every time I have to go, provide me with a place to stay, provide me with meals when I get there, take me around to the other outlying areas, and he commits a crime, how could I lock him up?” Primus asked.

Suggesting that hinterland police function independently in order to be effective, Primus explained that if police must depend on hinterland businessmen and individuals, such situation can create a pool of lawbreaking people who maintain police financially and otherwise, who become confident that they will not be arrested. “And it’s not as though (they are) bribing them, but (they are) maintaining them. So it’s like if you’re Turn to page X ►►►

Mabaruma Police Station

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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Public Scoping Your chance to say how projects can affect you and your community!

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is the national regulatory body for environmental management and conservation in Guyana. The Agency implements a process that allows it to decide whether or not to grant permission for development projects to operate. This process is called the Environmental Authorisations process.

For projects that may have significant impacts on the environment, the EPA requires that an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) be done. This assessment is to better inform the EPA of the potential impact of a proposed project so that it can make the best decision for the environment and development.

WHAT TYPES OF PROJECTS NEED AN EIA? Projects that are of a large scale, or with impacts which are not well known, usually require an EIA. For such projects in the agriculture, forestry, or fishing sectors, an EIA may for example, determine how introducing new species; removing species; producing wastes e.g. agrochemicals, animal waste and sediments etc. may affect the environment. For projects in the mining sector, such as gold and bauxite (mineral) mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction an EIA may for example, estimate the impact on forest cover, soil quality and water contamination etc. For projects in the energy sector, e.g. electricity, gas, and steam generation, an EIA may consider safe storage of large quantities of fuel and air pollutants etc. For infrastructure projects such as water supply, sewage transport and waste management and remediation, safeguards for dust, water pollution would need to be examined in an EIA. Sectors that may affect human health through air or water pollution such as motor vehicle repair;

WHAT IS PUBLIC SCOPING? Public Scoping is the process of consulting with members of the public, stakeholders and communities about a project that is proposed by a developer. The main purpose of this exercise is to receive inputs from relevant persons on how they think that a particular project will affect them and their surrounding environment.

Public scoping is not limited to any particular section of society; anyone can attend these meetings! Persons who live in or are regular users of an area in which a project will be implemented should take an interest and make a special effort to attend scoping meetings.

health care and funeral homes may also require an EIA. The accommodation and food services sector may also require an EIA if a large-scale operation is proposed.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORISATIONS PROCESS An individual or company desirous of embarking on a developmental activity has to submit an application for Environmental Authorization along with required documents to the EPA. The Agency will then conduct a visit to the proposed site of the project. Based on the nature and scope of the project, the EPA will determine whether or not an EIA has to be conducted.

If an EIA is necessary, it has to be conducted by specialized consultants approved by the Agency. The purpose of the EIA is to understand the potential impacts of a proposed project and to identify measures to address them.

LEGAL REQUIREMENT The Environmental Protection Act (1996), requires that members of the public be consulted during the EIA process. This helps the EPA to identify what needs to be addressed when the EIA is being done by the consultants. The public is given the chance to raise their concerns about a project through Public Scoping.

Therefore Public Scoping is a critical aspect of the EIA process.

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING PUBLIC SCOPING People benefit from public scoping since it provides a forum for opinions to be heard and considered in the EIA study. Information on the project is shared during the process so that people can learn how a project will be operated and possible ways it will be of benefit to them. Participation in public scoping increases the capacity of people to be involved in environmental decision-making by helping to shape a project through their questions and concerns. Participation also provides an opportunity to contribute to safeguarding the environment from potential harm.

For persons unable to attend the scheduled scoping meetings for a project in their area, they can forward their comments in writing to the Environmental Protection Agency, Ganges Street, Sophia, Georgetown; OR via email at: epa@ epaguyana.org or eit.epaguyana@gmail.com. Usually, this has to be done within 28 days of a Public Notice about the project being published in the newspapers.

To find out how your comments are integrated in the EIA, you are encouraged to read the EIA Report which will be made available for public scrutiny.

During next week, the EPA will be facilitating Public Scoping meetings for two major projects: Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) Liza Well, Phase 1 and Rong-An Inc. Large Scale Logging and Operation of a Portable Sawmill. Information on these projects can be found on the Agency’s website at www.epaguyana.org or at the EPA’s office, Ganges Street, Sophia, Greater Georgetown.

SCHEDULE FOR PUBLIC SCOPING MEETINGS 1. Project: EEPGL’s Liza Phase 1 Development Project Date: October 24, 2016 Time: 16:00 h Venue: Synthetic Track, Leonora, Region 3 2. Project: EEPGL’s Liza Phase 1 Development Project Date: October 26, 2016 Time: 16:00 h Venue: Anna Regina Multilateral School, Anna Regina, Region 2 3. Project: Rong-An Inc. (Logging Project) Date: October 28, 2016 Time: 10:30 h Venue: Kwakwani Empowerment Centre; Kwakwani, Region 10.

4. Project: Rong-An Inc. (Logging Project) Date: October 28, 2016 Time: 15:00 h Venue: Ituni Small Loggers Association, Ituni, Region 10.

X ◄◄◄ From page VIII

creating grandfathers in the backdam,” the GWMO President explained.

She said unless government addresses such issues, sending more lawmen in hinterland communities will create further irregularities especially if the other people being stationed there are not properly maintained. “(We would get) a lot of police, yes, but a lot of police that have to survive.”

TRANSFERS Primus also advised government to review the Guyana Police Force’s current programme of transferring policemen to the hinterland for bad behaviour on the coast. “In the planning for the hinterland programme, you also have to look at the current programme that is being done, with policemen being punished by sending them to interior locations…So you also have to look at the types of policemen that you’re sending to the mining areas, because when

you take somebody who is misbehaving in Georgetown and send them to Tamakay (a mining community in Upper Mazaruni), it’s the same bad behaviour, but it will multiply because you have more people that you could try to pressure and get money out of.”

Meanwhile, Primus said other social services are needed in the hinterland areas to better serve its female population.

She pointed out that a victim of rape has no other support social services and if the police refuse to take her statement she has no one in the area to turn to. “If a child isn’t attending school, or drop out, who ensures that this child returns to school? We’ve seen a number of cases of even girls who were trafficked. When you talk to them, they start school and at some point in time they drop out. But there is no one in the outlying communities ensuring that our children get their rights,” Primus said.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Words Hurt

Hello Everyone, I hope this week has treated you well. I recently did an outreach with a major Government entity- one which each of us has to deal with at one point or another. The staff were very attentive and interactive but all became silent when the topics of verbal abuse and unkind words were brought up.

I can only assume their obvious discomfort portrayed guilt so today I would like to discuss the importance of words and the repercussions of unkind ones. This is also a personal piece for me as I have recently lost a dear friend of mine due to unkind words on my part. I’m hoping that in the process of shaping my readers opinions on the importance of words, that my own will be forgiven and never repeated. You know who you are -This one is for you.

We don’t think of it often as it comes so naturally to us but our words are the most powerful thing. Words can be weapons that carry enormous weight and impacts everyone around us- both negatively and positively. Words can give people the courage to overcome obstacles or the feelings of hopelessness to give up.

I believe the saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words never hurt” is the most ridiculous statement and come back ever invented. In time, physical wounds heal and are forgotten. The same cannot be said for cruel and unkind words. These replay in our minds for decades to come and scar us for life. They create low self -esteem and self- confidence, high anxiety and stress levels, self- hatred, aggressive behaviour, sexual promiscuity, depressive symptoms and even suicidal thoughts.

Emotional abuse causes the victim to believe their abuser. They internalise these opinions and begin to see themselves through the eyes of their abuser. This is the worst part. Many studies show that if you berate a student before an exam, they will automatically do worse than students who weren’t made to feel like underachievers – even if their preparation was the same.

I want to make two things clear.

1. I love Guyana. I grew up here and this is my home. It is also home to the nicest people I’ve ever met. However, I have been fortunate enough to live in two other continents for long periods of time and I can say with full confidence, that Guyanese treat each other with such disrespect and say the most hateful things when upset. It’s actually not a normal thing around the world. Of course abuse happens everywhere and there is cruelty far worse globally- but in my personal experience- hell hath no fury like a Guyanese scorned.

2. This piece is not coming from a judge-

mental place as I too am extremely guilty of saying cruel words when I’m upset. I’ve lost or almost lost so many treasured people in my life due to this. Many things are to blame for thismy environment, the way I was raised or the company I chose to have. Recently, I’ve come to believe (or want to at least) that despite all those factors, I can generally be a nicer person. I now choose to motivate and uplift others rather than push them down. I will let those people in my life feel as special as they are and be their peace.

I will speak every word to them as if it were my last and the intention is to leave fond memories.

Can you do these things as well?

In our generation, cyber bullying has of course drastically increased but the harsh reality is that the cruel words that have a significant impact on us almost always come from those closest to us. Some justify it by calling it “tough love” but parents, friends, significant others, employers and others do not seem to understand that these harsh words are doing great harm. This method of reinforcement does not minimise problematic behaviour but instead aggravates it.

It is also important to remember that cruel words create a vicious cycle for everyone. Basically, cruelty breeds cruelty. I know that when my day is started with harsh words directed to me, it affects everyone else around me. My patience is thinner than usual, my tone of voice is harsher and I can be downright unapproachable.

Sometimes I feel that it’s not exactly my faultthat I was pushed to that point. But wasn’t it my fault? Should I allow others to cause me to upset those I care about? Should any of us?

Can you think of a time that you have severely hurt someone with words? Well that’s okay- we all have at one point or another. Maya Angelou said “You did then what you knew how to do. When you knew better, you did better.”

These few words allowed me to forgive myself for all my wrongdoings and to appreciate that I’m not the same person who said those things.

As I have been saying- words are empowering and Angelou’s and my own have empowered me to make better and more positive life changes.

“It’s not what we say but how we say it”.

I’m torn between loving and hating this saying.

Furthermore, using the word hate is harsh, especially in a piece like this so I’m going to use the word dislike instead. Simple acknowledgements like that is how we make the world a better place- and I’m trying every day. As I was saying, I’m torn between this statement as your words do matter overall but I’ve also been told ‘nice to see you’ in a way that made me feel completely unwelcome and uncared for.

Overall, we can all be better. When we say

we can’t, it basically just means we won’t. Everyone is capable, some with more effort than others, to take the high road. We have at our disposal a power that can change lives, make an ill spirit healthy, inspire success, provide guidance, improve relationships and create a lasting impression of us as kind and worthy people. That power is the power of words. Be the change.

Doing this is not easy- it is an overall life change. Frank Outlaw said it best – "Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character. Watch your character; it

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becomes your destiny."

