23rd june 2013 magazine by Gytimes

Sunday

Times JUNE 23, 2013

Star Times Bollywood:

Mithun and son share screen for the first time See story on page 14

Magazine

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Relaxing oases Page 23

The uncomplicated lady

MP Bibi Shadick talks about her life and her simple approach to its challenges Page 5

2 Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine

Improving computer literacy among children Charity sees technology education particularly important to young Guyanese

The centre located in Cotton Tree Village

ave Abee (Us), is a nonprofit organization registered in the U.S that is currently in the process of obtaining non-profit status in Guyana and Canada. The foundation is based on the principle of giving the children of Guyana the skills required to operate a computer efficiently. It primarily focuses its efforts in the rural regions of Guyana, where transportation and computers are lacking. Speaking with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, US-based Guyanese Sham Tilak, said he started the charitable organization Save Abee (Us) on October 30, 2009. The dream had started over a year earlier when Tilak had returned to Guyana and had seen the lack of computer technology for children. He dreamt of providing this for the children in Cotton Tree Village, West Coast Berbice, and through Save Abee (Us) that dream is now a reality. The goal of the foundation was to begin in Cotton Tree

The logo depicting children of all ethnic groups being helped by the organization

Village, West Coast Berbice, and subsequently open centres across

Guyana. Tilak noted that since the children are in school dur-

ing the day, these centres operate in the evenings and on weekends. “To spread the word, Save Abee travels to four villages in each county: Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo, and prepares a meal for the underprivileged. At this gathering, we establish relationships with business associates to see if someone can help provide a home or land, with which we can extend our project to that village. Also, as the children continue to excel in computer courses, our foundation will grant a scholarship, (or scholarships, based on the availability of funds) to the children so they can further their academic studies,”

Times Focus

INSIDE The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

The future of children’s literature Pg 6

Star of the Week

Pg 7

Chic dresses by Mariska’s Designs Pg 10 Kim, Kanye name their baby North West Pg 12 Using the arts to effect change Pg 21

A section of children who graduated from the computer programme at the centre

Computers provided for children to learn how to use them

Tilak outlined. The first centre was ultimately opened in Cotton Tree Village, and the group is currently working on another in Port Mourant and Cane Grove. There was a spectacular opening ceremony for the first centre, with performances by Guyanese artistes Terry Gajraj and Anant Hansraj, who are also active members of the charity. When asked why he used the Creole word “abee”, Tilak explained: “Abee was used because I wanted the people in the

Guyana to feel that this organization is all about the people of Guyana. For all the Guyanese, they know that ‘abee’ means us. The six children in our logo represent the six nations of Guyana. We should all be proud of where we are from, so I thought it was very appropriate to use a word from the country of my birth.” Tilak said too that the future projects of the organization include granting scholarships to the University of Guyana, and it would like to open more centres across Guyana to provide skills in computer technology. He stated that his group is currently planning a show in Guyana to showcase the talents of the country. In the US and Canada, about four entertainment shows are held to create awareness and raise funds for the centre. “A child today, is the future tomorrow. We need to invest in the children today to preserve our future. As we grow to the age of retirement we will rely on these children to care for us as well as the preservation of life on earth. So we need to educate each child on this planet. One hundred percent of all funds raised donated to Save Abee is given to the organization. There are no overhead expenses and those who contribute their time do so as volunteers. We’re encouraging sponsors to join us in providing for the children of Guyana,” he urged. For more information on the organization, visit Save Abee on Facebook.

Times Sunday Magazine

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june 23, 2013

Times Feature

Walter Spence

Remembering the legends of Upper Demerara

PART II

By Dmitri Allicock

orn and growing up in the Upper Demerara area of Linden, I have come to appreciate the great achievements of those who have lived there and contributed significantly to society and representing Guyana on the international map. Legendary Manly Binning was featured in Part I, this week we highlight the great achievements of Walter Spence. Walter Spence may be the first Guyanese to ever win an Olympic medal. He competed for Canada in the 1928 Olympics, winning a bronze medal. Walter Percy Spence, born March 3, 1901, was a swimmer from British Guiana who competed for Canada in the 1928 Summer Olympics and 1932 Summer Olympics. He immigrated to the United States and held several national swimming titles there. Spence was born in Christianburg, British Guiana, the oldest of eight children – four brothers and four sisters. His father was Scottish and worked as a big game hunter and guide, while his mother was Indian. Spence learned to swim in

the Demerara River, along with his brother, where they survived many piranha bites. He and two of his younger brothers, Wallace and Leonard, became international champion swimmers. Two of the four Spence sisters also swam competitively, although not at the level of their brothers. The youngest Spence brother, Harold, showed great promise but was killed in action in World War II before his swimming career could take off. After becoming the top swimmer in British Guiana, Spence moved to Trinidad and began competing there. After losing a freestyle race to a swimmer from Chicago, his first-ever loss in that type of competition, Spence decided to pursue training in the United States. He arrived in the U.S. in 1923, where he eventually gained U.S. citizenship. He began his U.S. career with the Brooklyn YMCA team, swimming the breaststroke and three-stroke individual medley. By 1925 he had broken ten world records and was the top point scorer at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championships that year. He later competed with the Penn Athletic Club in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He competed for Canada in the 1928 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the 4x200 m freestyle relay event. He was also sixth in the 100 m freestyle event and sixth in the 200 m breaststroke event. Four years later he was fourth in the 4x200 m freestyle relay event. He was also fourth in his semi-final of the 100 m freestyle event and fourth in his semi-final of the 200 m breaststroke event and did not advance in both occasions. He later represented British Guiana at the 1938 British Empire Games. He won the silver medal in the 220 yards breaststroke contest and finished fourth in the 110 yards freestyle competition. In 1930, Spence enrolled as a freshman at Rutgers University. He set the collegiate record in the 100 yard freestyle and earned the highest point score at the 1934 NCAA championships. In 1934 he also broke the world record in the 300 yard three-stroke individual medley. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism on June 9, 1934. After leaving Rutgers, Spence swam with the New York Athletic Club (NYAC). His two younger brothers,

Wallace and Leonard, joined him in the United States in 1926 and 1928, respectively. The brothers competed for the NYAC in the threestroke medley relay, with Wallace swimming the backstroke, Leonard the breaststroke, and Walter the front crawl. Together, they won the 1933 AAU championship title in the event and later set the world record during an exhibition at Rutgers. Joining with Peter Fick, they won the four-man 400yard freestyle relay at the 1935 AAU championships. After retiring from swimming, Spence worked as an insurance salesman for the Security Mutual Life Insurance Company in New York City. He married Sheila O'Connor and had five children: David (born c. 1942), Harold (born c. 1947), Donald (born c. 1950), Sheila (born c. 1952), and Wendy (born c. 1953). Spence was killed in an accident on October 16, 1958 in White Plains, New York, while trying to board a train at the North White Plains station. He was on his way from New York City to his home in Hawthorne and had stepped off the train to call his wife during a stop at White Plains. When the train began to debark, he

Guyanese Olympic medalist Walter Percy Spence

ran to catch it and attempted to re-board, but slipped and fell onto the tracks. He suffered severe injuries to his legs and died at White Plains Hospital an hour and a half later. Nine years after his death, in 1967, Walter, Wallace, and Leonard Spence were inducted together into the International

ding, the groom was not satisfied with the house and land that were offered. Not until he was promised a number of cows and sheep did he eventually eat, which showed his acceptance. After the wedding, he went to collect his dowry but was greeted with a severe beating by the family members. He then realized that the father-in-law never owned a house or any cattle in his entire life.

raditionally, throughout the world, the month of June is associated with weddings and “June brides”. It is felt that if a marriage is consummated in June, it is perceived as a blessing and the chances of love and affection would unite couples into an everlasting bond. Whether this is true or not, there are some Guyanese customs to which couples would adhere, regardless of the consequences: “Don’t look back while going up the aisle”; “jumping the broom”- a West African tradition; “don’t ever let a dog eat your wedding cake”; “don’t sweep one’s foot with a pointer broom prior to marriage”, are just a few. The following are some true funny stories surrounding weddings in Guyana.

Marriage vows

During a wedding ceremony the preacher asked, “Does anyone know why these parties should not be joined together, speak now or forever hold your peace?” One member of the wedding party shouted, “The groom is gay.” Without any hesitation the bride blurted out, “So what? I know he is gay, he is always so joyful and happy.”

Cow itch powder or stinging nettle

It is believed that a bride must be attired in: “Something old; something new; something borrowed; something blue”, for good luck, and no bad omen would befall the marriage. However, at one Guyanese wedding, the bride borrowed a glove from her dear girlfriend, not realizing the friend had a crush on the groom. The friend wilfully laced the glove with “cow-itch or stinging nettle” powder, – a powder that would induce intense itching. At the wedding ceremony, before the exchange of vows, the problem began. The itching was very severe. Apparently the powder was transferred and dispersed to certain discrete parts of the bride’s anatomy. The itching was very noticeable and created an embarrassing scene. The groom, unaware of the problem, and in disgust, disappeared from the altar and the wedding was called off. Guess who was waiting outside the church to console him?

Wedding cake

It was also understood that if you are single and you place a very small piece of wed-

Swimming Hall of Fame. The Spence family of Christianburg, Upper Demerara, survives today but in limited numbers. Most have migrated around the world. Some of them are my precious relatives. Now, Walter Percy Spence is celebrated as one of the best swimmers ever produced by the rivers of Guyana.

Rising up first

It is understood that when couples kneel at the altar to exchange their vows, it is thought that whoever gets up first will live longer than the other. In the haste to get up first, the groom accidentally stood on the bride’s dress causing her to fall prostrate at the feet of the pastor.

Pigeons

ding cake behind your right ear, you would enhance and accelerate your chances of getting married. A 65-year-old-man, who would remain nameless, attended a well-known Guyanese wedding ceremony. In desperation he applied enormous amounts of wedding cake behind both ears. To make a long story short, he is still single today at 80.

