A gala dinner featuring a cornucopia of indigenous dishes and the showcasing of the north west village of Waramuri are among highlights for the celebration of Amerindian Heritage Month.
Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai outlined the activities planned at a press briefing on Wednesday.
This year’s celebrations are being held under the theme ‘Promoting sustainable livelihood and cultural heritage while transforming our village economies.’
The roster includes a church service on the evening of August 31 followed by the official launch and opening ceremony on September 1 at 4.30 pm at the Sophia Exhibition Centre. The public is invited. An educational tour will be held in Georgetown for students from Region Eight. These students will also be given an opportunity to tour the Hinterland Students Dormitory at Liliendaal which will be commissioned on September 3. A food and craft fair will be held from September 1-5 at Sophia from 10 am daily while an evening that reflects on the life of Stephen Campbell is planned for September 8 at the Umana Yana.
The minister said that this night of reflection is a very important activity since Campbell’s story traces from his humble beginnings to the pinnacle of his career. She acknowledged his work with others in garnering the land rights of Amerindians.
On September 10, Amerindian Heritage Day will be celebrated in Waramuri Village, Region One. She said the village’s proximity to other communities of the Moruca sub-region should add to the grandeur of the event and she encouraged the public to support it.
In addition, a heritage walk from the Umana Yana to the Botanical Gardens is set for September 12, while a sports and family fun day is fixed for September 18-19 at the GNS ground. As regard the community competitions, Sukhai praised the Upper Mazaruni sports committee which she said coordinated their events well. The minister said while she was there over the weekend, teams for a community football match set for 7am had assembled at 6.30am, a reflection of the discipline, effort and investment in sports in the hinterland.
On September 24, the winners of the essay completion will be announced. A food and craft exhibition and cultural presentation will be held from September 23-28 at the Amerindian village, Sophia; this activity will coincide with GuyExpo 2010 and feature exhibits and cultural performances. The month of activities will close with a dinner featuring indigenous dishes and a prize-giving ceremony will be held at the Georgetown Club on September 29. Tickets for this event will be available shortly. Sukhai said that though these activities will be hosted in Georgetown, heritage celebrations would also be held across communities in regions one, seven, eight and nine.
Meanwhile, Sukhai took the opportunity to provide an update on the school uniform distribution programme which targets nursery to secondary school children from regions one, seven, eight and nine who will be provided with a full school uniform. While the exercise has been completed in the upper Mazaruni, regions one, eight, nine are expected to receive their supplies shortly. Apart from providing uniforms, the programme offers employment for sewing groups in the communities.
Meanwhile, the construction of a building to house a crab processing plant in Region One will start by month end. The project which forms part of the National Secure Livelihoods Programme aims to produce frozen crab and in the future crab meat which will be preserved and processed.
Further, plans for cassava and ginger processing plants are also in train. Sukhai said the initiative seeks to manufacture by-products of the produce which will prolong their shelf life and enable them to compete on the domestic and international markets.
Regarding the issue of land demarcation, the minister said that the communities of Toka, North Rupununi and Shulinab, South Central have completed demarcation of their lands. The next step is for Lands and Surveys to assess those maps. Taruka, Itabac and Kertuku are the next communities whose lands will be demarcated. Sukhai said the ministry is aiming to have five communities demarcated by year end and a further US$3M has been allocated to the process.