The choice is yours. How will our words impact others?

Thanking you for reading. Please keep sending any topics you’d like to talk about to caitlinvieira@gmail.com Or come in to see me at: Georgetown Public Hospital: Psychiatric Department: Monday- Friday – 8:00hrs- 12:00hrs Woodlands Hospital: Outpatient Department Drug and Alcohol group meetings - Mondays 4:15 Good mental health group meetingsWednesdays 4:15 Say Yes to Life and No to Drugs! Always!

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Man found guilty of rape in ’66 by judge’s error freed on appeal IN 1966 Keith Mayers was convicted by the jury of rape after the trial judge had failed to rule that evidence of the complaint was inadmissible on the ground that the complaint had been elicited by questions of an inducing character.

But on appeal, a court constituted by Chancellor Kenneth Stoby and Justices of Appeal J. A. Luckhoo and Persaud -

Held: where, as in relation to complaints made in sexual cases, the admissibility of evidence depends on the discretion of the trial judge and the principles to be applied in exercising that discretion , the trial judge cannot flinch from exercising his authority..

Appeal allowed.

J. O. F. Haynes, Q. C. with C. A. Massiah, for the appellant: G.A. G. Pompey for the

Crown.

Delivering the judgment of the Court, Chancellor Stoby said: The appellant in this case was convicted of rape.

He appealed to this court on three grounds but we propose to deal with one ground only.

During the trial the mother of the girl alleged to be raped was called as a witness for the Crown. The purpose of her evidence was to show that the virtual complainant had

made a complaint to her.

After she had given evidence and was cross-examined, counsel who appeared for the appellant at the trial submitted in the absence of the jury that having regard to the answers given by the mother in cross-examination , the complaint was inadmissible as it was elicited by questions of an inducing character.

Counsel for the Crown

submitted that although the mother asked her daughter certain questions, yet having regard to the relationship of mother and daughter , the complaint was admissible.

While counsel for the Crown was replying to the defence submission, the judge intervened. The record before us is as follows: “At this stage , court indicates to counsel for defence that having regard to the defence as put to the complainant it would seem the making of the complaint was consistent with the defence although its weight may be attacked having regard to the manner in which it was made.”

As a result of ths statement by the judge , counsel for the Crown did not proceed with his reply, the jury was recalled and the trial proceeded without demur from defence counsel.

On appeal it has been argued that the complaint was inadmissible because it was obtained by leading questions and suggestions and that in any event it was the function of the judge to rule on the submission, and the failure to rule deprived the prisoner of the possibility of the complaint being held inadmissible.

Whenever evidence of a complaint is given two factors have to be borne in mind : (a) was the complaint made as speedily as could reasonably be expressed? And (b) was it voluntary and spontaneous and not elicited by leading inducing or intimidating questions? It can happen and often does that the virtual prosecutrix as well as the witness to whom the complaint was made gave their evidence in such a convincing way that no question can arise about the admissibility of a complaint.. If such be the case no ruling from the judge is required.

On the other hand it may occur and often does, that the person to whom the complaint is made makes admissions in cross-examination which might or might not cause the evidence to be inadmissible.

As soon as the possibility arise of the complaint being held by the judge to be inadmissible it is for him the judge to rule .

Looking at the matter without the aid of any persuasive authorities , we are in no doubt about the judge’s function in a criminal case where objection is taken to the admissibility of evidence.

The judge must make up his mind and rule one way or

the other . Quite understandably a situation may arise where counsel withdraws his objection and the evidence, if already accepted, remains and is dealt with in the summing-up as admissible evidence.

A Court of Appeal can, if opportunity offers, decide whether the evidence decide whether the evidence was correctly admitted.

But where the admissibility of evidence depends on the discretion of the trial judge and the principles to be applied in exercising that discretion, the trial judge cannot flinch from exercising his authority. The reason is patent.

Normally , admissibility depends on fixed principles, relevancy and so on; the judge’s discretion is not required ; his view of the relationship between the parties, the surrounding circumstances and the impression created in his mind are important.

In sexual cases the unimportant assumes a different character which the written word can never convey.

When the court looks at the evidence objected to, it cannot with a feeling of certainty say that the judge , had he exercised his discretion, would have admitted the evidence. He might have done so and had he applied the correct principles this court would not have interfered.

But he refused to decide. He compromised and we are not constrained to substitute our discretion for the judge’s hesitancy.

A circumstance of some importance is that there was practically no corroboration whatsoever.

The judge warned the jury against convicting on uncorroborated testimony; he told them that the complaint to the mother did not afford corroboration . In this setting it was vital for the jury to know whether she had told a consistent story; had the complaint been ruled inadmissible this element of the prosecution’s case would have been lacking and without it we cannot say the jury must have convicted.

We consider the failure of the judge ,to give a decision on an important bit of evidence was a fatal omission, and consequently the conviction must be quashed and the sentence set aside. The appeal is allowed, said Chancellor Stoby in his judgment delivered on behalf of the Court of Appeal.

Appeal allowed.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Guyana is free from most plant pests Guyana is free from many serious plant pests, weeds and diseases that are present in other parts of the world, the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) has said.

The agency is also currently working to ensure that this situation remains, even as the accelerated movement of plant and plant parts between countries pose the threat of increased movement of pests, diseases and weeds.

NAREI has responsibility for the provision of Plant Quarantine Services to farmers, exporters, importers and to the general public.

These services are provided through the National Plant Protection Organization, a department of NAREI. The NPPO is tasked with: 1. Enforcing the Plant Protection Act 2011; 2. Issuing Phytosanitary Certificate involves three distinct procedures: 1) examination of documents associated with a consignment to ensure import and export documents are complete, consistent, accurate and valid; 2) verification of consignment’s identity and integrity; and 3) visual examination for pests and other Phytosanitary requirements such as the absence of soil.

3. Inspecting agricultural commodities for import and export at the

Evette Barker, Quarantine Inspector, inspecting non-commercial vegetables at the Mon Repos head office

Carambola Fruit Fly

various ports-of-entry, container terminals, aboard ships and aircraft, Central Packaging Facility, bonds warehouses and other places or facilities of importers and exporters. The major imported commodities are: potatoes, onions, garlic, wheat, exotic fruits, and cut-flowers. The major commodities that are usually inspected for export are rice, sugar, lumber, fruits and vegetables, sand, charcoal and medicine bark; 4. Certifying farms is a Phytosanitary requirement for the exportation of fruits and vegetables to Barbados, St. Lucia and Antigua.

NAREI inspects farmers’ fields to determine whether they are free from pests and diseases of quarantine importance to those counties; 5. And, Conducting surveys and surveillances for pests and diseases are done to determine the presence of exotic pests and monitor their spread and effect control measures. Surveys are conducted for the following: Papaya Mealy Bug; Black Sigatoka in plantains and bananas; e uarantin ghts, Plant Q son Trap ri Giant African Snail; The ManW an th na Jo Jack REI places a go Seed Weevil; coffee berry Officer of NA ee in Linden, Region 10 tr go borer and the Mediterranean an m a in fruit fly. Surveillances are conducted for: Carambola Fruit Fly; Pink Mealy Bug; Red Palm Mite;

Red Palm Mite

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Red Palm Weevil and the Anastrepha species of the fruit fly.

The above mentioned pests are considered quarantine pests. The presence of these pests could have a devastating effect on the farming community and the country as a whole. For instance, Guyana’s ability to trade with other countries could be restricted and local farmers would be unable to earn a living.

Owing to NAREI’s dedicated team, Guyana continues to be free from the Giant African Snail, The Mango Seed Weevil, Mediterranean Fruit Fly and the Red Palm Weevil. The country is also free of the Papaya Mealy Bug and efforts are continuing to have similar results with the Pink Mealy Bug. Thankfully, the Carambola Fruit Fly has been successfully eradicated from Regions Five and is under control in most other Regions.

Remember it is our duty to report pests and diseases affecting our farms and to take relevant actions in controlling the pests and diseases found on farms. All quarantine pests discovered on farms should be promptly reported to the nearest NAREI office or NPPO.

Literature

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Pauline Melville’s

The Ventriloquist’s Tale

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

By Subraj Singh

(Bloomsbury, 1998)

A Guyanese author nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction? A Guyanese author who has won a Whitbread First Novel Award? Yes, such an author does exist in the form of the enigmatic and extremely talented Guyanese writer, Pauline Melville. The book is one of my favourite pieces of literature from any Caribbean writer and it should be mandatory reading for anybody who claims to have an interest in the literature of Guyana.

The book focuses on a particular section of Guyanese society, an indigenous family, and therein lies something that makes it immediately special: the fact that it focuses on the indigenous peoples who, despite being the first ethnic group to occupy Guyana, have still, for the most part, not been represented well enough in local literature, on the rare occasions when they are represented at all. Melville, however, delves deep into Guyana’s heartland, reaches the savannahs of the Rupununi and soars over the spider web

streets of Georgetown to give us a tale that is unique, sexy, wild and utterly enthralling, all set in a land that we know, among a people that we know, and yet, her eye for detail and her knowledge of what she is writing about ensures that her presentation of the story is done in such a way that even the Guyanese reader has to marvel at the wondrous “newness” of what is really an world in the book, and equally marvel at the representations of a people who are so close to us and yet, perhaps because of our own faults, are so far away.

The novel is narrated by Makunaima himself – the creator God- and his inclusion in the novel reveals the magical realist genre that Melville employs and weaves around what is mostly realism which, in a strange way, gives even more credence to the magical and fantastical even with the threat of it being subsumed by the realist portions of the novel. The story focuses on the McKinnons, particularly the siblings, Danny and Beatrice, who fall in love and embark on an illicit, incestuous affair, and on Chofy McKinnon who, years after Danny and Beatrice’s relationship, goes on his own journey of love and forgets his wife for a while as he begins a sexual relationship with a white academic named Rosa.

These two relationships and their repercussions (whether fulfilled or merely implied) and the many other characters who become a part of these relationships – whether through resistance or acceptance of them – make the book one which highlights the ways in which simple human emotions can change lives and alter destinies.

The Ventriloquist’s Tale is a novel of many contrasts.

The most obvious one is that

of the natural indigenous way of life playing against European colonialism. Other contrasts include those that, in some ways, sometimes, mirror that obvious main contrast: men versus women, the city versus the interior and savannahs, Christianity versus Indigenous Beliefs, and change versus the static.