Catching of the bouquet

The custom where the person who catches the bouquet is believed to be the next to marry is very evident at weddings. Before one wedding reception, the bride made arrangements with her best friend – her maid

of honour who was single – to throw the bouquet in her direction. Somehow, the boyfriend of the maid of honour got wind of the plan. When the bouquet was released from the bride, the boyfriend intercepted and caught the bouquet. The maid of honour was so upset she ranted and raved. One month later, the boyfriend married someone else.

Dowry

It is customary at a Hindu wedding for the father of the bride to offer a satisfactory dowry to the groom. As long as the groom does not eat, the father has to continue offering possessions. At one such Hindu wed-

It is normal after the wedding ceremony to throw rice grains over the married couple for good luck as they leave the church. The groom, clad in a white suit, and the bride, wearing a gorgeous white gown, were greeted with a huge amount of rice grains landing on their heads. Suddenly, a drove of hungry pigeons appeared, stood on their heads, and had a feast. Simultaneously the pigeons decided to release some droppings which landed all over the married couple, leaving a random polka dot design on the white apparel of the couple. (Source: By Edgar Henry. Published in the Guyana Cultural Association of New York Inc. June 2012 Magazine)

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 5

Times Women

The uncomplicated lady MP Bibi Shadick talks about her life and her simple approach to its challenges

ember of Parliament, former government minister, advocate and patriot, Bibi Shadick has ardently used her office to help others; something she feels very passionately about. In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Shadick said she was born and grew up in Leguan , Essequibo. Childhood in the country, she noted, is always a happy experience. She attended primary school in Leguan and is the fourth of nine children. In 1956, Shadick enrolled at the Bishop’s High School on a government county scholarship. There she completed her O’ Levels exams but could not move on to A’ Levels because of family responsibilities. She disclosed that her mother was experiencing a phase of illnesses and she (Shadick) was needed at home to ensure her siblings were taken care of. Taking the duties of the household upon her shoulders, Shadick still worked relentlessly to take home an income. Although she never learnt to climb a tree or ride a bicycle, being busy with school and home, Shadick still enjoyed aspects of her childhood like going into the backdam and doing ‘bush cook’. For her, it was a “normal childhood”. The young Shadick’s life was very demanding. In the mornings and evenings, she had to attend lessons if she wanted to be the “brightest of the brightest”. And this she was. Only the brightest students would be considered for government scholarships, and Shadick was one of them. Her mother did not have any formal schooling; as the eldest child she had to take care of her siblings. Nevertheless, Shadick’s mother valued education and placed great emphasis on her children to be educated. In order for this to happen, Shadick recalled her mother working industriously, selling eggs and chickens to pay for her daughter’s lessons.

School years

Having earned the government county scholarship for Essequibo, Shadick had to leave her home in Leguan to live in Georgetown to attend Bishop’s, an all girls’ high school at the time. First she stayed with her grandmother and aunt in Alexander Village, and would walk to and from school. Shadick recalled it was not difficult for her because in Essequibo she lived a mile away from her school and was accustomed to the walk. Later, she stayed with her father’s relatives in Windsor Forest on the West Bank of Demerara, and would take the train to the ferry to reach school. These long, challenging journeys made getting an education even more important and valuable. Education, she noted, was not something that was handed to her, it was something she worked very diligently for. After completing school at age 15, Shadick became a pupil teacher at her primary school in Leguan. There she earned what she called a “princely salary” of $65 per month, and every year wrote qualifying exams, which added more money to her salary. By the time she went to the teachers training college in 1969, she was already getting a salary that was equal to a trained teacher’s salary then – about $156. At age 24, Shadick attended in-service training but could not afford to do pre-service training because that would mean her family would not have sufficient income. As a teacher, Shadick was very involved in union matters and was part of the teachers’ union. She even managed her school’s cricket team. In 1971, Shadick became a trained teacher. The educator has taught at various schools in and out of Georgetown, and never stopped developing herself academically. In 1978, she enrolled at the University of Guyana to pursue a certificate in education. She then went on to do her bachelor’s and graduated in 1981. After graduating, she was appointed Maths lecturer at the Cyril Potter College of Education until 1995. At age 50, she retired from teaching. In 1993, she began law studies and gradu-

ated with a LLB in 1996. She then went on to Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad, graduated in 1998, and was called to the bar in Guyana that same year.

Political career

Concerning the conception of her political life, Shadick noted that her father was always a member of the PPP party. When Dr Jagan would visit Leguan, he would have a meal at their home. However, while her family was “politically astute” Shadick was never involved in political activities, she was just a member. But when a PPP representative from Leguan decided to retire, the party asked Shadick to take his place. They told her that groups of

Shadick passionately makes a presentation in parliament

Private life

At her office desk where she plans her hectic days

persons in Leguan nominated her to take up his responsibilities and that is what she did without letup. “I had no excuses because at that time I was no longer a teacher, I was self-employed. I accepted and began a very hectic political life.” When elections came in March 2001, she was selected to be a Member of Parliament. She then received a call from the president and was asked to be installed as the minister of Human Services and Social Security. “My policy has always been, if the president asks something of you, you don’t say no. You must have a patriotic spirit. But my mother wasn’t so happy because she asked me if I hadn’t done enough national service. We knew enough of politics to know that it’s not something that makes you rich. It’s something that you give of yourself and you get cursed for it. That’s the reality. But I saw it as another way to help others. My life has always been about helping others. It began with helping my family, then my community, and now my country. Also, it was one of the reasons I went to study law; because I saw the injustice of the people in my community and wanted to help,” the MP revealed. With her new role as minister, Shadick sacrificed much just to help the people of her nation. Being an effective minster, to her, means “being available 24 hours a day seven days a week to the exclusion of everything else.” She led a very scheduled life. Her new position somewhat curtailed her freedom because she could no longer put on her shoes and go shopping without people approaching her on the streets. However, helping people was her priority. She served in that position until 2006. After serving as minister, Shadick requested to just focus on her legal practice, but would make herself available for her country. Presently, although she has her own private law practice, Shadick spends many hours daily fulfilling various duties for her party. She has been a backbencher MP since 2006 and is serving on the Public Accounts Committee since that time. Shortly after 2006, she was named a member of the UG

council, in which she is still active. She also chaired the Rice Assessment Committee in Regions Two and Three, but only chairs the Region Three committee presently. Recently, she was appointed chairperson of the Guyana National Broadcast Authority, which is very taxing on her time, yet she continues to work assiduously to formalize its structure so that it can be effectual. Additionally, she recognizes the members of the authority’s board who have been working very hard in making it effective. She noted that they have continued to do so despite the negative comments. Shadick said all she does is not answer negative comments, but focuses on putting forward her best.

Shadick, now 67, has her appointment book filled with daily meetings with various committees. Nonetheless, she finds time to prepare dinner, wash, clean and shop. She is not keen on hiring maids. Her mother always cooked and when she passed on, Shadick cooked. In fact, when she was a minister she had a kitchenette at her office and would cook there. Speaking about a family of her own, Shadick divulged, “I have no children but have lots of nieces and nephews who view me like a mother. I was never married; not because of lack of opportunity but of choice. I don’t think I could be doing all these things if I had to take care of a husband. I’m a mother to lots of persons and I don’t regret not having a family of my own. I’m not short of children, but it’s just that I don’t have any of my own.” As an ardent reader, Shadick is abreast with the recent technology that allows her to keep active through reading and games. She has more than 400 books on her Kindle and never goes to bed without reading. She subscribes to Reader’s Digest and reads everything in it – including the advertisements, she revealed. She also reads all the daily newspapers and local and international news websites to keep updated with daily happenings.

6 Times Sunday Magazine

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june 23, 2013

Times Book World

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

The future of children's literature

By Petamber Persaud

he Guyanese bookshelf is short on children’s literature. The Guyanese bookshelf is especially short on such material written by local authors. A recent visit to Guyana by John Agard and Grace Nichols in a way glaringly exposed this shortage. While in Guyana, both writers launched their books. Nichols launched “Sun Time Snow Time”, a collection of poems for children, while Agard launched ‘Travel Light Travel Dark”. Just a mere listing of their output individually and collectively will show how much they have contributed to this specialized art of writing for children. It would be a challenge in this short article to examine each book in a corpus numbering in excess of two scores and ten books. Children’s Books by Agard* • Letters for Lettie, and Other Stories. Bodley Head, 1979 • I Din Do Nuttin, and Other Poems. Bodley Head, 1983 • Limbo Dancer in Dark Glasses. Greenheart, 1983 • Say It Again, Granny! Bodley Head, 1986 • Lend Me Your Wings. Hodder & Stoughton, 1987 • Go Noah Go! Hodder & Stoughton, 1990 • Laughter is an Egg. Viking, 1990 • The Calypso Alphabet. Collins, 1990

• The Emperor's Dandan. Hodder & Stoughton, 1992 • Granfather's Old Bruk-a-Down Car. Bodley Head, 1994 • Oriki and the Monster Who Hated Balloons. Longman, 1994 • The Monster Who Loved Cameras. Longman, 1994 • The Monster Who Loved Telephones. Longman, 1994 • The Monster Who Loved Toothbrushes. Longman, 1994 • Eat a Poem, Wear a Poem. Heinemann Young Books, 1995 • We Animals Would Like a Word With You. Bodley Head, 1996 • Einstein, The Girl Who Hated Maths. Hodder Children's Books, 2002 • Hello H20. Hodder Children's Books, 2003 • Baby Poems. Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2005 • The Young Inferno (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2008 • Goldilocks on CCTV (illustrated by Satoshi Kitamura). Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2011

Children’s Books by Nichols* • Trust You, Wriggly, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1981 • Baby Fish and Other Stories from Village to Rain Forest, London: Nanny Books, 1983 • A Wilful Daughter,

