In last week’s offering, I made the point that if we want Guyanese to move beyond their ethnic positions to be comfortable under the wider umbrella of a bona fide nation, we need to work to ensure that the populace knows of the achievements and successes behind that national entity. Today, I am following my own mouth, to coin a phrase, by identifying some persons in this country who, by their actions or from positions they take, make me proud.
One of those stalwarts is an unusual lady named Philomena D’Andrade, introduced to me as Auntie Phil, who has been involved in farming in the Waini for years. After she and her husband separated, Auntie Phil, amazingly, continued to run the family farm, of many acres – doing all the planning and management, and using hired day-time help. If you know anything about farm life you know how hard that is for a man, never mind a woman, but she has kept to the task for years without a murmur. I first met her about 6 years ago when my wife