Melville’s writing is, like the forests and savannahs she writes of, lush and seductive. Her prose is poetic and the way she handles what is really a complex and harrowing book, with such skill and finesse, is something that must be complimented. It is almost as if the writer takes your hand and leads you into the setting of the novel, passing information to you along the way, teaching you about the trees so you know how it feels to stand in the shade of each one; showing you the people so that Beatrice, Wifreda, Maba, Danny, Father Napier, Rosa and all the others become clear and crisp, real as real, with all the intricacies and individual touches that make up real people; and, by some miracle, inserting you into the bodies of her characters so every breath, every blush, every spasm of anger is felt and endured.

The novel is harsh when it comes to emotions. It makes the reader feel deeply the pain and anguish of the characters and yet, such dark emotions exist in a space that is extremely beautiful and, in fact, are born out of Melville’s writing, which is the main conveyor of the beauty within the book. It is an interesting phenomenon – to have darkness beneath the beauty – but it is intoxicating and more than enjoyable to read and experience.

folklore

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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By Neil Primus

The Funeral Ceremony

By Neil Primus

GODFREY was an easy-going man. He worked at the wharf, and was very popular. He was divorced and a father of six. All girls. The last two daughters were not with his former wife.

He was a heavy drinker and smoker. One of the two habits caused his demise.

Word of his death spread quickly. The night of the wake were well attended. His big children paid for his funeral expenses. He would be buried in three days. **The day of his funeral arrived. It was a rainy Saturday. Rain fell all day. It stopped that afternoon an hour before his burial.

Now Godfrey was a member of the Lodge Society. It was one of those hushhush organization that kept certain secrets. Godfrey never spoke of the activities that took place in the Lodge meetings.

His Lodge brothers turned out in their numbers to attend his funeral. The brother at the head of the funeral procession was dressed in his magnificent uniform and had his glittering silver sword swinging as he marched.

The procession moved off from his residence in Caravan and headed for the cemetery. When they arrived there they found the area to be wet, muddy and difficult to negotiate.

All was made ready for the final march to his place of intern. The procession moved off.

The leader marched with vigour,banishing his sword. The bearers struggled to keep up because of the slippery ground.

Left! Right! Left! Right! The leader forged ahead. Slip, Slush, Squish, Slush. The

bearers tried to keep up. It was laborious work for them. In order to reach the designated burial plot they had to cross a make shift bridge.This bridge consisted of two shaky boards placed parallel to each other and spamming the narrow trench. Because of the rain the trench had spread its bank and stepping onto the board caused them to sink below water level. Everyone got their shoes wet when crossing.

Meanwhile the leader was in full flow.

The sword swished, twirled and twisted.

As he passed each tomb he gave it a loud broadside with the sword Crack! Bang! Pow! Things came to a head when he struck the wrong tomb.

As he led the procession, he smashed the sword against a green tomb and passed on.

Unknown to him the tomb had a hole at the opposite end and had become the territory of a large hive of African bees.

The annoying sound triggered an immediate retaliation. Bees swarmed and charged the leader and all in the procession. In a matter of seconds a well-organized procession disintegrated into total chaos.

The sword was used to try to swat the bees.When that did not work it was abandoned and the owner raced away as fast the soggy ground would allow.

When the attack started the Pall Bearers were halfway across the bridge. They were trying to take tentative steps to prevent too much water from soaking their shoes. The dark cloud of avengers soon put paid to that notion.

As vicious stings hit every exposed area, they were forced to resort to self-preservation.

Godfrey was unceremoniously dropped and the party fled swatting themselves as they went.

Those coming at the back of the procession got off lightly.When they realized that bees were on the rampage they took off early.

Only a few stings came their way.

Godfrey had an old aunt named Dorothy.

She was over sixty and quite overweight.

When the bees hit she stooped quickly and snatched up her shoes. You see, she had borrowed them from her cousin and had promised to return them intact. With agility that was unusual for one so old, she huffed and puffed past many younger folks and made it to the safety of her friend’s car.

The exodus was something to see. There was running, slipping, falling, bawling and slushing.

Slip!

Slush!

Splat!

Squish!

Some fell flat. Others slipped and in slow motion hit the mud on their backsides. One man started to go seemed to catch his balance then began to teeter once more. When it seemed that he was okay he fell flat on his face.

Bash!

Mud and water separated to accommodate him.

Two kids; a boy and a girl were having fun during all this chaos. They ran a few yards stopped then took off again. They hopped, jumped and ran. When they reached to safety on the outskirts of the burial ground they looked disappointed that the fun had ended.

They still enjoyed some more laughter at the comical, messy confusion unfolding before their eyes. All they had to show for their experience were two or three stings. They were the lucky few.

By the time the cloud had settled the funeral goes were scattered to every point of the compass. It was after dark when some of them were able to quietly complete the purpose of the day.

As for Godfrey, while all hell was breaking lose, he was floating serenely along the trench. They located the casket when it was dark and floated it back to the bridge. From there they picked it up and took it to the tomb.

It was one of the quietest burials I had ever seen. The leader had vanished completely.

For weeks after Godfrey’s family and friends talked about his funeral. Most of their comments were not about the deceased. They remembered with clarity the charges of the bees and the flight of the bereaved. They certainly would never forget the stings, swellings and pain inflicted by the angry proprietors whom they had unwittingly disturbed.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Leprosy patients battle stigma, discrimination ‒ gov't to step up awareness as new cases pick up

By Svetlana Marshall For many years, Daniel (not real name) had noticed a discoloration in his skin but the thought of Leprosy had never crossed his mind, maybe “lota” but never leprosy.

There were times when those pale spotted areas on his body would become numb but it was something he had taken for granted up until 2010 when he became severely ill while working in the fishing industry.

“At first I didn’t take it seriously because of my work, and the people that were depending on me but it got overbearing. I was constantly in pains, and every time I eat, I would get bad feelings,” he recalled.

Daniel had then taken a decision to seek medical attention privately, but according to him he was misdiagnosed. “The doctor told me I had kidney problem, so he was treating me for Kidney all along but instead of getting

better, it had gotten worse to a stage that I was vomiting blood,” he explained.

Within the first three years of seeking medical help, Daniel had turned to two other doctors, all of whom gave similar diagnosis. His ill health resulted in him being dismissed, and in response, he turned to a popular hardware store in the City of Georgetown for employment. “I started driving for these people, but in addition to the vomiting, I started experiencing ulcers due to the driving. My fingers started crumbling,” he said.

Before the father of one knew it, he was out of a job for a second time. “I end up going at West Dem Regional Hospital, and they detected it and refer me to the Skin Clinic.”

It was then in 2010 that Daniel was diagnosed with Leprosy by the doctors attached to the Public Health Skin Clinic situated on Brickdam within the compound of the Palms Geriatric Home.

“Leprosy,” the news of this disease had sent chills up his spine. Besides knowing it to be a dreaded disease during the biblical days, Daniel had little knowledge on it.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by a slow multiplying bacillus or a rod-shaped bacterium called Mycobacterium leprae. Due to the nature of the disease, which is also known as the Hansen’s Another Leprosy patient displaying sections of his hands disease, it is transmitted via that are now numb as a result of Leprosy droplets, from the nose and pain, it is terrible,” he explained while sitting mouth, during close and frequent contacts in the building that houses the Skin Clinic. with untreated cases Now, he is advising persons to know However, it takes approximately five to the signs and symptoms of Leprosy. “If you eight years to develop while symptoms can see any mark, any mark, and you know you take as long as 20 years to appear. Affect- haven’t gotten a scratch from somewhere but ing mainly the skin, the peripheral nerves, you seeing a discolouration or feeling numbmucosa of the upper respiratory tract, if left ness about your body, seek public medical untreated can result in progressive and per- attention.” manent damages to the skin, nerves, limbs “If I had gotten this diagnosis early, and eyes. maybe, maybe, I would have still had my More than two years undergoing treat- toes, and my fingers would not have been ment at the government run skin clinic, shortening,” he said. Although being in Daniel has been cured of Leprosy. However, excruciating pain at times, Daniel says he he was cured at a time when the disease had still tries to help out around the house. From significantly advanced resulting in deformi- Monday to Friday he rides his daughter to ty. Due to the loss of tissue, his fingers and and from school on a motorcycle, and does toes have become shortened and deformed. chores around the house, but there is not “On the left side of my foot I have no much he can do financially. toes. On the right side the toes are shortenNeed finance ing, and I have ulcers on all two feet. I have “I have applied for public assistance three an ulcer on my elbow – the bone actually is Turn to page XIX ►►► out and so you don’t have to ask about the

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016 ◄◄◄ From page XVIII

times, and after more than a year I can’t get no assistance,” he complained while explaining that his wife will soon be out of a job. “She cleans for about $8,000 a week, however she is soon to be laid off, she and five others. She had three C-sections, and of that, two were miscarriages. The last one, caused her like four seizures, so she can’t walk too long or stand up in the sun,” he added. To supplement his wife’s income, Daniel’s sister-in-law and father-in-law would support them financially from time to time.

“I have my daughter going to school the requirements is really hard on me but sometimes my father-in-law would pitch in. He helps us out by buying shoes and uniform for my daughter.”

DISCRIMINATION Though Daniel receives the support of his immediate family, his in-law, and that of medical personnel at the Skin Clinic, he is ever so often dis-

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criminated against in public places and even by his own family. “Everywhere you turn, you go to the market, people does look at you and turn up their face, and walk away. I was

A doctor conducting foot care

Leprologist Dr. Jaison Barreto of Brazil doing a back examination of a patient at the Skin Clinic who has both Leprosy and Lota

in a bus one day, and a guy look at me and seh you is a alligator, and he just pass me and went down to the back of the bus, and when he come out, he turn and tell the conductor

look at that man like he get AIDS,” Daniels said as he broke down in tears.

Turn to page XX ►►►

XX ◄◄◄ From page XIX

“I have been discriminated against by my own brother. He don’t even look in my direction, since I got sick, he turned his back on me,” he added fighting back tears.

NO FRIENDS The neglect and discrimination experi-

enced by Daniel has caused him to develop a love for animals, mainly chickens. “I have no friends. I have no friends…I does mine some chicken as pet because I need company but even when I go to buy chicken feed, I am discriminated against. One time this woman laugh at me and seh, you brukin out, like you get AIDS,” he related.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

UPHILL TASK Head of the National Leprosy Control Programme, Dr. Nikita McKenzie, who manages the Skin Clinic, said removing the stigma and discrimination surrounding leprosy remain an uphill task for health workers not only in Guyana but across the world.

Contrary to popular beliefs that Leprosy is a curse in the form of a disease that was handed down by God and causes parts of the body to fall off, Dr. McKenzie said it must be known that Leprosy is a curable disease.