Grace Nichols

John Agard

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1983 • Leslyn in London, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1984 • The Discovery, London: Macmillan Education, 1986 • Come On Into My Tropical Garden: Poems for Children, London: A. & C. Black, 1988 • Can I Buy a Slice of Sky?: Poems from Black, Asian and American Indian Cultures (editor), Knight Books • Poetry Jump Up: An Anthology of Black Poetry, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, 1989 • Give yourself a hug Children’s Books by Nichols and Agard* • Under the Moon and Over the Sea. Walker Books, 2002 • No Hickory, No Dickory, No Dock. Viking,

1991 • From Mouth to Mouth. Walker, 2004 • Tiger Dead! Tiger Dead! Stories from the Caribbean. Collins Educational, 2008 • A Caribbean Dozen. Walker Books, 1994 The works of both writers have found their way into some significant anthologies, including “Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry”, “The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse”, and “Caribbean Poetry Now”. Both writers have also authored books for adult readership which is lesson for all emerging writers. Both writers were born in Guyana, later moving to the UK where they now live together with their children. Grace Nichols was born into a world of books and music. Her father was a head teacher, and at home

she was surrounded by books - she was fascinated by the kingdom of books and language. Her mother used to give piano lessons. The music in her poetry came from that and other sources – like the singing of birds, the whistle of the wind in the mangrove, the roar of the Atlantic Ocean, the rhythm of calypso music and the beat of pan, the call of the fisherman and the fruit vendor, the odour of mud and salt when she went crab hunting, the mystery of fishes under the surface of sun kiss water, the silence of a dark country night, the eerie jumbie story, the closeness of storytelling, the folktales, the tricks of Anancy, the lusty singing in church, the correctness of standard English and the colourful Creolese,

the whole of the morning sky, the whole of the evening sky. Nichols has won the Commonwealth Prize and the Guyana Prize for Literature. In 1977, she migrated to the UK, along with another influence on her life and work, John Agard. John Agard started his writing career during his high school days. His poetry and short fiction surfaced in a literary magazine, ‘Expression’, which was launched in 1966. He continued to fine- tune his writing skills as a feature writer and subeditor to the Guyana Sunday Chronicle. In 1977, Agard migrated to the UK and immediately hitched himself to the literary circuit first as a touring lecturer for the Commonwealth Institute

then as writer in residence at the South Bank Centre, London, and later poet in residence at the BBC in London. From that central area of the literary world, Agard was able to move from land to land, making landfalls at various places including Guyana his land of birth and his backyard in the Caribbean. Agard has won numerous prizes and awards including the Casa de las Americas, the Guyana Prize for Literature and the 2012 Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry. The Guyanese bookshelf on children literature is expanding due to the efforts of The Guyana Annual that has become a platform for such writing, and a few publishing houses that are encouraging local writers to prepare reading material for children. *Information extracted from online sources. Responses to this author telephone (592) 226-0065 or email: oraltradition2002@ yahoo.com

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 7

Times Feature

Young Professionals

Onika Edwards Massage Therapist

Star of the week

By Vahnu Manikchand

rom the village of Kamarang in Region Seven, Onika Edwards overcame the odds to fulfil her dream of working in the medical field. She is now a renowned massage therapist at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital. Originally from 72 Miles, Potaro, Edwards left there at age five and spent the rest of her childhood and teen years in Kamarang where she completed her primary education. She then went to Patentia Secondary, after which she spent two years at home helping around the house, and with her nephew. Edwards recalled that by the time she was 17-yearsold she knew she wanted to become a nurse. Her mother was invited to a workshop in Georgetown and she accompanied her. Little did she know that this trip would change her life. “My mother came out for a workshop and I came with her because I was at home for two years and was bored. We did the workshop and before it finished, we visited several places in Georgetown including the minister of Amerindian Affairs, who was Carolyn Rodrigues then. I remembered there were two only two young persons, and the rest were mothers; so the minister asked us what we wanted to do and I told nursing.” Edwards noted that she told the minster that she had sent applications but had received no response. The minister then told her about a nursing course at Mercy Hospital and managed to get her a spot there. “It all happened in a short period of time, I was rushing here and there to get my papers in order and to get recommendations. Then I stared the course in nursing; that was in 2002, and almost 11 years after, I’m still at Mercy Hospital.” After completing her course, Edwards began working at the hospital, during which she did a course in massage therapy but had no initial interest in that. However in 2005, when the massage therapist had left, she was asked to fill in, and, after undergoing in-depth training for two years, she began practicing massage therapy. She explained that she really liked nursing but after doing massage therapy for the past six years, she now loves it. “It is a nice experience, I enjoy being a massage therapist because I get to meet new people every day and help them, and for that I am proud... that is what makes me happy and satisfied.” Now 28, Edwards is specialized in Swedish relaxation massage and therapy. She disclosed that she has an interest in physiotherapy and is hoping to undergo training in that area soon. Edwards advises young persons from Region Seven and other secluded areas, who have dreams and ambitions, to work hard and take their education seriously. She added that students who are currently in Georgetown studying should make full use of the opportunity given to them. “You should always strive to be successful in everything you do so that you can make a name for yourself and be a role model to the children from your region.” For those who do not have the financial means to fulfil their dreams, Edwards urged them to continue working and studying hard, and that will help them in the end.

arsingh Deonarine, born August 16, 1983, in Albion, Berbice, was drafted into the West Indies Test side during the contract dispute between Digicel and Cable & Wireless, which saw seven players left out of the First Test against South Africa, in March 2005. A compact batsman, and useful off-spinner, he struggled initially with the bat, but found his feet in partnership with Shivnarine Chanderpaul, his Guyana team-mate. There are many similarities between Chanderpaul and Deonarine, both having come through the cricket system in Guyana, from the sharp fielding at cover-point to the anti-glare patches under his eyes. Deonarine remained consistent in the domestic game and was the overall leading run-scorer in the 2008-09 regional four-day competition with 1068 runs. He was recalled for the 2009 England tour with a chance to earn a spot in the middle order. At the Third Annual Awards Ceremony of the Berbice Cricket Board in February 2010, Deonarine received the “Berbice Cricketer of the Year” award. Over the years, the pro athlete has excelled in his game and is currently a key player in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) squad for team Guyana. CPL is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean by the West Indies Cricket Board. It was created in 2013 and replaced the Caribbean Twenty20 as the premier Twenty20 competition in the Caribbean.

8 Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

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Times Kids Page

Red Jungle Fowl

Did you know?

The Red Jungle Fowl was first domesticated at least five thousand years ago in Asia, then spread around the world. There are more than twice as many chickens in the world as humans.

he Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus) is the ancient relative of the common chicken. Their native range extends from north-east India east to China and south to Sumatra, Java. Red Jungle Fowls eat seeds, fruits, shoots, other plant matter; insects and spiders, snails and other invertebrates. Males look similar to domesticated roosters, while the females lack the ornamental feathers and leg spurs, and have a small area of bare skin on the head. The moulting process – taking the old feathers and putting new ones on – for an adult, takes about three to four months every year. The female’s nest is a simple scrape in the ground lined with grass and other vegetation, and hidden in dense cover. A female Red Jungle Fowl lays 4-9 pale buff to reddish-brown eggs. She then incubates them for 18-20 days.

Colouring Fun

The objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with the correct numbers. Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9.

please see solution on page 22

guyanatimesgy.com

june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 9

“I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for.” — Henry Ford

Famous for his Model T car and the revolutionary development of the assembly line, Henry Ford made history — and millions of dollars — as a creative innovator and industrialist. A complex man, he was known for his pacifism during World War I, but also for his anti-Semitic views. He offered good wages and profit sharing to workers, but fought unionization.

Ford’s machines

Childhood

Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863 — the first of five children. Henry's parents, William and Mary, had a prosperous farm in what is today Dearborn, Michigan, just outside of Detroit. As a boy, Henry attended a oneroom school and helped his father with farm chores and the harvest.

The first-generation Model A (also known as the Fordmobile) was made by Ford from 1903 through 1904, with 1,750 cars being produced.

This gasolinepowered motorcar was Ford’s first car. It had a steel frame and used bicycle tires.

A tinkerer by nature, Henry loved all things mechanical and became very skilled at taking apart and fixing broken watches.

1903 Model A 1914 Model T Fire Truck

After a couple of failed attempts, Henry succeeded in incorporating the Ford Motor Co. in 1903 with himself as vice president and chief engineer.

1908 Model T

1876: Henry’s mother dies.

The Ford Model T (also known as the Tin Lizzie) was produced by the Ford Motor Co. from 1908 through 1927.

1860

1870

Ford opposed labor unions and was the last Detroit automobile manufacturer to allow his workforce to unionize.

1926 Flivver

1927 Model T

1891: Takes an engineering job with the Edison Illuminating Co.; returns to Detroit.

1946 Model V-8 Pickup Truck

1901: The Henry Ford Co. is organized, but Ford resigns over a banking dispute 1893: Edsel Bryant in 1902, and the Ford, the only child company beof Henry and Clara comes the Cadillac Motor Car Co. Ford, is born. 1880

1879: Henry 1896: Henry finishes his leaves the first automobile, the Quadrifarm to work cycle, and drives it through in machine the streets of Detroit. shops in 1899: Henry leaves the EdiDetroit. son Illuminating Company Henry as a toddler

By 1918, half of all cars in the United States were Model T’s. This was because they were affordable, easy to drive and inexpensive to repair.

During World War II, the Ford factories halted auto production and built bombers, Jeeps and tanks. Henry Ford created a museum, The Henry Ford Museum, to preserve and celebrate American ingenuity. Ford played a key role in the development of charcoal briquettes under the brand name Ford Charcoal.

1888: Henry marries Clara Bryant and moves to a farm in Dearborn.

Clara Bryant

Although previously available in a variety of colors, in 1914 Ford began producing the Model T only in black as a cost-saving strategy.

Ford reintroduced the Model A in 1928 as the replacement for the multimillion-selling Model T.

The Flivver Plane was designed to be an airplane for the average person.

Some important events in the life of Henry Ford 1863: Henry Ford is born in Greenfield Township, Michigan.

On July 15, 1903, the Ford Motor Co. sold its first car, a Model A, to Dr. E. Pfennig, a dentist, for $850.

