Category: Features

By Chevon Lim In order to achieve full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls, and further achieve gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/70/212 declaring 11 February as the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Science and gender equality are both vital for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The UN has recognised that over the past 15 years, the global community has…

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Guyana is the first country in the Caribbean to have a national policy which emphasises the importance of science education. ‘The purpose of science in the context of sustainability is to understand and clarify the dynamics of what is required to prevent ‘the human system’ – individual and collective, physical, social, economic, cultural and psychological – from destroying the environment on which it depends (Maiteny and Parker, 2002 p. 15). ‘Technology seeks to provide instruments and means for achieving particular human aims, wants and purposes in line with the prevailing…

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Black History Month Series There are as many ways to celebrate as there are appropriate ways to celebrate. The tenor of Black History Month should be celebrated with books. Here’s a short (but by no way a comprehensive) list of Guyanese works and their authors which could be used to commemorate the above. Ivan Van Sertima They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America, written by Ivan Van Sertima, published 1977, was one of those controversial books that stabbed at misconceptions about Africans. Van Sertima knew what he…

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Information Technology (IT) Technician and Co-ordinator of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Guyana Project, Karen Abrams explained that the main mission behind the local Project is to ‘unlock the world class potential of Guyanese youth’. “We understand clearly that if our young people are not prepared to contribute to a world driven by technology, they will simply be left behind. There is a sense of urgency today that is driving the same level of youth preparation activity throughout the entire developing world. We are adamant that Guyana will not…

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By Utamu Belle Did you know that you can make a vase or a tissue holder using old, wooden clothes pins? How about making stylish jewellery from cocrite or coconut shells? Were you even aware that decorative wall packets can be made from plastic spoons, forks and knives? Or how about fashionable hats made of old newspapers? Well, these are just a few products made by the creative hands of Lindener, Mrs Shirley Williams, affectionately called ‘Miss Shirley’ by residents in the Linden community. For decades, Miss Shirley, a resident…

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No, I did not grow up ‘stupidy’ under the Union Jack. But I did acquire and have lived with many misconceptions in my formative years. Those misconceptions I called ‘beliefs’ (due to a limited vocabulary) because I believed particular bits of information, sold to me, to be facts. And to sort of giving validation to those beliefs was the awareness that they were shared by my contemporaries of that era. Those beliefs stayed with me until a little bit more information and growing pains (days of the wile cane, kneeling…

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Many families in Guyana have at least one pet, while some have several. Pets, whether dogs, cats, birds or in some cases even snakes, serve many beneficial purposes. The fortunate ones are even integrated into the family to the extent that they dwell in the homes of their caregivers. Decades of studies point to the curative effects of our animal friends; in many parts of the world, pets are used for many other purposes aside from companionship; they are used to treat the mentally ill, to assist the differently- abled…

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There is a well-known saying that goes something like this: “Until lions tell their own stories, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter.” Unlike our knowledge of other nations’ history, little knowledge of the prehistoric story of our first peoples is known or understood among Guyanese, often leading to discrimination and stereotyping. However, the indefatigable efforts of Jennifer Wishart and others, seek to ensure that Guyana’s indigenous history has its own narrators. Sunday Times Magazine presents the text of “The Prehistoric Warau of Guyana” (1994) by Jennifer E.…

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The villagers of Karasabai in Region 9 (Upper Takatu/Upper Essequibo) are now more prepared to welcome visitors with the opening of the highly anticipated Kezee Ecolodge. For residents and the members of the Tourism Committee, the event was the culmination of years of hard work. Kezee Ecolodge is the product of a five year journey which started when the village was the recipient of a grant under the Amerindian Development Fund. This fund is managed by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs and United Nations Development Programme. It was indeed an…

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The Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts (SNFCA), in collaboration with the Women’s Association for Sustainable Development (WASD), invites the public on an empowering journey at the third annual ‘Women in Business Expo’. The highly-anticipated event is scheduled for March 10-11, 2018 at the Pegasus Hotel to mark International World’s Women Day. The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1908 when a group of 15,000 women marched on the streets of New York, demanding their rights. Since then, every year on March 8, the world joins hands together to…

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