“It is not one of the diseases that you should fear. It is curable,” she emphasised while explaining that within days of being treated the patient can no longer transmit it. Instead of putting up a Head of the National Leprosy Control Programme, barrier, Dr. McKenzie believes Dr. Nikita McKenzie that Guyanese should become knowledgeable of the signs and stages, Dr. McKenzie said the many of the symptoms associated with the disease. deformities could be prevented. In an effort “It is a disease that affects all organs ex- to raise greater awareness, detect and treat cept the brain, the lungs and the spinal cord. patients, Dr. McKenzie with the help of Dr. It affects every other area. It can go from just Lorraine Katon, five nurses and a medical the skin patches to the raised infiltrated skin technologist attached to the skin clinic and lesions all the way up to the infiltrated areas by extension the National Leprosy Control of the face, such as cheek bone. It could also Programme, has been conducting outreaches cause flattening of the nose bridge, loss of in several regions in addition to the weekly eyebrows, hair loss to the eye lashes. It can clinics held at the Palms. also cause blindness if complications get so In addition to Georgetown, clinics are far, if left untreated leprosy,” she pointed out.

However, if detected during its early Turn to page XXV ►►►

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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The Art Of Contour "You can't contour without a good foundation" What's with the recent obsession of contouring and highlighting? It's as if, everyone just discovered the makeup dictionary. Using jargon and nomenclatures beyond their understanding that they can barely comprehend, trying to decipher the science of makeup.

But, makeup isn't math... because shading, contouring, and highlighting aren't just fancy words makeup artists use, actually all artists use, it's an action! You can't merely read, Google, and assume that once you see the contour the girl can do makeup. Ok... everybody just calm down.

THE MYTHOLOGY Here's where the problem lies...contouring looks good on stage, and translates well on camera, especially when edited and retouched, as is the Instagrammers preference. So what is seen on the internet comes across as the look to go for, until a friend at the event decides to flash you in the dark, or the heat from the sun decides to disrespect the extra effort you made. Or the Air conditioning cracks up all that is matte and baked.

Suffice to say, contouring isn't your best friend especially if it was applied methodologically. Makeup is architectural campaign in motion, gliding and molding with the rhythm of the epidermis. The beat!You can't just sprinkle it with powder and call it a day. Neither should you mask

the mask, can't make it anymore redundant.

This didn't YouTube it's real life, and it's about sophistication, class and conduct.

It's respect and manners. There's a fine line between making music with your makeup, and making noise. Contouring should be seen and not heard.

THE METHODOLOGY Melinda Gates cofounder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said "Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Here's why. If you always stay on your comfort zone, you'll miss out on so many new things worth experiencing." Referring to her college experience "I was one of only a handful of female computer science majors in the whole university."

It's the women who often want to stand out or are obligated to, who are often forced into the limelight and must wear makeup, matter of fact...should wear makeup. However, it's not their makeup that they want to stand out but their voice, their accomplishments and achievements. The ones who do wear makeup for show are often like sounding brass. Then there are the Kerrys: the ones who are both loud and modest. It's better to be the latter...or so the common perception says.

It matters not which personality you possess. Since contouring the face is pretty much a standard procedure. The ability of blending and utilizing the necessary skills

of applying basic makeup is crucial. The only complicated attribute of contouring may come in color coordination, tonal dispensation, hyper pigmentation, product viscosity, and infrastructural positioning.

Relating to the area and perimeters of the face, obviously. Strategic planning is necessary in the development of achieving the perfect made up look.

THE BEAT One shade does not fit all. There are many and several adjustments to be made when applying makeup. The beat, must have rhythm, an ebb and a flow. Consider your face shape first, and adjust the contour to suit you, and not the other way around, an obvious inorganic look, is a tragic faux pas. As the TLC chorus said "Don't go chasing waterfalls, just stick to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to..."

The face comes in many different shapes: diamond, round, rectangle, pear, oblong, oval, or heart shaped. It's imperative that you adjust. Ensure that as you apply the natural shades of the face and your foundation should match. Always apply your foundation first, before attempting to contour and highlight.

Pro Tip by Kerry: Use your blush (a matte tone) in the areas you apply your contour shade, and blend giving a color definitive hue to match the natural undertones of the skin.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development Social Cohesion fosters a healthy, well-functioning society which is an important aspect for sustainable development. It therefore becomes incumbent on Governments to ensure that the right policies and programmes are in place to achieve this goal.

The task allotted to the Ministry of Social Cohesion is a great one: to ensure that individual and community relationships are nurtured to have a unified Guyana.

Unifying Guyana, of course, goes beyond differences of race and ethnicity and includes every aspect of our social lives, religion, age, geographic location - and all other similar factors that divide us. Social Cohesion therefore means bridging those gaps, to promote the development of a country, where all diversities are embraced, conflicts are resolved, where equity is promoted and all decision-mak-

ing processes lead to equal opportunities and benefits for all of Guyana.

Over the past few months, the Ministry’s main focus has been the compilation of a 2017-2021 Strategic Plan on Social Cohesion in Guyana, which will be completed by the end of 2016. One of the core aims of the Strategic Plan is to have the input of the people so as to adequately address specific issues affecting social cohesion across the country.

Minister of Social Cohesion, Ms. Amna Ally said that this past June, the Ministry began a countrywide initiative to host 32 consultations throughout the 10 Administrative Regions, to meet with key stakeholders from various communities to address issues hindering social cohesion among various groups. The Minister said that the Consultations have included a wide cross

The Residents were divided into groups to discuss key areas of focus relating to social cohesion. Coordinator of the Ministry of Social Coheson, Ms. Sharon Patterson explains the purpose of the exercise

section of stakeholders from non-governmental organisations, special groups, political groups, regional democratic organisations and other groups and have been well attended.

Minister Ally noted that the work of the Ministry has been tremendously supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which has allowed the Ministry to reach a large number of persons through financing and other support.

“The Government’s mandate is that everyone must enjoy the same benefits without division. So very soon in the future you will see efforts to scale up activities in order to achieve this goal,” she said.

So far, 22 Consultations have been hosted and the Ministry has reported that the response from stakeholders has been overwhelming. Project Coordinator of the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Ms. Sharon Patterson has said that the pos-

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016 itive response, thus far, has stemmed from the realisation that the consultations allow them to play a role in the decision-making process. “It is validating. It gives a sense of inclusion, and people get to exercise their trust in the Ministry in that we are working and talking with them and they are open and indicating their beliefs of what is important.

They are identifying key issues and how they believe they could be addressed in responding to the issue of social cohesion and what they see as bringing Guyana together to unify a nation,” she said. Ms Patterson added that the consultations to date have also provided insight into immediate steps that must be taken to help the process along.

Resident Representative of the UNDP to Guyana, Ms. Mikiko Tanaka said that the organisation is pleased to support the Ministry’s work, as social cohesion serves as a core foundation for peace and development.

“In the context of Guyana, I am very happy to hear that this is a very important issue and objective for the country. This motto Guyana has of ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’ very much captures that aspiration that Guyana has, so the

From left, Ministry of Social Cohesion, Technical Officer, Mrs. Natasha Singh-Lewis, Resident Representative of the UNDP to Guyana, Ms. Mikiko Tanaka, Mayor of Corriverton, Mr. Ganesh Gangadin, Regional Executive Officer, Ms. Kim Stephens, Lead Consultant for the Social Cohesion National Strategic Plan, Dr Thomas Gittens, Regional Health Officer, Mr. Jevon Stephens and representatives from the UNDP at the Social Cohesion Consultation in Corriverton

Social Cohesion National Strategic Plan, Dr. Thomas Gittens, who facilitates the Consultations, said that this initiative has highlighted proposals and responses that reflect the particular issues that are affecting the communities. “We have had a tremendous level of participation and input at all the consultations. In many cases we have received very good content, because people have been speaking their minds,” he said.

Residents conducted group discussions to come up with recommendations among five thematic focus areas identified by the Min-

with disabilities, members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender (LGBT) community and other mi-

istry. The first is economic equity and opportunities which aim to ensure that persons belonging to different racial groups, unemployed youth, low wage workers in specific sectors, small business owners and other groups feel less economically unequal to others they see as more fortunate. Citizens’ safety and security is the second group which aims to ensure that persons feel safer and that there is less tension and less personal, ethnic, racial and criminal insecurity among all groups of persons.

The focus on social inclusion and tolerance involves ensuring that persons

among the ethnic and racial groups. Once the Strategic Plan, which will comprise stakeholders’ input, is in

place, these aims are all expected to be achieved by the year 2021.

With the Consulta-

A section of the gathering at the day's proceedings

Mr. Deceius Mundo,from Yarrowcabra made a presentation on behalf of his group, giving recommendations on ways to improve economic equity and opportunities for the Residents

UNDP has been accompanying the process of developing a national strategy for social cohesion under this current administration and led by the Ministry of Social Cohesion,” she said.

Ms. Tanaka said that most importantly, it is the voice of the local people that make up the issues and challenges of social cohesion and what they would like to do to achieve social cohesion. From these consultations, she expressed the hope that there is a better sense of the strategic complimentary actions that are needed to bring the society together.

Lead Consultant for the

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nority and excluded groups feel socially equal and that discrimination and exclusion is reduced. Inclusive and participatory governance will seek to ensure that persons have a better understanding of the Constitution, the system of government and institutions at national, regional and community levels are more involved and have more confidence in the decisions taken that affect individuals and communities. The final focus area is harmonious ethnic and racial relations. This group seeks to ensure that there is a clear improvement in relations and interactions

tions ongoing, the Ministry launched its Diversity Education and Inclusion Workshop in October as one of the strategies that will be run concurrently to develop social cohesion within communities.

The initiative involves the training of a core team of trainers, who will work in the Ten Administrative Regions to train over 700 citizens to become social cohesion advocates within their communities. In addition to building capacity, the training will also allow community members to have an interface with the Ministry and stay abreast with the progress of the Ministry’s social cohesion mandate.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

‘Dear Mr President’ poet lands job …says “I'm a voice for the voiceless”

By Tamica Garnett

her poetry has evolved into so much more, an arena of limitless possibilities. “Someone broke my heart, so I decided to put all my emotions on a piece of paper,” Burnette recollected, adding that: “The ultimate goal for my poetry, at this point there's no

She’s a poet, an aspiring lawyer, and almost two months ago she took social media by storm, at least on the Guyanese end of things, she is 19-year-old University of Guyana student Renata Burnett, who rose to fame, on the local circuit, with her spoken word piece “Dear Mr. President”.

Many sat up and took notice when this lanky aspiring lawyer spoke out and addressed “Mr. President” about the struggles she was facing in attending University and trying to find a job. A very relatable case for many young people in the economy.