Ford built 15 million cars and trucks with the Model T engine. The only other car to exceed that number is the Volkswagen Beetle.

Early Career

In 1891, Henry became an engineer with the Edison Illuminating Co. in Detroit. He was promoted to chief engineer after just two years. In his spare time he began to experiment on internal combustion engines. He built his first self-propelled vehicle (the Quadricycle) in 1896.

Did you know?

Early in his career, Henry Ford built and drove race cars as a way to demonstrate his designs.

1896 Quadricycle

Much to his father’s dismay, Henry disliked farm work and left home at age 16 to take an apprenticeship as a machinist in Detroit. Henry believed that machines would someday help do the work of farm animals and people.

After his apprenticeship, Henry was hired by Westinghouse to demonstrate and operate its steam engines.

This car could reach 30 miles per hour.

to devote full attention to the manufacture of automobiles.

1890

1915: Ford’s “Peace Ship” sails on a pacifist mission to end World War I. 1918: Ford loses his bid for the U.S. Senate. 1919: Henry’s son, Edsel B. Ford, becomes president of Ford Motor Co.

1900

1910

1903: Ford Motor Co. is officially incorporated. Ford’s first Model A is released.

1910: The factory in Highland Park, Michigan, is opened.

1908: Ford begins manufacturing the famous Model T.

1914: Ford announces a plan to share his company’s profits with workers, paying them five dollars for an eight-hour day.

1913: The first moving automobile assembly line is introduced at Highland Park.

SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc.; Henry Ford Museum; Greenfield Village; www.thehenryford.org; www.hfmgv.org; www.biography.com; www.fordhouse.org; www.umd.umich.edu/ fairlane; www.history.com; www.waynesgarage.com

1921: Ford 1932: The first V-8 Ford car is built. Motor Co. 1933: Ford successfully resists early leads auto pro- efforts to unionize workers. duction. 1937: Ford’s security staff and United 1926: Henry Auto Workers union organizers clash develops the in the “Battle of the Overpass” — the Trimotor aircourt orders Ford not to interfere with plane. union activity. 1920 1927: Production of the Model T ends, and the Model A is re-introduced.

1930

1940

1941: Ford Motor Co. signs a contract with United Auto Workers. 1943: Henry’s son, Edsel B. Ford, dies of cancer at age 49. 1947: Henry Ford dies of a brain hemorrhage at age 83, at his estate, Fair Lane.

10 Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

Times Fashion

onia Noel, under her Mariska's Designs label, has launched a collection of chic Caribbean dresses tailored to suit the trendy woman. These elegant styles in breathable fabrics are definitively made for the metropolitan woman who loves to makes a statement. The earthy, white tones with basketry designs woven to create a stylish look can be custom-made to your specifications and accessorized. Noel also has an array of fashionable hats that can be paired to complete your ensemble. They are made in various colours, sizes, and styles. For more information on Noelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s collections call 226-3099.

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june 23, 2013

ita Ora is a British-Albanian singer-songwriter and actress. In 2009, Ora made a cameo on Jay-Z's video for "Young Forever" and "Over" by Drake. Ora caught the attention of Jay-Z and he signed her to Roc Nation, for which she was featured in a commercial for Roc Nation + Skullcandy Aviator Headphones. In 2012, Ora released her debut album, “Ora”, which debuted at number one in the United Kingdom. It also spawned three numberone singles “Hot Right Now”, “How We Do (Party)” and “R.I.P.” which made Ora the artist with the most number-one singles on the UK Singles Chart in 2012. Ora has a mezzo-soprano vocal range and was nominated for three awards at the 2013 BRIT Awards, including the Brit Award for Best British Breakthrough Act.

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Times Sunday Magazine 11

Star Times Hollywood

12 Times Sunday Magazine

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june 23, 2013

Times Hollywood

Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom Man detained for Kim, Kanye name ‘Hollywood Walk threatening to kill their baby North West among of Fame’ honourees Victoria Secret model i m

man has been detained by police after he allegedly threatened to kill Miranda Kerr, it has been reported. Steven C. Swanson, 52, has been instructed to undergo psychiatric tests following his arrest, after he apparently called the Los Angeles County Sheriff's department to tell them about his plan to fly to the city (where Kerr currently lives with husband Orlando Bloom and baby Flynn) and attempt to murder the former Victoria's Secret model. He is thought to have referred to the star as his "soul mate" and said that he wanted to "rescue her", before he threatened to turn their family home "upside down". He also told officers that he intended to take two handguns with him. Local police were alerted and quickly decamped to Swanson's house. There, they found pictures of Kerr plastered all over his refrigerator, microwave and bookshelf. No firearms were found, but court papers indicate that a pellet gun was confiscated as it looked "like a real pistol". Swanson pleaded not guilty following his arrest. A doctor present in the courtroom testified that the man suffers from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and remained unmedicated since March. He is due back in court for a second hearing on 19 July pending a mental health evaluation. (Glamour)

Kardashian and Kanye West have named their baby daughter North West, multiple sources appear to have confirmed. Insiders close to the couple apparently verified the parents' decision, ending days of speculation over the child's official moniker. According to US Weekly, Kim and Kanye will give their child the nickname "Nori for short". The child has no middle name. American gossip site TMZ also claims that they have seen a copy of the child's birth certificate, which had the name North West on it, and the signatures of both Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, at the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles where she was born. Similarly, People magazine have since confirmed the news with a close friend of the Kardashian family. The name North had been previously suggested by the media - including GLAMOUR.com - as a possibility for the child, although many Kardashian fans assumed the spelling would be "with a K" at the start of it, in keeping with family tradition. North West began trending on Twitter within minutes. Neither Kim Kardashian nor Kanye West have commented or confirmed the name themselves, however. (Glamour)

s Jennifer Lopez got her star on ‘Hollywood Walk of Fame’ June 20, future recipients of the prestigious honor were announced. Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom would be among those who get their stars on the sidewalk along the Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street next year. The new class of 2014 was announced Thursday by David Green, Chairman of the Walk of Fame selection committee, along with Hollywood Chamber President & CEO Leron Gubler before J.Lo was presented with the 2,500th star on the Walk of Fame. "We have a great mix of celebrities and industry executives who have made Hollywood what it is today - one of the greatest entertainment destinations in the world," Green said. "The new selections will bring great joy and fond memories for those millions who visit Hollywood each year!" Perry, who reached stardom through her breakout second album 2008's "One of the Boys", is joined in the music category by such seniors as Holland Dozier Holland, Jeff Lynne, Mana, Ray Parker Jr., Rick Springfield and the late Tupac Shakur. Father of one, Bloom, who's been in industry for around 20 years, is joined in the film category by big stars like Ray Dolby, Sally Field, Jack H. Harris, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Liam Neeson, Paul Mazursky and Tom Sherak. In the television category, there are Dabney Coleman, Kaley Cuoco, Claire Danes, Giancarlo Esposito, Deidre Hall, Cheryl Hines, Don Mischer, Tavis Smiley and the late Phil Hartman. Meanwhile, Renan Almendarez Coello (El Cucuy) is included in the radio category. (AceShowbiz)

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 13

Star Times Bollywood

ohit Malhotra is an Indian model and actor best known for his role as Vihaan in “Kya Hua Tera Vaada Kartik”. He has also appeared in numerous print advertisements and commercials. Hailing from New Delhi, Mohit graduated from Delhi University with honours and also attended the University of California, Berkeley. Mohit attended Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business, to obtain a MBA but left the school prior to completing his degree in order to pursue his passion for acting. Mohit started his television career on “Spitsvilla 2”, a reality show on MTV India, and later landed a lead role on Star Plus' “Mitwa Phool Kamal Ke” playing the character of Birju. His role in Mitwa led to his nomination for Best Fresh New Face (Male) at the 10th Indian Telly Award. Mohit also appeared in Colors TV's “Anhoniyon Ka Andhera”, Sahara One's “Haunted Nights”, and had a performance on an episode of “Main Lakshmi Tere Aangan Ki”. In 2011, he was cast in “Bade Achhe Lagte Hain” as Kartik Sharma alongside seasoned actors Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar. Next, he joined the cast of “Kya Huaa Tera Vaada” portraying the character of Vihaan.

14 Times Sunday Magazine

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june 23, 2013

Times Bollywood

Mithun and son share Big B, SRK and other celebs pray screen for the first time for Uttarakhand flood victims

or a film that stars Mithun Chakraborty, Suneil Shetty, Kay Kay Menon, Mahaakshay and Johny Lever, ‘Enemmy’ sure has a number of firsts. It brings together the Chakraborty father and son on screen and is also Suneil's first film with Mithun. It is also Suniel's first release in nearly two years. This will also be the first time Johny

will be actively involved in all-out 'maar-dhaad' scenes. The film, directed by Ashuu Trikha, highlights the issue of corruption and how four cops and a CBI officer get entangled in a web of deceit with the underworld. "The film has a clearcut message," says Mithun, "United we stand and divided we fall. If we want to fight corruption and bring

about stability, we have to join hands and deal with our demons with unity." Suneil adds that corruption of the highest order involves not only political leaders and the underworld but also builders and developers. "There's big money involved and we expose the pockets where it ends up in." Mahaakshay notes, "Very rarely has a film shown the emotional side of a cop. Our film shows that they are humans too and depicts how their professional commitments affect their personal lives. Of his action scenes, Johny says, "I'm not a fitness freak. I don't exercise like other actors. So, obviously, doing maar-dhaad scenes was difficult. I even suffered injuries but now I hope the media does not ask me why I am not doing something different. I've done it!" (Times of India)

ollywood superstars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan expressed grief over the loss of hundreds of lives in the flash floods that hit the Uttarakhand state. The actors offered

prayers for those who lost their lives in the devastating floods. Big B tweeted, “T 1145 -a moment of prayer for those that suffered the floods in Uttarakhand .. many stuck, many lost .. army doing in-

credible job!! Salute” SRK tweeted, “As insignificant as we are against Nature's fury, a prayer of Hope for all suffering in Uttarakhand. May Allah give them strength & safety.” Forty bodies of flood victims were also recovered today from Haridwar, taking the toll in the rain fury to 190 as operations to rescue over 9000 stranded in Kedarnath and Badrinath were stepped up with the deployment of 40 helicopters. Other Bollywood celebs also took to Twitter and mourned the current situation in Uttarakhand. (Indian Express)

