The name Marva Langevine has been floating around for quite some time and most of Guyana is aware of who she is, since she was honoured with the Queen’s Young Leaders Award earlier this year. Langevine is a 25-year-old teacher from the small village of Den Amstel on the West Coast of Demerara and ever since her return to Guyana, she has been following her calling by tackling childhood bereavement.
Langevine describes herself as a woman who is passionate about fulfilling her purpose as well as a “teacher, storyteller and advocate for various human rights causes”. She also wants it to be known that she loves giving hugs. Sounds like a fun person, right? Well, she is!
“I found my purpose and I received the courage to give hope to those who needed it. What started as ice-cream dates and hugs for two toddlers after their mother died has grown into an organisation dedicated to supporting bereaved children as they cope, grow, and succeed.”
Langevine founded the Guyana Golden Lives Organisation, which was formed to increase general awareness about grief and loss and its related problems with specific attention to children. The Organisation encourages bereaved children to grow, cope, and develop through support, consolation, and mentorship. The Guyana Golden Lives Organisation conducts a number of awareness programmes about childhood bereavement, and provides specific and general support for the children and families it works with.
The Organisation provides financial and psycho-social support services for bereaved children, job opportunities for widows, and food hampers and building materials for low -families. In the future, Langevine hopes to hold ‘grief in the classroom’ workshops for teachers and community outreach initiatives on bereavement.
Additionally, Langevine has created Camp Golden, a camp for bereaved young people, which provides counselling, food, shelter and educational opportunities.
Looking back at her earlier days, Langevine said she first attended the Den Amstel Primary School and later transferred to the Wismar Hill Primary. She later completed her secondary education at the St Michael School on the island of Barbados. Langevine returned to Guyana in 2009 and almost immediately joined the Cyril Potter College of Education and gained an Associate Degree in Education.
It has always been her dream to work with youths and she recently gained her Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Guyana. As a child, Langevine said she had always been bold, and as she aged, her passion became stronger. She then directed that passion to causes that were near and dear to her.
“My desire to practically address issues or phenomena that are not talked about or are underestimated. My number one aim is to equip children with the life skills to cope with loss and a hope for the future. I also hope to develop empathetic communities who can provide specific and general support to bereaved families.”
On June 26, Langevine stood before Queen Elizabeth II and received a Queen’s Young Leaders Award for the work she is doing to transform the lives of bereaved, sick, and underprivileged children.
The Queen’s Young Leaders programme was established in 2014 by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief, the Royal Commonwealth Society and the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Continuing Education, in recognition of the Queen’s lifetime of service to the Commonwealth. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