Renata opened by saying that she was hoping that the video would go viral, and it so did.

Describing her poetry Renata says: “I'm a thetruth-hurts" type of poet, an informative kind of poet, but most importantly I'm a voice for the voiceless.”

Renata takes inspirations from the likes of Maya Angelou and GuyRenatta Burnette anese poet Martin Carter.

The Pepperpot recently caught up with young Ms. Burnette to see how her new found fame has limit. Poetry is so very versatile, it Renata performing at the recent been shaping her life and just how it all got can fit into any art form and that's Curlfest Guyana: Natural HAIR Expo started. Renata says she never found out if what makes it so interesting.”

“Mr. President” ever got her message as she At first she wrote her poem just never really got any response. However she for herself, but then she started perwas eventually offered a job as a result of forming publicly at varying poetry an eloquent and dramatic way to articulate it. her outpouring. She’s still in the processing nights, and then in July of this year she start- And it was a particular struggle that saw Reof tying up a few a things before she can ed posting her videos on Facebook. She says nata penning her piece “Dear Mr. President”, begin the job and admits that it will be a bit the change from writing to herself to writing and posting in on Facebook. of a challenge, as she will have to reshuffle for an audience was a little unsettling, and her schedule a bit to accommodate working she struggled with consistency. She also CHALLENGE TO FIND A JOB and studying, but she’s sure she can make worried about staying true to herself while Talking to “Mr. President”, Renata it work. appealing to her audience. speaks about her challenge to find a job, and Renata writes with young people in mind, “Like everything in life one must face all of the companies that said they just don’t describing herself a relatable person. challenges and poetry isn't any different. have vacancies for Renata’s qualifications “Having a target audience is very im- Being consistent is a huge challenge for me, which puzzles the former Brickdam Secondportant. What I've discovered is that I'm a because I am used to writing for myself, at ary student because she doesn’t even have a very relatable individual, and my writing my time, whenever I feel like. But now it’s PhD as yet. doesn't have age or gender or religious affil- expected of me to be more consistent. StayMatter of fact she’s still in the process of iation, but my audience in a nutshell would ing true to me, to my writing, to my style, pursuing her first undergraduate degree in be individuals in their late teens/twenties,” that’s another challenge in itself, reason Communications at UG. Renata is a first year Renata said. being people have their opinions and sugges- student. She has only thus far completed her tions that they try to force on you in the name secondary school studies, with a CSEC and A BAD BREAKUP of wanting you to be better." Renata said.

CAPE certificates. Other companies told ReAs it relates to where it all started for her Nonetheless she has been taking it all nata that she couldn’t be hired because she’s in poetry, Renata recalled how she first start- in stride and now she writes about it all: a current student of the University. So what ed writing poetry just over a year now, after Music, life, struggles, achievements, pain, she said was very relatable, and how she said it all began with bad break up. But since then happiness, you name it, and Renata will find it was flawlessly executed, so much so that it

resonated with quite a lot of persons.

Many UG students, and even persons not attending University can attest to issues chronicled by Renata. Her piece was noted in a few opinionated pieces in the media.

Posted on September 9, 2016, her video has already been viewed over 78,000 times up to last Friday, October 21, which may not look like much in a world where viral videos hit as much as 12 million views, but as Guyanese videos go, that’s a pretty good number.

Renata was bowled over by the response she got, saying it’s the impact that her poetry has on people that really puts a smile to her face. ““The support has been amazing. From my friends and my family, just amazing. I'm grateful as always. Very appreciative of it. The impact that my poetry has on people, writing something from your personal experience, and having a thousand plus people being able to relate to that, it’s crazy. That's my favorite part about being a poet.”

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016 ◄◄◄ From page XX

held monthly in Skeldon, Port Mourant and New Amsterdam in Region Six and at the West Demerara Regional Hospital and Parika Health Centre in Region Three. Clinics are also held at the Lodge, David Rose, Grove and Soesdyke Health Centres, in addition to the Linden Hospital Complex.

During these outreaches, Dr. McKenzie and team look for the usual signs, and once a diagnosis is made, the patient is placed on a six month or one year treatment plan depending on the severity of the disease.

The treatment is a Multidrug therapy (MDT) which has been made available by WHO free of charge to all patients worldwide since 1995. However, some patients for varying reasons either refuse the medication or stop taking it abruptly – decisions Dr. McKenzie strongly advises against.

Screening family members It was noted too that once a leprosy patient is identify, family members who have been in close and constant contact with the individual are screened.

“But we not only examine the patient but family members and persons who have been in close contact with the patient because Leprosy is not a disease of the person but of the family…Once a family member is showing signs we treat them as well, and cure them of the disease before it could even advance,” she posited.

In effort to complement the work of the team at the skin clinic, the National Leprosy Control Programme with technical support from the Pan-America Health Organisation (PAHO) hosted a training programme last September to develop the capacities of health care workers to detect, treat and manage leprosy.

The one week training session was facilitated by US Occupational Therapist Linda Lehman and Leprologist Dr. Jaison Barreto of Brazil with the support of local doctors. Notably, it also attracted health care workers not only from Region 4 but from Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine as well. On the completion of the programme, Minister of Health Dr. George Norton said the 20 healthcare workers who went the training are now better positioned to detect, treat and manage cases of leprosy, and also prevent and or minimize impairments in the identified regions.

22 new cases yearly

While Guyana, over the last two decades, has been reporting approximately 22 new cases annually – thereby reaching the target of leprosy elimination which is less than 1 per 10,000, the country’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shamdeo Persaud said there has been an increase in the number of new cases.

With the person being six and the oldest 64, the National Leprosy Control Programme has already registered more than 31 new cases for the year. “We were averaging about 22 per year, but this year it has bounced up back a little bit and we noticed some newer and younger people who are also affected, and many of the cases have links to the older cases,” Dr. Persaud explained.

As such, he said maintaining surveillance around the contacts such as immediate members within the family is important. But like many other countries, Guyana is experiencing some limitation in the fight to reduce the spread of Leprosy, the CMO said, explaining that specially trained technicians to do the smears are needed.

“There are two types, there is a multibacillary form of leprosy where you can easily identify the organism, and then there is a paucibacillary which is harder to detect. So the skill of the technician is very important to identify these cases,” he further explained. The country, however, is putting the necessary systems in place to align itself with Global Leprosy Strategy 2016-2020.

The strategy, themed, “Accelerating towards a leprosy-free world,” aims to revive efforts for leprosy control and to avoid disabilities, particularly among children affected by the disease in endemic countries.

According to WHO, it is a strategy that focuses on the need “to sustain expertise and increase the number of skilled leprosy staff, to improve the participation of affected persons in leprosy services, and to reduce visible deformities – also called grade-2 disabilities (G2D).”

Removing the stigma associated with the disease, is also key on the agenda.

Elimination of leprosy as public health problem (with a prevalence less than 1 case per 10 000 persons) was achieved globally in the year 2000. Additionally, more than 16 million leprosy patients have been treated with MDT over the past 20 years.

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Creating the holistic culture of the level playing field THE platforms to empower and create small and medium-sized businesses with the supporting simplified financial options for growth are the only means of opportunity that will determine the survival of most Guyanese in the immediate future.

This spans existing and new sectors, in the bold new world of labour-eliminating technologies and new methodologies. In some places high tech is replacing old

working formulas in most areas, the die is cast.

In Guyana, as in most small countries where Government is the dominant factor in national development, rather than private investment capital, which, with the latter, in some cases are naturally hostile to the potential competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses. This of course is not exclusive to Guyana; therefore, government becomes tasked with creating the

philosophy and empowering mechanisms through laws to initiate a workable, level playing field.

To elaborate on the predator nature of the ’business food chain,’ the recent revelation of the controversy at the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority involving two prominent board members reminded me of a profound incident in early 1993. A group of creative people in Advertising, Photography, Art, Designing and Writing

had bonded ourselves together on the pretext that we comprised the talents that were sub-contracted for a meagre percentage by the existing ‘connected’ larger entities and we would forever be selectively utilised and underpaid, even tricked and bullied out of principled rights [ Copyright, Licensing, royalties etc.] and independent negotiating opportunities.

We had publicly announced ourselves as the Independent Me-

dia Workers (I.M.W.), but had failed to put the money together to pay the lawyer attached to the group to file the paper work, because we were busy assessing the network strengths of the I.M.W. The major private media houses went ahead and registered themselves under our name. They became the Independent Media Workers, having a legal fraternity within whispers away. Without Turn to page XVIII ►►►

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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shame or guilt. Then we next realised that all the Government relationships that we serviced had been severed from us; at that time I did advertising work for G.E.C. and GuyOil and freelance work for The Department of Culture and G.N.N.L. Within weeks, I had lost most of them, the rest soon followed, this latter development we could not readily ascribe to the ‘Connected Group’ that had stolen our business name or just to the vengeance natural against all things that went before exhibited in an overwhelmingly vulgar way by the PPP in its first months in office. Most of our group drifted into stages of hunter-gathering to stave off complete economic collapse, many of us remained in debt for years. Off course, the ‘Connected

Group’ continued to offer selective avenues for the usage of our talents, now comfortable that we were reduced to ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water.’ Not all complied, some migrated, I went down a different and difficult path to retain a livelihood and hold on to some integrity. The bottom line is, that wherever private enterprise is active, this scenario is evident. Especially in a country of no clear-cut laws for the accommodation for business development, and no penalties for public officers who feel that every contractor owes him/her 30% of his earnings.

A recent letter by Cyril Walker ‘The procurement system needs complete overhauling’ that outlines a common complaint that has reverberated for years. A specific official that lived in the Kitty area epitomised the criminal vice of the cutback, a

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

minister in the last regime even had the nick name ‘De 10% Minister.’ But even more serious is when Government purposely on the pretext of Politics and Race illegally moves hundreds of millions of contractual dollars to create unqualified power brokers, who will then marginalise qualified and proven expertise as permanent subcontractors in an overwhelming atmosphere of finance and equipment that they, the real contractors are unable to compete against. Finance that enables the recruitment of a parallel public service within the public service to do their bidding. This system is also supported by banking regulations that will make the marginalised unable to compete, using the current bank terms for larger contracts.

This is not only a thing of the past administration, though they seemed to have moved it from the criminal activities of a sub-culture, to a national culture. A popular Pork-Knocker told me the gruelling episode of a former commissioner during the Desmond Hoyte presidency that took his lands and sold it to a large stakeholder, he took a lawyer who conveniently lost his papers and neutralised his defence. Only laws that are clear and easily implemented as the sad fact, that in a fist fight if an opponent is punched and he collapses and dies, you

will be charged, the outcome may not be as severe as premeditated murder, but the stressful legal consequence is assured, for most Guyanese. All the above constitutes the taming of the landscape that will allow the cultivation and reception of new ideas, that will grow into livelihoods. We must learn by the temerity of anomalies occurring around us.