Sridevi set to make comeback at IIFA 2013

ancing diva Sridevi is all set to match steps with ace choreographer Prabhudeva at the upcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Macau, Hong Kong, this July. Sridevi, 49, will make her comeback on stage as a performer after many years and will groove on some of her hit numbers including 'Hawa Hawai', 'Na Jane Kahan Se Ayi Hai', E n g l i s h Vinglish' among others from her

three decades long career. The performance is being choreographed by Prabhudeva, who will will set the stage ablaze by showcasing some of his signature moves from 'Muqabala' and many others. The 14th edition of the Videocon DDB IIFA Weekend will be held in Macau from July 4. The event is travelling to Macau for a second time after 2009. (India Today)

‘Banana’ is special for John Abraham

ctor-producer John Abraham's upcoming production has a quirky title - "Banana"! He says it is "a slice-of-life film", which traces the journey from adolescence to teenage, and he admits the project is special to him. "'Banana' is a film about adolescence to teenage. It's about a young boy and how he deals with the new adventures in his life. It's a slice-of-life kind of a film and it is a very real film," John told reporters at the launch of music album "Pitol Soku" by rock band JOI here Thursday. He believes the movie will appeal to all viewers from all age groups. "I am sure the target audience of this film is from the youngsters to all the old people out there because everyone will reminisce what they've gone through. It's a very special film," added the 40-year-old. The movie has an "absolutely new cast", revealed John. It is directed by Sajid Ali. "Sajid has got some amazing people for 'Banana.' I am sure they will be amazing," said John. "Banana" will hit the floors in October. Besides this, John's other productions in the pipeline are "Hamara Bajaj" and "Madras Cafe". He forayed into film production with "Vicky Donor", which turned out to be hugely successful and critically acclaimed. (India Today)

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine

Times Healthy Living

By Hillary Ramroop

illions of people experience joint pain and stiffness; symptoms commonly attributed to arthritis. Arthritis is defined as the “inflammation of one or more joints.” Joints are areas in the body where two bones meet, such as the knee or elbow. Arthritis is actually a broad name given to more than 100 types of diseases that affect the joints and areas around the joints. When talking about arthritis, people usually refer to two major types: osteoarthritis, which is the wear and tear of cartilage, and rheumatoid arthritis which causes inflammation of the joints as well as other body parts, such as the eyes and lungs. Osteoarthritis is also known as degenerative joint disease and is the most common chronic joint condition. In this case,

cartilage in a joint breaks down. Cartilage protects the joints, allowing smooth movement and acts as a cushion against pressure or shock. As cartilage breaks down, so does the cushioning it provides; the bones begin to rub together causing inflammation, pain and ultimately damage to the joint. Usually, osteoarthritis occurs gradually, commonly affecting the knees, hips, hands, fingers, and spine. Common symptoms, according to Web MD, include: • Aching pain in the joints • Difficulty griping objects • Difficulty sitting • Morning stiffness for less than a hour • Pain when walking • Stiffness after resting • Swelling of the joint • Loss of motion in a joint Common risk factors include: • Age (Before age 55, osteoarthritis occurs in both men and women. After 55, it is more common in women). • Family history (a gene mutation may cause a defect in collagen, an important component of cartilage). • Athletics (overuse of joints). • Abnormal alignment of the joints (such as being double-jointed, when the bones of a joint do not fit tight together. • Putting more weight on one part of the body (such as one knee or one hip). • Injury • Being overweight (more pounds put extra pressure on the knees and hips). Like osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis also causes pain and in a joint/s.

Rheumatoid arthritis is the most common type of inflammatory arthritis. According to the American College of Rheumatology, the majority of the people affected by rheumatoid arthritis are women. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks healthy areas of the body. Though it mainly attacks the joints, other areas of the body such as the eyes, blood, lungs and heart can be affected. The inflammation of a joint/s cause/s pain, warmth and stiffness, and the joint can also lose its shape, making it difficult to move. Symptoms, according to Web MD, include: • Pain, stiffness and swelling in the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, feet, jaw, and neck. • Symmetrical pattern (usually if the left wrist is affected the right one will be too).

• The joint swelling is intense and thwarts normal activities (such as walking or driving). • Stiffness in the morning may last for hours. • Inflammation (can reduce appetite and contribute to weight loss). • Fatigue and headaches • Fever With this disease, the immune system recognizes a protein as an intruder and attacks it. However the exact protein and cause of rheumatoid arthritis is not yet known. It is believed that both one’s genes and environment contribute to the disease. Doctor Jason Theodosakis, the author of “The Arthritis Cure”, suggests that watching one’s weight, eating a diet full of fruits and vegetables, and exercising, help to reduce arthritis pain. If you have swelling, or pain in a joint/s, consult with your doctor for further information.

Socioeconomics and the brain

ognitive neuroscientist Martha Farah, current founding director for Penn's Center for Neuroscience and Society, has studied vision, brainenhancing drugs and socioeconomic influences on the brain, among other topics. She got interested in questions of the brain and social class when she started hiring baby sitters for her daughter, now 17. Among the women she hired to take care of her daughter were single mothers on welfare who were making extra money by baby-sitting. In the scientific literature, they would be called "low SES" -in other words, low socioeconomic status. Farah watched over time how the lives of the baby sitters and their children were different from her own. "I actually became pretty obsessed with social class, this major dimension of variation in the human race and certainly in American society," Farah said. As sociological studies have corroborated, it seemed to Farah that child-rearing and children's early experience was very different depending on social class. Poor children don't get as much exposure to language as their wealthier counterparts, research has found, and they tend to get more negative feedback. What they do hear is not as grammatically complex, with a

narrower range of vocabulary. There is less understanding of how children develop and what they need for cognitive development, Farah said. Stress is another huge factor in these disparities. Parents of low socioeconomic status have uncertainty about having basic needs met, dangerous neighbourhoods, crowding and other factors, causing stress for children and their parents. Stressed parents are less patient and affectionate, further stressing their children, according to Farah. Farah wanted to investigate the huge differences she saw.

How parenting matters

Farah and colleagues have conducted research suggesting that high-stress childhoods, which include less warm parenting, are correlated with changes in stress physiology and stress regulation. One study, published in March in the journal PLOS One, involved African American adolescents who came from households of low socioeconomic status. At age 4, their parents' responsivity (warmth and supportiveness) was evaluated. Then, 11 to 14 years later, the same participants took a stress test: Giving a talk in front of an unfriendly audience.

Volunteers gave saliva samples so that researchers could analyze it for the stress hormone cortisol. Researchers found that cortisol reactivity was related to parental responsivity, and the less parental responsivity, the less of a normal stress response the volunteers had. "You might say, 'Well, of course life is more stressful in lower socioeconomic strata,'" she said. “But the degree of magnitude of the stress that they live with is just unbelievable." Such research points to the idea that stress leads to a stunting of brain development in children of low socioeconomic backgrounds.

It is unknown whether that stunting can be reversed, but you shouldn't assume that it's unchangeable, Farah said. In animal models, researchers have found that later enriching experiences can at least partially compensate for the effects of early life stress on the hippocampus -- a seahorse-shaped structure in the brain vital for memory and stress reactivity -- and other brain areas. It's not that the initial effects of the stress are reversed, though; it appears that different pathways are enabled to compensate. Farah is quick to add that middle-class parents aren't perfect either. Eagerly watching children for every small advance in development, and showering children with praise, isn't necessarily helpful either. "But I am also willing to make a value judgment: Smacking young children, saying a lot of negative things to them, not talking to them very much, is bad." She hits the table. "Let's just say it."

A better future, a better brain

In a tongue-in-cheek way, Brian Avants, assistant professor of radiology, said he and Farah have discussed defining a "disease" with all the symptoms of poverty and its effects on development. "Then it might

be very easy to get funding," he said. There are far fewer children with autism than there are poor children in the United States, for example, but autism as a condition gets more attention from the science community than the neurological implications of poverty, he said. "One of the most important things Martha is doing is pushing this, maintaining awareness on the long-term effects of poverty on outcomes," he said. In the meantime, the research is still developing. There some puzzling results that don't yet make sense, Farah said, and it's hard to say at this point precisely what aspects of social class cause brain differences. There is no large consortium of scientists working on problems of the brain and social class, either. On a broader scale, there are relatively few studies done about the brain and cognition using participants from low socioeconomic backgrounds. "Most cognitive neuroscience is done with college sophomores in universities that are wealthy enough to have an imaging centre," Farah said. "We are looking at a tiny slice of humanity." (From How poverty might change the brain by Elizabeth Landau, CNN. June 13, 2013)

16 Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

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Times Home & Cooking

Colour, colour everywhere

olourful homes, both interiors and exteriors, illustrate their proud owner’s decorative style in a flash of bold colours and creativity. Check out these truly colourful homes and see if it is something you want to do when your painting time comes around again.

