Year: 2017

Poonam Singh’s effortlessness in her powerful vocals and infectious personality are somewhat a façade. Why? Because she is way more than that. Her concrete determination to become one of Guyana’s most talented singers has met with challenges; however she has overcome these with cadence. In an interview with Sunday Times Magazine, Poonam mentioned that singing was and still is an art that is embedded in her. “It’s kind of like I was born with it, and I’m sure it’s going to stay with me for eternity. My parents do sing…

(Extract of an interview with Sharon Maas, Georgetown, Guyana, November 2017. Maas is the author of more than seven novels; her first “Of Marriageable Age” was published in 1999) PP: Sharon, it seems as if you’re back home, in more than one ways. SM: Well, I’ve been coming back home every year over the past six or seven years. PP: In the physical sense, that is one way but I’m particularly making reference to your writing – you are beginning to focus more on Guyana. The last time we spoke,…

The bridge that currently crosses the Canje River (known too as Canje Creek), a tributary of the Berbice River, is reported to be the third such structure known to have been built, and serves as a vital connection along the Corentyne Road. The original structure was built in 1830, a year before the colonies of Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo were united under British rule. A wooden construction, it was built by slaves who, it is said, were given their freedom three years before emancipation. They were also given land in…

Hope Seals Guyana provides charity in the form of food, clothing, monetary support, and medical outreach to the less fortunate. It is the brainchild of Sonia Hutson, a London-trained beauty specialist/entrepreneur, and Lester Hutson, a nutritionist/entrepreneur. “Some four years ago, I read an article of a young single mother of three children who was killed in her sleep by her brother who had earlier raped his niece while the mother was out reaping wild cabbage to feed her family. Her son was also killed when he tried to save his…

Herstelling, a village located on East Bank Demerara, is flanked by three squatting areas and is made up of residents mainly from the middle and lower economic status that are heavily dependent on the sugar and fishing industries for their income. With the economic challenges resulting from the falling sugar prices on the world market and the many barriers within the fishing industries, families have over the years been faced with high rates of unemployment, severe financial pressure, illiteracy, idleness/hopelessness among youths and extremely high levels of school drop-outs. These…