The work will be tremendous for both the Attorney General and Auditor General’s office. With the recent disclosure of the Auditor General’s report of the reluctance of the ‘System’ to implement recommendations, is in itself an omen of the task ahead to shape the new Guyana, because many of the ideas and concepts that will be laid on the desks of heads of departments will be from new streams of thought, by persons and groups who hardly thought that it will take three to six months before that head even remembers the document after several dozen phone calls. One of the pivotal trademarks that must be etched in the consciousness of the public officer is ‘Timely response’ rather than indifference, procrastination or the custom that attributes a file for tomorrow’s reflection, as the current colloquial determines ‘To whenever’.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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Good Practice Awards 2018

…submissions call for prestigious Commonwealth education awards ● Innovative: Displaying innovation in its approach, methods or outcomes. ● Measurable Impact: Evidence that it has been independently evaluated and its impact assessed e.g. through qualitative and quantitative indicators. ● Sustainability: Demonstrates its capacity or potential in delivering sustainable benefits for society, and in making substantial contribution to the education sector.

The Commonwealth Secretariat is inviting nominations and submissions for the Good Practice Awards 2018.

The Awards recognise the outstanding contribution and achievements of education professionals and bodies that have made a difference to learners’ lives through innovative education and learning for development initiatives and practices. In a release the secretariat said the fifth Commonwealth Education Good Practice Awards were launched at the Secretariat’s headquarters to invite applicants from Commonwealth countries to highlight their good practices in education and to encourage, reward and generate enthusiasm within the education sector.

Any organisation, whether public or private, including Commonwealth ministries of education, educational institutions and civil society organisations advising in or delivering education and learning in Commonwealth countries can nominate themselves or be nominated. The formal and non-formal education sectors span from early childhood education to adult education, including primary, secondary and tertiary education, technical and vocational education and training, and skills development.

A good practice submission must be a policy, programme, project or strategy that has made a positive difference to learners, whether children, young people or adults, or to the education system of a Commonwealth member country in respect of one or more of the five categories for 2018. The five categories are: Category 1: Eliminating gender disparities in education, especially for girls and women.

Advancing education and learning for girls and women. Fostering empowerment and eliminating gender based violence through education.

Category 2: Delivering quality education and learning in difficult circumstances. Delivering education in difficult environments.

Reconfiguring the financing of education for people living in difficult situations. Providing education and learning against all odds.

Category 3: Education and learning to improve employment opportunities for young people.

Education initiatives that provide learning and training experiences that increase employment opportunities for young people.

These can include science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives.

Category 4: Education as a powerful response to climate change.

Equipping learners for the inevitable changes in the climate (adaptation) while inculcating a greater understanding of and responsibility for the environmental consequences of human actions (mitigation).

Category 5: Education and pathways to peace.

Educating for peace, preventing conflict and promoting a culture of peace and good citizenship through education. Building a fair and inclusive Commonwealth that embraces diversity.

Winners will be awarded at the 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) in Fiji in 2018.

Submissions must be received by 15 February 2017. Completed application forms should be sent by e-mail to educationawards@commonwealth.int and/or posted to: The Co-ordinator, Education Good Practice Awards, Health and Education Unit, Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX, United kingdom.

CRITERIA FOR THE AWARDS Entries will be judged using the following criteria: ● Relevance: Contextual, socio-cultural and economically appropriate responses to the challenge of education delivery in a specific country.

● Efficiency and Effectiveness: Demonstrates efficient and cost effective use of resources in its implementation. ● Knowledge Exchange and Participation: How it contributes to knowledge exchange, successfully communicates its objectives, approaches and findings to stakeholders, and encourages community and civil society participation, ownership or contribution. ● Replication: The extent to which the initiative is replicable in other Commonwealth countries and can advance good practice within the sector and/or influence policy agendas promoting good practice Reminder: Entries should be clear and comprehensive, and should clearly describe how good educational and learning policies or practices have been implemented and what has been achieved.

XXXII Rondel “Mark” Montfort

By Frederick Halley

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

Victoria boy aims to take Canada back to World Cup

RONDELL “Mark” Montfort fondly remembers his youthful days at Victoria Village, East Coast Demerara, reminding me that it was the first to be bought by the slaves.

It was in that historic village, in a front yard that his fledgling cricketing career started and today, at the age of 31, he’s on the verge of making the senior Canadian national side after donning colours recently for the High Performance (HP)

squad and also representing the latter in a friendly game against Bermuda.

Victoria however still remains still close to his heart as he recalled the wee hours of the morning when his father Peter, still one of the leading first class umpires in Guyana and Canada, would take the then

The left-handed Montfort on the attack

six/seven year-old to a “cake shop” to watch West Indies play Australia in what was the “golden years” of Caribbean cricket.

“It was the days when not every home could have afforded a television but I cherished those days and has been an ardent

Rondell Montfort with wife and daughter

West Indian cricket fan ever since,” Rondell said with that strong patriotic stance. According to Rondell, his dad obviously saw his potential from an early age while playing in their front yard and pushed him to the limit since “he wanted me to become the best cricketer and I never doubted my ability.”

The young Montfort was soon elevated to the captain of the Annandale Secondary School after having played at Bygeval Secondary following his primary school days at Clonbrook. Montfort’s first and only club in Guyana, the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC) was mainly responsible for his growth in cricket, pointing out that he represented the organization at the Under-15, 17 and 19 levels and despite Turn to page XXXIII ►►►

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016 ◄◄◄ From page XXXII

being invited to Demerara youth trials, opted not to attend any because of personal family reasons.

By 16, he was already in the GNIC first division team, rubbing shoulders with his more senior counterparts while being part of the Demerara senior Inter-county squad in 2006 but failing to make the final X1 in all three matches, including the final against Berbice at the Albion Community Centre.

Undeterred, Montfort continued to churn out brilliant performances for GNIC, including five-wicket hauls in finals against Malteenoes Sports Club and Demerara Cricket Club and a 10-wicket match-winning effort versus Transport Sports Club, the same year he ended the season with over 300 runs and 30 plus wickets. At that stage, Montfort felt he was good enough to make the Guyana side as an off-spinning all-rounder but unfortunately never got the break he thought he fully deserved.

Montfort credited his development to recently-appointed West Indies A team assistant coach Rayon Griffith and former Guyana and West Indies off-spinner Clyde Butts who played major roles as mentors while he was at GNIC. According to Montfort, himself and Griffith, who also played for Guyana, trained rigorously and practised together, alluding to the fact that both Griffith and Butts also rated him highly and felt he had the necessary skills to be included in the national team.

“When I was really doing well in first division cricket, I was overlooked a few times and it was really frustrating but I never gave up…” Although still playing for GNIC, Montfort ventured to Trinidad and Tobago through the efforts of Griffith who secured a contract for him with the Spoilers Cricket Club which is based in Chauguanas, joining another former Guyana youth player, Ryan Hercules.

“It was my first experience playing cricket out of Guyana and the experience was amazing. As a semi-professional, you learn how to deal with situations and let your cricket evolve,” he divulged.

During his three-season stint with Spoilers, the club captured the two-day, limited overs and the T20 (played over two days) competitions, earning it promotion to the Championship division. Performing creditably, they placed third in the division with Montfort earning the overall Cricketer of the Year Award in the 2008-09 season after also being named in the top five cricketers from both the North and South divisions.

Through the efforts of the late Trinidadian Johnny Bujan, who died tragically in an accident earlier this year, Montfort migrated to Canada in 2010 and has been an integral member of JB Brampton Masters ever since, churning out several outstanding all-round performances in the Toronto & District Association Premiere, Elite and Super Six tournaments.

Admitting that the transition wasn’t that easy and his first season was somewhat low-key, Montfort said this was transformed dramatically from the second with aggregate scores of over 300 and more than 20 wickets per season.

Montfort’s performances obviously impressed the selectors and during the 2016 Spring trials he was identified from among players throughout Canada for the one-week High Performance camp where strenuous fitness drills and stimulating games were the key to success. He went through these exercises with flying colours and duly earned a place in the side to play against the touring Bermudans.

Hi sights set on even going further and aiming to make the senior national team, Montfort grabbed the opportunity with both hands, slamming a brilliant 69 in the first game and grabbing five for 40 in the second, bowling medium pace instead of his accustomed off-spin. The sudden change came about after bowling coach Henry Osinde observed him “trying out” in the net sessions and advised that he do the same in the actual game.

Determined not to let this selection be a fly by night opportunity, Montfort disclosed that his immediate goal is to help Canada get back into Division One of the International Cricket Conference (ICC) championships and ultimately into the World Cup tournament and he’s supremely confident both are possible in the not too distant future. He’s also dreaming of one day being a professional cricketer.

The Canadians have been languishing in Division One over the last few years and Montfort will be part of the squad which will begin a six-month training stint shortly for the World Cup qualifiers, set to commence in March next year, Proudly married in a family of six, Montfort disclosed that his wife is extremely supportive of his cricketing efforts.

XXXIII Montfort in action, delivering his medium-pacers

XXXIV

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

PANCAP ups awareness on stigma, discrimination The Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV & AIDS, PANCAP, participated as a key stakeholder at the Caribbean Sex Work Coalition SWIT (Sex Worker Implementation Tool) Meeting held from October 16 to 20 here.

The workshop is supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP). The PANCAP-Knowledge for Health (K4Health) project engaged over 20 participants of the CSWC Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT) workshop in a ‘net-mapping’ activity to determine how stigma and discrimination affects their ability to advocate for human rights, access to HIV prevention and care, and HIV/AIDS education.

According to Sarah Fohl, Knowledge Management Advisor for the K4Health project, ‘net-mapping is a knowledge management tool that allows participants to determine the relationships, actors, barriers and opportunities within their com-

munities that significantly affect their lives’. The Knowledge Management Advisor further explained that the net-mapping exercise allowed participants to work together and identify barriers and opportunities to adequate access to condoms and education about safe sex and HIV/AIDS. Knowledge Management Coordinator, K4Health, Dr. Shanti Singh-Anthony who also implemented the net mapping activity stated, ‘sex workers face a tremendous amount of discrimination because of their line of work. It was important for the participants of the workshop to clearly identify what prevents them from gaining sufficient knowledge on HIV/ AIDS as well as prevention tools so that advocates can identify solutions to remove these barriers with the aim of eliminating the spread of AIDS’.