Breakfast Potato Skins

Ingredients

1/4 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp paprika 4 large russet potatoes 1/8 tsp pepper 5 large eggs 6 -8 slices bacon, cooked and 1 tbsp water 1 -2 tbsps butter (do not crumbled 2 cups shredded cheddar substitute margarine) cheese 3 tbsps vegetable oil 6 -8 green onions, sliced 1/2 tsp sea salt (or regular 2 cups sour cream table salt)

Big or small, bold exterior colours on houses are a creative statement

Method

If all-over colour is too much for you, try a bold highlight to add a zesty look to your home’s exterior

Bake potatoes in the microwave for 10 minutes; turn over and bake another 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Beat eggs in a bowl; add water; beat a little more. Add eggs to skillet and scramble until done. Set aside. Once potatoes have cooled enough to be handled, cut them lengthwise and scoop out the pulp, leaving about 1/4 inch layer of pulp in the skins; discard pulp (or save for something else). Place skins upside down (skin side up) on a greased baking sheet. Combine oil, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl; brush all over each skin. Bake at 475 degrees for about 8 minutes; turn over and bake another 6 minutes. Remove baked skins from oven. Fill each skin with scrambled eggs and sprinkle top with cheese. Return to oven long enough to melt the cheese, about 1 minute. Remove from oven and add sour cream, bacon and green onions. (Serves 4)

Greatest Cooking Tips To substitute honey for sugar in recipes, start by substituting up to half of the sugar called for. With a little experimentation, honey can replace all the sugar in some recipes. To retain honey's wonderfully luxuriant texture, always store it at room temperature; never in the refrigerator. If your honey becomes cloudy, don't worry. It's just crystallization, a natural process. Place your honey jar in warm water until the crystals disappear. If you're in a hurry, place it in a microwave-safe container and heat it in the microwave on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Remember, never boil or scorch honey.

Interior colour is not limited to wall paint. Try chair cushions and chairs like the dining table set here for one-of-akind furniture

Home Help

Use Play-Doh to pick up tiny slivers of broken glass (you know, the ones you don’t notice until you’ve stepped on them). Simply press a piece into the area to grab those smaller shards. Be sure to wrap the glass up carefully before throwing it away! To remove ring around the collar, draw over the stain with a piece of white chalk. Let it soak up the grease for a few minutes, then dust off excess chalk and launder as usual. Store bed linen sets inside one of their own pillowcases and there will be no more hunting through piles for a match.

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 17

Times Sunday Puzzle

Which animal in Group B can be added to Group A? Why? (It has nothing to do with spelling or pronunciation.) Group A: garter snake giraffe goat guppy

Group B: gar gecko golden eagle gorilla see solution on page 22

see solution on page 22

18 Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

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Times Creative Writing

fire was burning, and a noble stag, with its branching horns, was placed on a spit behere was once a king's son who had tween the trunks of two pine-trees. a larger and more beautiful collecIt was turning slowly before the fire, tion of books than anyone else in the and an elderly woman, as large and strong world, and full of splendid copper-plate enas if she had been a man in disguise, sat by, gravings. He could read and obtain inforthrowing one piece of wood after another mation respecting every people of every into the flames. land; but not a word could he find to ex"Come in," she said to the prince; "sit plain the situation of the garden of paradown by the fire and dry yourself." dise, and this was "There is a just what he most great draught wished to know. here," said the His grandmothprince, as he seater had told him ed himself on the when he was quite ground. a little boy, just "It will be old enough to go to worse when my school, that each sons come home," flower in the garreplied the womden of paradise was an; "you are a sweet cake, that now in the cavthe pistils were full ern of the Winds, of rich wine, that and my sons are on one flower histhe four Winds tory was written, on of heaven: can another geography you understand or tables; so those that?" who wished to learn "Where are their lessons had your sons?" asked only to eat some of the prince. the cakes, and the "It is difficult more they ate, the to answer stupid more history, gequestions," said ography, or tables the woman. "My they knew. sons have plenHe believed it all ty of business on then; but as he grew hand; they are older, and learnt playing at shutmore and more, he tlecock with the became wise enough clouds up yonto understand that der in the king's the splendour of the hall," and she garden of paradise pointed upwards. must be very differ"Oh, indeed," It was the North Wind who came in, bringing with him a cold, piercing blast. ent to all this. said the prince; "Oh, why did Eve pluck the fruit from ture, and the poor prince had not a dry "but you speak more roughly and harshly the tree of knowledge? Why did Adam eat thread about him. He was obliged at last to and are not so gentle as the women I am the forbidden fruit?" thought the king's son: climb over great blocks of stone, with wa- used to." "if I had been there it would never have ter spurting from the thick moss. He began "Yes, that is because they have nothing happened, and there would have been no to feel quite faint, when he heard a most else to do; but I am obliged to be harsh, to sin in the world." The garden of paradise singular rushing noise, and saw before him keep my boys in order, and I can do it, aloccupied all his thoughts till he reached his a large cave, from which came a blaze of though they are so head-strong. Do you see seventeenth year. light. In the middle of the cave an immense those four sacks hanging on the wall? Well, they are just as much afraid of those sacks, as you used to be of the rat behind the looking-glass. I can bend the boys together, and put them in the sacks without any resistance on their parts, I can tell you. There they stay, and dare not attempt to come out until I allow them to do so. And here comes one of them." It was the North Wind who came in, bringing with him a cold, piercing blast; large hailstones rattled on the floor, and snowflakes were scattered around in all directions. He wore a bearskin dress and cloak. His sealskin cap was drawn over his ears, long icicles hung from his beard, and one hailstone after another rolled from the collar of his jacket. "Don't go too near the fire," said the prince, "or your hands and face will be frost-bitten." "Frost-bitten!" said the North Wind, with a loud laugh; "why frost is my greatest delight. What sort of a little snip are you, and how did you find your way to the cavern of the Winds?" "He is my guest," said the old woman, "and if you are not satisfied with that explanation you can go into the sack. Do you understand me?" That settled the matter. So the North Wind began to relate his adventures, whence he came, and where he had been for a whole month. (TO BE CONTINUED)

By Hans Christian Andersen

One day he was walking alone in the wood, which was his greatest pleasure, when evening came on. The clouds gathered, and the rain poured down as if the sky had been a waterspout; and it was as dark as the bottom of a well at midnight; sometimes he slipped over the smooth grass, or fell over stones that projected out of the rocky ground. Everything was dripping with mois-

Poem My Bed is a Boat My bed is like a little boat; Nurse helps me in when I embark; She girds me in my sailor's coat And starts me in the dark. At night I go onboard and say Good-night to all my friends on shore; I shut my eyes and sail away And see and hear no more. And sometimes things to bed I take, As prudent sailors have to do; Perhaps a slice of wedding-cake, Perhaps a toy or two. All night across the dark we steer; But when the day returns at last, Safe in my room beside the pier, I find my vessel fast. Robert Louis Stevenson

Send your creative writing to sundaymagazine@guyanatimesgy.com

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine19

Times World

Sixteenth century accountant creates first fashion book H

ow did a 16th Century accountant end up creating one of the most unique documents in the history of fashion - the world's first fashion book? In an extraordinary undertaking spanning 40 years, a style-obsessed accountant from Augsburg in Germany recorded in detail what he wore; creating what historians now think is the world's first fashion book. Interested in clothes from a young age, Matthaeus Schwarz started commissioning watercolour paintings of himself at the age of 23 and continued until he was 63. No other pictorial record like it exists, say experts.

The 16th century accountant Matthaeus Schwarz. "It's possible he wasn't the only person creating such books but his was the only one to survive, we simply don't know," says Tiramani. "But whatever his reason, it's not something you'd expect an accountant to do - then or now."

"What he produced is one of the most unique documents ever created in the history of fashion – it is a treasure trove of information," says Dr Ulinka Rublack, reader in Early Modern European History at the University of Cambridge and author of “Dressing Up: Cultural identity in Renaissance Europe”. She says he was in fact an innovator who pushed style boundaries. His book also challenges established ideas about historical fashion, particularly that only the very rich were stylish. Schwarz was the head accountant for the Fugger family, one of the most important and wealthy German merchant and banking families at the time. He started to record his appearance in 1520, initially commissioning 36 images to retrospectively cover his appearance from childhood up until the age of 23. Over four decades he commissioned a total of 137 original watercolour images of his outfits, painted by three principal artists. He continued until he was 63 and then had the pages bound, creating what became known as the ‘Schwarz Book of Clothes’. What makes Schwarz so remarkable is that he was one of the first people to be interested in fashion as a cultural phenomenon, says Rublack. "At the time wealthy Germans were serious about dressing properly but considered it foolish to be into fashion in its own right." Schwarz was an innovator, playing with his style and exploring new cuts, colours, fabrics and details. He had fun with clothes.

'Pinking'

It wasn't always easy. During his lifetime there were strict social conventions and rules surrounding clothes. Sumptuary laws, made for the purpose of restraining luxury or extravagance, stipulated the dress and jewellery appropriate for

a person's rank. So while he pushed boundaries, there were lines he had to be careful not to cross. An employee was definitely not allowed to dress more extravagantly than his or her employer and often forbidden from wearing certain items. For Schwarz there was a further complication, his extremely wealthy employers were worried about being seen as excessively rich and were consciously trying to dress down, says Rublack. He had to be clever and he was. "If sumptuary laws banned a certain item of clothing or accessory he would push a different way," says Maria Hayward, a professor of Early Modern European history at the University of Southampton who specialises in textiles and clothing. "If fancy hose were forbidden for example, he might have gone for fancy sleeves instead." He went to great lengths to create outfits. Unlike today there were no luxury brands he could buy off the peg. Working for important merchants he had access to fine materials and the contacts to get whatever else he needed. He would employ skilled craftspeople, says Jenny Tiramani, theatre designer and principal of the School of Historical Dress. Everything would have been done by hand as the sewing machine hadn't been invented. Schwarz also went to great expense. He wasn't rich but had a good income and he chose to spend most of it on his appearance. Many of his outfits were remarkably elaborate. One watercolour painted just after his 26th birthday shows him in a spectacular white hose – clothing for the legs and lower body –and doublet – a fitted garment worn on the upper body that was tied to the hose around the waist. At the time it was fashionable to "pink" clothes. This was a technique where a sharp chisel was used to slice through material creating a slash. Notes made by Schwarz reveal his doublet had a staggering 4,800 small pinks. The colours he wore and the accessories often had specific meaning and significance: white, used for this particular outfit, represented faith and humility.

Intent and idealisation

He would diet to get the fashionable body shape of the time, and dressing wasn't a quick or easy affair either. He would have needed servants to help him and often they would have sewn him into his clothes. "A lot of time was spent arranging garments so everything looked perfect," says Tiramani. "Often a servant would have gone out with him to make sure the outfit was properly arranged at all times."