According to Miriam Edwards, Co-chair and Coordinator of the Caribbean Sex Work Coalition (CSWC), ‘the exercise

Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer

was vital for sex workers and leaders of sex worker-led groups to fully understand the importance of their role in reducing discrimination in order to consistently access HIV/AIDS prevention tools and education’.

The Co-Chair further explained that the net mapping activity complemented the goal of the workshop to educate participants on the Sex Worker Implementation Tool (SWIT) which offers practical guidance on effective HIV and STI programming for sex workers. It provides evidence on the importance of decriminalizing sex work, the involvement of sex workers in developing policy, and the empowerment and self-determination of sex working communities as a fundamental part of the fight against HIV. The Co-chair concluded ‘the aim is for sex workers and leaders of the groups represented to propagate the messages and lessons learnt through the PANCAP–K4Health activity among their peers in their respective countries so that more sex workers are playing an active role in responding to stigma and discrimination barriers to HIV/Prevention tools and education’.

According to PANCAP, the idea for the Caribbean Sex Work Coalition SWIT (Sex Worker Implementation Tool) workshop was generated after Leaders of the CSWC participated in the Global Fund SWIT workshop in October, 2015 in Ecuador as well as additional SWIT training activities earlier in 2015 organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

SWIT was created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is based on WHO’s 2012 recommendations on HIV and Sex Work. Following discussions at the CSWC’s last Regional Meeting, an agreement was formed by a consortium network of sex workers from NSWP (Global Network of Sex Work Projects) that increased awareness of SWIT is crucial to the development of sex workers in the Caribbean.

CSWC has received the support of NSWP through the Robert Carr Civil Society Networks Fund (RCNF) to convene this 5-day SWIT training in Guyana’.

Director of PANCAP, Dereck Springer, advocates for more attention on the issue of stigma and discrimination within the sex work environment. ‘It was imperative that PANCAP be a key part of this workshop since eliminating discrimination against sex workers is a key component of PANCAP’s Justice for All (JFA)’ initiative, stated the PANCAP Director, ‘the JFA advocates for the reduction of stigma and discrimination and the upholding of human rights with particular regard to the right to access HIV prevention, treatment and care’.

‘Ending AIDS requires an environment that is free of stigma and discrimination,’ stated the PANCAP Director, ‘key populations such as sex workers are more likely to receive education on HIV/AIDS, as well as prevention tools when there is no fear or being stigmatized. I fully endorse the objective of the SWIT workshop. Sex workers must be cognizant of their role in creating a stigma free environment as well as what actions are pivotal to eliminating the spread of HIV/AIDS in the sex work industry’.

The SWIT Workshop, which hosted participants from Guyana, Jamaica, Antigua, Suriname, Trinidad and the Bahamas, aims to provide effective training on the use and implementation of the SWIT with the objective of building the knowledge capacity of sex workers in reducing stigma and discrimination. (PANCAP)

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

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XLI

Aries The extroverted side of your personality takes over today while the Moon is traveling through animated Leo. But the Sun's shift into secretive Scorpio and your 8th House of Intimacy reminds you to temper your spontaneity with empathy for others. Teaming up with the right people will add power and passion into your life.

Acknowledging their gifts and respecting their limits create lasting and rewarding relationships. Enrich your life by expanding your community.

Taurus Although you strive for objectivity in communication, you can't deny your strong feelings about someone. You're able to see both sides of an issue, but the Sun's visit to possessive Scorpio and your 7th House of Others signals a deepening passion for partnerships that is anything but rational. Unfortunately, this inconsistency is not ideal for making decisions, especially since your intuition could be off target now.

Will Rogers said, "Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."

Gemini The temptation to micromanage your affairs is compelling today because you want others to see you in the best light when it comes to fulfilling your promises. Fortunately, you are busy focusing on the details now that the Sun is moving through penetrating Scorpio and your 6th House of Self-Improvement. There isn't much room in your life for fun and games now, so take care of what's on your plate and stick to your daily routine. Your priorities are your character.

Cancer Barriers to obtaining what you desire start to crumble, encouraging you to be more direct when expressing your needs. Happily, the Sun's radiance enlivens your 5th House of Self-Expression while it's moving through magnetic Scorpio. Although you are more open to deeper emotional and physical interactions today, attempting to please everyone is a mistake. Direct your creative skills outward where they will have the greatest impact. Poet Maya Angelou wrote, "Try to be a rainbow in someone's cloud."

Leo Lending your emotional support to a friend or relative today can have a positive influence on a difficult situation. You are exceptionally empathic while the receptive Moon is traveling through your sign. Additionally, the Sun's shift into passionate Scorpio and your 4th House of Emotional Security shines the spotlight on personal responsibilities. Taking the time to strengthen your family relationships and fulfill your domestic obligations enables you to build an enduring foundation for the future. A person never stands so tall as when they lean down to help one in need.

Virgo Your imagination may be favoured over common sense today as conversations wander aimlessly into Fantasyland. You're attuned to the slightest ripples of negativity while the Moon hangs out in your 12th House of Spiritual Mystery. Your heightened sensitivity invites emotional intimacy while also encouraging you to overreact to casual comments. The extreme Scorpio Sun takes your thinking to another level as it plunges into your 3rd House of Communication. Everyone is deep, but most people are afraid to dive.

Libra There is little room for self-doubt in your life now, so put your unwavering faith into making your dreams come true. Moneymaking opportunities are on the rise while the Sun is warming Scorpio's emotional waters and illuminating your 2nd House of Finances. Thankfully, a weight has been lifted from your shoulders, but rather than celebrating, employ your newfound sense of freedom to build the future you want.

Although there is so much in flux, pick something to focus on and make a stand.

Be who you want to be, not what others want to see.

Scorpio The Force is with you now as the blindfold is removed from your eyes and your destination is in plain sight. Confusion fades, whether the news is good or not, allowing you to choose which path to take next. The brilliant radiance of the Sun is shining in your sign, motivating you to act with greater confidence. Thankfully, your optimism is tempered with a vulnerability that enables you to accept help when it is offered. Letting down your guard allows more love and light to flow into your life.

Sagittarius You want to establish your personal space today as you retreat from group activities to reconnect with your faith and idealism. You're highly inspired to continue working for positive change in your life and in the world. Although a community of friends and colleagues urge you to pursue your dreams, something has changed now that the Sun in mysterious Scorpio has begun its month-long stay in your 12th House of Secrets. Your grand sense of camaraderie is diminished by an immediate need for privacy and the time to sort through issues you prefer to keep confidential. Wisdom comes from reflection Capricorn Collaborating with others today makes it feasible to transform entire organizations, resurrect a discarded project or produce events that strengthen your community.

The Sun's entry into relentless Scorpio and your 11th House of Social Networking feeds your ambition as you tap into the resources all around you. Nevertheless, a competitive Mercury-Saturn alignment may create friction as you struggle for control.

Even if you feel uncomfortable expressing your opinion, tensions will subside once everyone knows the score. In union there is strength.

Aquarius Endless analysis gives way to clear decisions, prompting you to walk your talk without further concern about an overall strategy. In fact, it's your integrity and not your plan that is your primary strength now. The Sun's shift into powerful Scorpio and your 10th House of Career is a sign that it's time to think less about your personal needs and more about your professional life. A battle with internal demons may be necessary to maintain a healthy perspective today. Dig in your heels and concentrate on long-term change rather than immediate gratification.

Pisces You may be inflexible when it comes to matters of principle now, especially if others are pressuring you to change. The unyielding Scorpio Sun is ploughing through your 9th House of Higher Truth, adding conviction to your beliefs and passion to your presentations. Fortunately, an obsessive need to know can motivate you to explore religion, philosophy or politics through study and travel. Educator Ken Robinson says, "Curiosity is the engine of achievement."

XLII

English 2016-10-23

STUDY SUCCESS Dear Student, What do you think enables you to capture your reader’s attention? Can you tell it to a study partner without hesitation? Today we’ll study a story and hopefully you get the question answered. Be wise.

Love you.

WRITING WELL Know the Story A. Its Three Elements ■ Character: The story depends in part on the main character or characters and the kinds of people they are.

■ Setting: The story depends in part on where and when it takes place.

■ Plot: The story follows a ‘mental’ blueprint, or an overall plan.

B. Its plot made up of at least four stages ■ Opening situation: Whatever it is that starts the action.

■ Complications: The situations, difficulties or conflicts the characters get into.

■ Climax: The most exciting event, the ‘big moment,’ or turning point Outcome: How things turn out.

C. Respond to the story, after being prepared with the questions that follow.

Character: ■ What differences are there between the two girls in the story? (Jotting down the character details given about each girl will help you). Write a sentence or two to explain how the differences in character are important to the building up of the story.

■ Are the characters consistent? For instance, is it in keeping with her character that Sandra should look around to see how far ahead she is?

How is it in character for Lori not to overtake Sandra until her final sprint?

Setting ■ Make notes to understand the setting of the story.

■ To what extent is the place where the story happens important to the way in which it develops?

Plot ■ Look at the opening situation of the story: Does it arouse interest and make you want to read on?

■ Look at the major problem of the story: Can you identify the challenges or difficulties that have to be overcome by one or more of the characters?

■ Look at the complications of the plot: Point out the situations or difficulties the characters get into.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY There is only one cure for the evils which newly acquired freedom produces; and that is freedom.

LORD MACAULAY (1800-1859), Literary Essays Contributed to the ‘Edinburgh Review’. Milton (Aug. 1825).

■ Look at the quality of suspense: Will the problem be solved or overcome? What details in the story can you say help to build its suspense?

■ Look at the climax: What can you say about the ‘big moment,’ or turning point?

■ Look at the end of the story: Tell about the outcome. Is it consistent with the opening situation, complications, and climax?

THE STORY A RACE OF MINDS Nobody expected the girls’ 800 metres to be the highlight of our schooltrack meet. Most people just assumed that it would be won by Sandra Evans, who had won most of the track events last year. But if you looked carefully at the run-

ners taking their positions, you could see two people who stood out from the rest. There was Sandra – tall and self-confident, moving with the easy grace of the born athlete. Then, two or three places away from her, was Lori Peters, new to the school last year. Lori was short and stocky, but she moved with a sense of real purpose, with a look of determination in her face that should have made Sandra think.

When the starting gun went off, Sandra’s long legs took her well clear of the rest. It took Lori twenty metres or so to get clear of the pack, and by then Sandra was well ahead.

But, as Sandra settled into her long stride and easy rhythm, Lori immediately started to close the gap between them.

She drove her short legs until, about two-thirds of the way round the first lap, she was less than a metre behind.

Sandra felt someone behind her and turned on more power to get clear. For half a lap she kept changing her stride and her rhythm, trying to shake off the girl who seemed to be sticking to her like a shadow. The, trying not to get rattled, she settled down again, lengthened her stride, and counted on keeping a hard but even pace.

For her part, Lori hadn’t tried to overtake; she was content to stay on Sandra’s tail and try to wear down her confidence. When Sandra’s pace settled again, so did Lori’s. She still had power in reserve, and she felt that she was making Sandra do the second lap faster than usual. She watched Sandra’s every move, concentrating so hard that she didn’t even hear the crowd cheering for her.

About sixty metres from the finish, earlier than was expected, Sandra turned on the power again.

She took Lori by surprise and got several metres ahead of her. But then Sandra did a foolish thing. She looked over her shoulder to see how much lead she had, with the result that her pace was slowed for a moment.

Seeing this, Lori turned on her second weapon.

She shortened her already short stride and actually sprinted. She shot ahead of Sandra, who found her own stamina was spent – she could no longer increase her speed. For forty metres Lori sprinted, until she crossed the finish line, increasing her lead all the way.

Then, when she stopped running, Lori heard the crowd for the first time. They were all cheering and clapping and calling her name. She waved and smiled, and she knew she’d succeeded – she’d beaten the school’s star athlete. (“A Race of Minds” taken from a textbook) AN EXERCISE Which of the following sentences gives the best statement of the problem?

1. Sandra is trying to break her own record time for the 800 metres race.

2. Both girls are trying to do their best.

3. Lori had long wanted to beat Sandra’s record time.

4. Lori is aiming to beat the school’s star athlete for the 800 metres race.

Chronicle Pepperpot October 23, 2016

XLIII

Agriculture has big role to play in curbing greenhouse gas emissions …rapid action needed to put smallholders, food systems on sustainable paths (FAO Rome) The pledge to eradicate hunger and poverty must go hand in hand with rapid transformations of farming and food systems to cope with a warmer world, FAO said today in a new report.

Agriculture, including forestry, fisheries and livestock production, generate around a fifth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture must both contribute more to combating climate change while bracing to overcome its impacts, according to The State of Food and Agriculture 2016. "There is no doubt climate change affects food security," FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said while presenting the report. "What climate change does is to bring back uncertainties from the time we were all hunter gatherers. We cannot assure any more that we will have the harvest we have planted."

That uncertainty also translates into volatile food prices, he noted. "Everybody is paying for that, not only those suffering from droughts," Graziano da Silva said. FAO warns that a "business as usual" approach could put millions more people at risk of hunger compared to a future without climate change. Most affected would be populations in poor areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia, especially those who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods. Future food security in many countries will worsen if no action is taken today.

Overhauling farming and food systems will be complex due to the vast number of stakeholders involved, the multiplicity of farming and food processing systems, and differences in ecosystems. Yet, efforts must begin in earnest now as the adverse impacts of climate change will only worsen with time, the report emphasizes. "The benefits of adaptation outweigh the costs of inaction by very wide margins," emphasized Graziano da Silva.

Time for commitments to be put into action "2016 should be about putting commitments into action," urged Graziano da Silva, noting the international community last year agreed to the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate agreement, about to come into force. Agriculture will be high on the agenda at the 22nd Conference of the Parties in Morocco starting November 7.

The FAO report underscores that success in transforming food and agriculture systems will largely depend on urgently supporting smallholders in adapting to climate change. Developing countries are home to around half a billion smallholder farm families who produce food and other agricultural products in greatly varying agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions. Solutions have to be tailored to those conditions; there is no one-size-fits-all fix. The FAO report describes alternative, economically viable ways of helping smallholders to adapt and making the livelihoods of rural populations — often the most exposed to the downside risks of climate change - more resilient. The report provides evidence that adoption of ‘climate-smart' practices, such as the use of nitrogen-efficient and heat-tolerant crop varieties, zero-tillage and integrated soil fertility management would boost productivity and farmers' incomes. Widespread adoption of nitrogen-efficient practices alone would reduce the number of people at risk of undernourishment by more than 100 million, the report estimates.

It also identifies avenues to lower emission intensity from agriculture. Water-conserving alternatives to the flooding of rice paddies for example, can slash methane emissions by 45 percent, while emissions from the livestock sector can be reduced by up to 41 percent through the adoption of more efficient practices. FAO's road map also identifies policies and financing opportunities for the sustainable intensification of agriculture.

The way forward Negative global effects of climate change are already being felt in some cereal crop yields,. Climate change will likely lead to a loss of nutritional content of some foods, such as declining zinc, iron and protein counts in staple cereals, and trigger new health issues — including diarrhoea for humans and an array of transboundary animal diseases.

Beyond 2030, according to scientific evidence, negative pressures on food production will be increasingly felt everywhere. Until then, adverse impacts of higher temperatures are sharply skewed towards developing countries, pointing to dimmer prospects for their food self-sufficiency.

Helping smallholders adapt to climate change risks is

critical for global poverty reduction and food security. Close attention should be paid to removing obstacles they may face and fostering an enabling environment for individual, joint and collective action, according to the report. FAO urges policy makers to identify and remove such barriers.

These obstacles can include input subsidies that promote unsustainable farming practices, poorly aligned incentives and inadequate access to markets, credit, extension services and social protection programmes, and often disadvantage women, who make up to 43 percent of the agricultural labour force.

The report stresses that more climate finance is needed to fund developing countries' actions on climate change. International public finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation is growing and, while still rel-

atively small, can act as a catalyst to leverage larger flows of public and private investments. More climate finance needs to flow to sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry to fund the large-scale transformation and the development of climate-smart food production systems.

Adaptation and mitigation of climate change must occur in tandem. Without action, agriculture will continue to be a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.

But by adopting climate-smart practices and increasing the capacity of soils and forests to sequester carbon, emissions can be reduced while stepping up food production to feed the world's growing population, the report said.

Food systems can further contribute by minimizing food losses and waste, as well as by promoting healthier diets that also leave a lighter environmental footprint.

Entertainment

TAYLOR SWIFT - MY GROPING BRAD PITT - I'M NOT ANSWERING PICS WILL GET PEOPLE OFF, ANGELINA'S DIVORCE For the Sake of Our Kids Don't Release Them!

TMZ.com - Taylor Swift thinks the pics of a DJ allegedly groping her will get people all hot and bothered ... so much so she wants the judge in the case to seal them.

Taylor made the pitch in legal docs in her lawsuit against radio DJ David Mueller ... claiming the release of the pics would "be shared for scandalous and prurient interests."

That's short for ... the press will have a field day with this stuff ... and folks will get super aroused.

Taylor thinks the release of the pics

would create unfairness against her ... to the point of influencing a jury pool, saying, "the interest in a fair and impartial trial outweigh any public interest in access to the documents identified above."

You'll recall ... Mueller originally sued Taylor last year, saying he was fired after she publicly claimed he groped her backstage in 2013 at one of her concerts. Taylor countersued ... saying he absolutely did.

In her docs, Taylor calls the pics "extremely personal and sensitive."

TMZ - Brad Pitt will not file a legal response to Angelina Jolie's divorce petition because it would set the stage for a nasty legal battle ... and he fears it would cause great psychological damage to their kids.

Brad's legal answer was supposed to be filed Wednesday, but the deadline came and went. Sources close to the case tell us ... Brad wants joint legal and physical custody, but if he actually filed

papers it would draw the battle lines. Angelina wants sole physical custody, setting up a possible custody war.

Angelina could set the wheels in motion for a default judgment since Brad hasn't answered her petition, but we're told that is not going to happen. She agrees ... healing the family is the priority, not starting a war.

There's something else here at play. The L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family

Services is still investigating the airplane confrontation between Brad and 15-year-old Maddox, and Brad will be in a much stronger position if DCFS closes the case before he files his answer.

Our sources also say there's a chance the whole divorce case could settle privately without any dueling divorce docs. And, we're told, on that goal both Angelina and Brad agree.

Chrissy Teigen Slams Twitter Trolls After Anne Hathaway Was Not Thrilled When She Won Her Oscar: ‘I Tried to They Attack Her Over Daughter Luna Pretend That I Was Happy’ — See Her Response!

InTouchWeekly - Chrissy Teigen may have set her Twitter to private, but that's not stopping the 30-yearold from defending herself against mommy shamers!

The Sports Illustrated model was recently photographed in NYC with daughter Luna and husband John Legend, but some of her followers didn't approve of the way she was carrying her six-month-old.

"Do not hold your baby like a handbag," one user wrote, before Chrissy responded with a series of heated tweets.

"Let me know how you hold your baby when she's about to go into a stroller and there are 20 camera flashes at

night," she wrote. "Photos are literally split-second moments in time that evolve. I despise mommy shamers."

She ended her rant with a polite, "Please, do shut up."

John has defended the beauty's parenting skills in the

past, tweeting, "Funny there's no dad-shaming. When both of us go out to dinner, shame both of us so Chrissy doesn't have to take it all. We'll split it."

We're definitely team Chrissy!

USMagazine - Anne Hathaway apparently wasn’t thrilled when she won her first Oscar for best supporting actress in 2012’s Les Miserables. (Relive the moment when Hathaway became an Oscar winner in the video above.)

“I felt very uncomfortable,” the 33-year-old told The Guardian in a new interview published on Thursday, October 20. “I kind of lost my mind doing that movie and it hadn’t come back yet. Then I had to stand up in front of people and feel something I don’t feel which is uncomplicated happiness.”

While filming the movie version of the long-running Broadway musical, the ac-

tress cut her hair and lost weight to play prostitute Fantine. She often spoke about how she was on the brink of collapsing due to the strict diet and long hours.

When the 2013 Oscars rolled around, she felt guilty for wearing that $80,000 pink Prada gown and millions of dollars' worth of Tiffany & Co. jewelry. “It’s an obvious thing, you win an Oscar and you’re supposed to be happy. I didn’t feel that way,” she said. "I felt wrong that I was standing there in a gown that cost more than some people are going to see in their lifetime, and winning an award for portraying pain that still felt very much a part of our collective experience as human beings.”

Hathaway said she faced a lot of backlash after her Academy Award win. “I tried to pretend that I was happy and I got called out on it, big time. That’s the truth and that’s what happened,” she said. “It sucks. But what you learn from it is that you only feel like you can die from embarrassment, you don’t actually die.”

The Princess Diaries actress also told The Guardian where she sees herself 25 years from now.

“I’m just going to be staring in awe of my son,” she said of her baby boy, Jonathan Rosebanks, whom she welcomed with her husband,Adam Shulman, in March. “I’m a mum for the rest of my life.”