The portraits covered key moments of Schwarz's life, including his father's death when he was depicted in four types of mourning dress (right). He was also captured wearing an intricate doublet with 4,800 small cuts called "pinks" (left).

Schwarz didn't only use clothes to look good. He also used them for specific social or political reasons, from getting a promotion to courtship. He had an elaborate red and yellow outfit made for the return of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to Germany. This was after a nineyear period during which many parts of the country had turned to Protestant faiths. "It's easy to dismiss Schwarz as a bit of a dandy in his brightly co-

loured clothes," says Hayward. "But he used clothes in a very clever way to assert lots of things about himself. His outfits weren't just what he felt like wearing, they had meaning and intent." But there is another reason Schwarz's book is so groundbreaking, say historians. He included two naked images of himself, one from the back and one from the front. He was 29 when they were painted. "At the time painting nudes in

a secular context was extremely rare, they were usually painted in a Biblical and classical context," says Rublack. There was no attempt to make himself look better, which was almost unheard of at the time. "I had become fat and large," he himself notes under the images. He also had a painting done of himself while he was recovering from a stroke, aged 52. Another first, historians believe. He stopped recording his outfits aged 67 and tried to persuade his son to continue the project. Veit Konrad Schwarz commissioned 41 images of his own but didn't add any more after the age of 19. Crucially for Rublack, the book challenges a common school of thought that fashion only became available to everyone in the 18th Century. Exactly why Schwarz embarked on his book of fashion remains a mystery. It could have been purely a vanity project or he may have wanted to hand down a record of contemporary fashion at the time. He didn't publish it but he didn't hide it either, showing it to people of his own choice. After his death the book was handed down through the family and eventually sold. Two copies were made but the original is now in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Braunschweig. (By Denise Winterman, BBC News Magazine)

20 Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

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Times Tech

Using Technology for Home Security Part I

n today’s changing technology, computer users are becoming more educated about the current available products, services, software applications and accessories in order to accurately and efficiently use cutting edge technology to perform tasks as required. We will briefly look at some of the various products, services, software applications and accessories which are available. IP Cameras Wi-Fi enabled: An Internet Protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance, and which, unlike analog closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, can send and receive data via a computer network and the Internet. Although most cameras that do this are webcams, the term "IP camera" or "netcam" is usually applied only to those used for surveillance. There are two kinds of IP cameras: Firstly, Centralized IP cameras, which require a central Network Video Recorder (NVR) to handle the recording, video and alarm management and secondly, Decentralized IP cameras, which do not require a central Network Video Recorder (NVR), as the cameras have recording functionality built-in and can thus record directly to digital storage media, such as flash drives, hard disk

drives or network attached storage.

Advantages: • Two-way audio via a single network cable allows users to communicate with what they are seeing (e.g. gas station clerk assisting a customer on how to use the prepay pumps) • Flexibility: IP cameras can be moved around anywhere on an IP network (including wireless). • Distributed intelligence: with IP cameras, video analytics can be placed in the camera itself allowing scalability in analytics solutions. • Transmission of commands for PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras via a single network cable. • Encryption & authentication: IP cameras offer secure data transmission through encryption and authentication methods such as WEP, WPA, WPA2, TKIP, AES. • Remote accessibility: live video from selected cameras can be viewed from any computer, anywhere, and also from many mobile smartphones and other devices. • IP cameras are able to function on a wireless network.

• PoE - Power over Ethernet. Modern IP cameras have the ability to operate without an additional power supply. They can work with the PoE-protocol which gives power via the Ethernet-Cable. Digital Video Recorder - A Digital Video Recorder (DVR), sometimes referred to by the merchandising term Personal Video Recorder (PVR), is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device. The term includes set-top boxes (STB) with direct to disk recording facility, portable media players (PMP) with recording, recorders (PMR) as camcorders that record onto Secure Digital memory cards and software for personal computers which enables video capture and playback to and from a hard disk drive. DVR adoption has rapidly accelerated in recent years. Firewalls: In computing, a firewall is a software or hardware-based network security system that controls the incoming and outgoing network traffic by analyzing the data packets and de-

termining whether they should be allowed through or not, based on a rule set. A network's firewall builds a bridge between the internal network or computer it protects, upon securing that the other network is secure and trusted, usually an external (internal) network, such as the Internet, that is not assumed to be secure and trusted. Many personal computer operating systems include software-based firewalls to protect against threats from the public Internet. Many routers that pass data between networks contain firewall components and, conversely, many firewalls can perform basic routing functions. (TO BE CONTINUED)

MIT Researcher Says Holographic TV Could Debut in Next 10 Years H olographic televisions could be in living rooms in the next 10 years at the price of today’s two-dimensional sets because of technology being developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, said Michael Bove, head of the lab’s Object-Based Media Group. The lab, known for inventing the technology behind electronic ink, has created a holographic chip that can support the display of more than 50 gigapixels per second and simulate real-life objects by bending projected light in a continuous range of directions, eliminating the need for three-dimensional glasses. The development of the chip, or spatial light modulator, will be re-

ported in the journal Nature. “The technology itself is one that’s easy and inexpensive and, as far as we are aware and Nature is aware, has never been applied to displays before,” Bove said, adding that the device has cost “tens of dollars” to build and maintain. The chip could be used in applications ranging from video games to robotic surgery, he said. His group is currently in talks with the lab’s corporate members about acquiring the chip’s technology. While Bove declined to name any specific companies involved in the discussions, the lab’s corporate members include LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. (Bloomberg)

Snoop Dogg (L) and the now famous holograph of Tupac Shakur during a performance at the first weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. April 2012

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 21

Times Art

WITNESS Project is a youth-based outreach programme using the arts to change cultures of violence against women and children

ITNESS Project is an arts-based initiative of the Margaret Clemons Foundation (MCF), a New York City based non-profit organization with a mission to stop the cycle of violence against women and children, using counsellor and teacher training, education, therapy, and community and youth outreach. MCF is partnered with Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and the Government of Guyana, to create a template for change to be used throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, and the world. It is made up of a dedicated group of adults and youth working to create a template for changing cultures of violence against women and children. The pilot programme for building this template was in Guyana because of Margaret Clemons’ observation of the epidemic of gender-based violence. Clemons was a US citizen who came here as a private investigator. MCF has partnerships with the Ministry of Education, Child Protective Services and others, along with organizations like Help & Shelter, working to address gender violence, and children and or families in crisis. As part of this template for change, Lesley University, in conjunction with MCF and the Guyana Ministry of Education, has

and see how their behaviour impacts children and the future of the community. She added that the youth's involvement has also changed their thinking and actions and they are now frequently asked to speak and attend conferences in diverse communities. WITNESS Project youths from Georgetown have also created cultural exchanges with Amerindian youths from the remote village of Capoey. The Georgetown children are ardently teaching the Capoey youths how to write for the youth newspaper page. Takechandra noted that the children’s deeply moving stories have inspired the organization to bring their powerful messages to an even wider audience through film. Under the direction of international filmmakers Morgan Riles and Ginger Theisen, its intensive “summer film work-

Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana David Devine (left), Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, and US Ambassador to Guyana Brent Hardt (far right) help with the posters at the seawall

successful photography portrait project. The organization outfitted Guyanese youth ages 11 to 17 with cameras; they then photographed more than 600 children and adults who supported their project. Their photographs sent this message to adults: “Stop your violence against our mothers, sisters, aunts,

newspaper for a youth page called “WE SEE” written by the WITNESS Project youth based on their own experiences of how the violence they see affects them. The children also created their own newspaper page marketing campaign that they take directly to the public in shopping and business areas, and in schools, to get

Pasting posters of the photos taken by the youths on the Canadian High Commission walls

launched a unique Master’s Degree programme specifically tailored for individuals working in social services and schools. This programme in ‘Trauma Sensitive Assessment, Intervention, and Consultation’ equips graduates to bring improved counselling and support services to children and families. WITNESS Project International started working with youth and communities through arts-based programming with the very

and neighbours. We see you and you must do better.” Children are the most vulnerable witnesses to violence, and they learn from what they see. The children's photographs were printed as huge face and eye posters and pasted all over the capital of Georgetown, generating a lot of press, interest, and dialogue throughout Guyana. As a result of the success of that arts project, the organization was given a full page each week in a local

the word out. Using the art form of writing to tell their stories gives the youth another medium to get their message out while gaining a growing sense of self-worth. The project has developed into an after school literacy/journalism programme in various regions. Speaking with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine program director in Guyana, Rosheni Takechandra pointed out that people are beginning to hear the message

shops” will involve over 20 youths in developing their stories for the film. They will learn how to write and edit scripts, produce, handle a camera, prepare sets, direct, learn about lighting, sound, and act. The initial goal, noted Takechandra, was to produce 3 short films which would be distributed to a wide audience throughout Guyana and the Caribbean on TV, including the 24hour Education Channel in Guyana, as well as on YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and other media, but due to lack of sponsorship their focus has been reduced to just producing one film. With more sponsorship the organization would be able to take the films into neighbourhoods to show them in public spaces, on sidewalks, and other venues, as many in Guyana do not have TV/internet. These film screenings will provide

information about how and where to get support and help. Takechandra stated that these investments in the arts are proving to be a powerful way to influence individuals and communities with positive incremental changes in cultural norms. “We have earned a reputation of a no-nonsense programme that delivers opportunity and growth to the youth of Guyana, creating leaders out of our members and a new mindset where conflict is resolved without violence. To keep the momentum going and to grow we cannot go it alone. We need your help and support. We need you to believe, as we do and have seen that change is possible,” part of the organization’s mission statement outlines. For more information on the organization’s activities, visit WITNESS Project on Facebook.

22 Times Sunday Magazine

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june 23, 2013

Times Heritage

Bartica to Potaro. That however, never materialised. Bartica has been given the title “Gateway to the Interior” though it is often bypassed by gold companies’ air transporting workers. However, smaller categories of miners do establish bases at Bartica today still. There is also another memorial today called the “Monument of Hope” in memory of the Feb 17, 2008

vided into rectangular grid lots, and its avenues given the simple names of First, Second, Third etc., despite being mostly unoccupied and surrounded by sheer jungle then. However, two or three hostels were soon providing room and board and a market was added, though few marketing activities flourished and it was considered mainly thriving with rum shops at the time. Bartica Grove, Junction of Massaruni and Essequibo Rivers circa 1900 (Postcard)

Bartica today from the air

he Preamble to an 1887 ordinance in British Guiana stated that it had become necessary for the “establishment and regulation of a town” at the confluence of the Essequibo, Mazaruni (Massaruni) and Cuyuni rivers. The point, known as Bartica Grove, was chosen for the new town. In 1829 the Church Missionary Society established the area to conduct missionary work, and it was known for its quiet environment surrounded by palms and mango groves. The name was later shortened to Bartica, which is said to mean “red earth” in one of the Amerindian languages, as the community developed into a town.

ten resort to taking taxis to travel up and down its distant hilly slopes. Bartica Grove was one of the earliest Anglican missionary settlements in British Guiana where the land was originally obtained from Sir Benjamin D’Urban. The mission was moved from its original site – a mile westward – to the present Bartica site in 1837 which was obtained from the Crown. A church dedicated to St. John the Baptist had been built after a visit from the Bishop of Barbados in 1836, which was consecrated by the Bishop of Guiana in 1843. During the mid 19th century, a monument was erected on the avenue lead-

Benedictine Monastery, Bartica

It was the discovery of gold in the Essequibo, Guiana interior that focused imperial eyes on Bartica Grove to establish a central location to register, monitor and manage the influx of labourers entering and leaving the region’s gold lands. The area was soon di-

A hospital and new police station were also added later. As the land nearest the river was relatively low, a draining trench was soon dug and a koker installed. Further inland however, the lands become hilly, and in modern times people of-

Preserving our heritage through pictures

Monument of Hope near the Bartica shoreline

ing to the church, in memory of a Reverend Pierce and his family who all died on the rapids of the Essequibo when the area served a small church and Amerindian community. There were also plans to construct a railway from

Bartica massacre that left 12 persons dead and four wounded. A plaque located in the compound of the Bartica Police Station was also unveiled in honour of the policemen killed in that attack.

Brain Teaser Answer The animals in Group A give live birth. Thus, gorilla can be added to Group A.

SUDOKU

KID SUDOKU

Public Buildings, Georgetown, British Guiana nd

British Guiana, Georgetown Club and Assembly Rooms (North side) nd

CROSSWORD

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june 23, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 23

Times Travel & Tourism

Oasis Service Centre welcoming sign along the Georgetown-Lethem Road

wo idyllic locations in the Rupununi offering comfort, tranquillity, and adventure are the Oasis Service Centre and Rock Landing. Oasis Service Centre is a restaurant/ bar along the Georgetown-Lethem road. It is located just after the road to Rockview Lodge and just before the turn to Annai, and roughly marks the halfway point between

Lethem and the Kurupukari crossing on the Essequibo River. The Oasis’ main building at the roadside-stop features beautiful wallaba wood posts and clay tiles from Brazil. The restaurant serves all meals, including a hearty Brazilian-style barbeque, grilled meat, and a range of side dishes. To provide an option for travellers in need of a place to spend the night without

The service centre is an oasis for those traveling along the Lethem road

Huts at Rock Landing, Surama (Photo by Andrew Snyder)

The hammock benab at Oasis

Oasis Service Center restaurant and bar

all the frills, lodging was built at Oasis. There is a beautiful benab with hooks for 11 hammocks and a patch of grass for pitching tents. Then there is Rock Landing built by Surama Eco-Lodge, Rupununi, and located several hours upstream of the Burro Burro River. It offers repose and is a serene location which allows travellers to experience

nature firsthand. If you are up for hanging a hammock in the middle of the jungle, than Rock Landing is a perfect destination. The guides at Surama know the surrounding mountains and jungles intimately and are expertly qualified to make the journey a memorable one. (Information from Kirk Smock’s “Guyana Bradt Guide- Second Edition” Photos by Ted Nelson)

The stretch of road where the Oasis can be found

Times Sunday Magazine

june 23, 2013

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Times Last Laugh

‘Oh no, we're running late again!’ By Melvin Durai

y wife, Malathi, and I were invited to Thanksgiving dinner at her boss’s house. We were expected there at 4 p.m., so I was ready to leave before 3:30 p.m., hoping to get there right on time. But Malathi had only just entered the bathroom, which meant that I still had enough time to write a 400page novel. "What time do we need to be there?" I asked – a delicate way of asking the real question: "How late are you going to make us this time?" She said it would be OK to get there at 4:45 p.m., since dinner wouldn’t be served until at least 5 p.m. That would give us a full 15 minutes for chitchat, before getting down to the important business of eating everything in sight. As luck would have it, we arrived at the dinner at 4:35 p.m., which meant that, to Malathi’s way of thinking, we were 10 minutes early. We didn’t need to apologize, even though the other guests had already introduced themselves to everyone there, including the dog. (A cute Labrador named Indy, who, unlike my wife, arrived at the dinner table right on time.) Malathi, as you’ve gathered, isn’t as partic-

ular about being on time as I usually am. In fact, the first time we met, at Indianapolis Airport, she was two hours late. Imagine how late she would have been if she wasn’t trying hard to make a good impression. She claimed she had been stuck in some kind of torrential downpour. But I saw no sign of rain when we left the airport, leading me to believe that the only "downpour" that had delayed her was the one in her shower. Malathi, in her defence, is much better at keeping time than many people. And I say that not just because I hate sleeping on the couch. I’ve met dozens of people who are always running late. Many of them have apparently never heard of that great invention: the watch. Among those who’ve received news about the technological breakthrough, some consider a watch nothing more than a piece of jewellery. If it didn’t display the time, they wouldn’t care, as long as it displayed important information such as "Rolex" and "Gucci." Others look at their watches only to figure out what month it is. "December already? I could have sworn it was June. How come Al Gore is still making speeches?" A few have never owned

a watch. They think they can do without one, even though they don’t work for the government. If they have an important appointment, they try to keep track of time by looking at the sun. If not, they rely on people around them: "Excuse me, what does your watch say?" "Rolex." "I mean, what time is it?" "December." "Can you be more specific?" "Before Christmas." People from certain countries seem more inclined to be late. For example, if an American invites a Zambian and an Indian to lunch at 1 p.m., the Zambian will arrive at 3 p.m., unless he gets a ride from his Indian friend, in which case they will both arrive just in time for supper. And neither of them will act as if anything went wrong. "Apologize? For what? We got here on the same day." My friends and I have tried to adjust to this chronic tardiness. For example, if we want to play soccer at 4 p.m. with a group of international players, we tell them to arrive at 3 p.m., ensuring that the game will start promptly at 6 p.m. It’s better than buying them Rolexes.

The fishing trip

Two guys go on a fishing trip. They rent all the equipment: the reels, the rods, the wading suits, the rowboat, the car, and even a cabin in the woods. They spend a fortune. The first day they go fishing, but they don't catch anything. The same thing happens on the second day, and on the third day. It goes on like this until finally, on the last day of their vacation, one of the men catches a fish. As they're driving home they're really depressed. One guy turns to the other and says, "Do you realize that this one lousy fish we caught cost us fifteen hundred dollars?" The other guy says, "Wow! It's a good thing we didn't catch any more!"

The French Revolution

During the French revolution, hundreds of people were guillotined. One day, three men were led up to die. One was a lawyer, one was a doctor, and the third was an engineer. The lawyer was to die first. He was led to the guillotine, the attending priest blessed him, and he knelt with his head on the guillotine. The blade was released, but stopped halfway down its path. The priest, seeing an opportunity, quickly said, "Gentlemen, God has spoken and said this man is to be spared; we cannot kill him." The executioner agreed, and the lawyer was set free. The doctor was next. He was blessed by the priest, then knelt and placed his head down. The blade was released, and again stopped halfway down. Again the priest intervened: "Gentlemen, God has again spoken; we cannot kill this man." The executioner agreed and the doctor was set free. At last it was the engineer's turn. He was blessed by the priest, and knelt, but before he placed his head on the guillotine he looked up. Suddenly, he leapt to his feet and cried, "Oh, I see the problem!"

Ship Ahoy!

Transcript of an actual radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland in October, 1995. Radio conversation released by the Chief of Naval Operations 10-10-95. Americans: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the north to avoid a collision. Canadians: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision. Americans: This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course. Canadians: No. I say again, you divert YOUR course. Americans: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE15 DEGREES NORTH, THAT'S ONE FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP. Canadians: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

The Old Man

A grizzled old man was eating in a truck stop when three Hell's Angels bikers walked in. The first biker approached the old man, threw his cigarette into the old man's pie, and then took a seat at the counter. Then, a second biker walked over to the old man, spit into his glass of milk, and then took a seat at the counter. Finally, a third biker verbally attacked the old man, knocked his plate of food into his lap, and then took a seat at the counter. Without a word of protest, the old man quietly left the diner. Shortly thereafter, one of the bikers commented to the waitress, "Not much of a man is he?" The waitress replied, "Not much of a truck driver either. He just backed his truck over three motorcycles."

About chocolate

Chocolate covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit, so eat as many as you want. If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

“Taste worth dying for”. The Las Vegas Heart Attack Grill’s Quadruple Bypass Burger that contains 9,982 calories - found in its four beef patties (2 lbs), eight slices of cheese, tomato, onions, and sauce on a white bread bun. The restaurant, whose motto is “Taste worth dying for”, additionally serves its burgers with Jolt Cola, unfiltered Lucky Strike cigarettes and French fries deep-fried in pure lard.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite and you'll eat less. Q. Why is there no such organization as Chocoholics Anonymous? A. Because no one wants to quit.

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