A youth group outreach project coined ‘Expedition Cinderella’, exposed 31 coastlanders to the remote regions of Guyana, bringing them face to face with a beauty Guyanese often hear about but oftentimes do not experience.
“The intent is to get young people, particularly those of us living on the coast to see the beauty of Guyana… Expedition Cinderella was coined because of the whole story about Cinderella—beautiful but not recognized; beautiful but neglected,” Pastor Wilbert Lee said. Lee is a leader at the Wortmanville First Assemblies of God Church and advisor to the youth group, Nulli Secundus, which translates to Second to None.
From August 14 – 24, the group, made up largely of students, both at the high school and tertiary levels, as well as young professionals, travelled to Paramakatoi, Kato, Kurukubaru and Orinduik in Region Eight. Plans to travel to Korasabai, Monkey Mountain, Kamana and a few other places were marred by inclement weather.
Their mission, while in these areas was to focus on training in terms of the establishment of small businesses, social graces, self-development, educational value, personal hygiene, public health, and on the lighter end of the scale, dance and pastry-making classes.
Nulli Secundus was established eight years ago, but this is the second expedition the group has embarked on in an interior location. Lee related that last year’s trip, dubbed, ‘Expedition El Dorado’ had an agenda more focused on sightseeing, as compared to this year’s expedition, which sought to provide training and outreach to the communities visited. Apart from that, the underlying intent was to forge a connection between the young people and parts of their homeland they may be unable to identify with.
“The expedition is to really take us out of Georgetown to see the beauty of Guyana in terms of the scenery and all that,” Lee explained. “So when we sing the anthem, when we sing national songs, we sing with a deeper, a greater appreciation for what we have, we’re not singing in isolation, having not seen. When we sing, ‘from Pakaraimas peaks of pow’r…’ we have climbed the Pakaraima, so we know what it looks like.”
A month later, but still beaming from their experiences, the young people recounted the impactful moments of their trip, each emphasizing the mesmerizing beauty of the landscapes they encountered.
“Guyana is out of this world, the experience… I was saying to someone, you get to a stage where all you can do is drink in all you can with your eyes because you can’t take it anywhere else, and just leave it to memory,” Yonnette Rosheuvel stated.
“I remember our leader Pastor Lee, he said Region 8 is the most picturesque part of Guyana. But, you know, trying to think of what it would look like, you just really couldn’t fathom it and being there, like, my imagination could not have conceived how beautiful that place would have been. It was really, really beautiful,” Giselle Sealy gushed. “It makes you wonder and you’ll have to believe, there is a God, because that couldn’t just happen. So you know, there is a God and he must be Guyanese because Guyana is extra special,” she joked.
What might have been even more impacting for some, however, was the removal of false stereotypes.
“When I first heard about Expedition Cinderella I thought about seeing Amerindians in huts, seeing the Toshao in the traditional wear and so on. But going and seeing all of that, I realized it was nothing like that. These Amerindians are more modernized than we could have ever thought. They live in houses just like us, they dress in shirt and tie, jeans and everything,” Ivana Thompson stated.
Rosheuvel related her surprise at the conditions of some of the locals, describing their situation as “upsetting,” likening the experience to observing “a people separate and different. And that is something I still can’t understand… Why don’t they have access to basic food commodities? On a regular basis and so on. I mean, you hear about all these things, but then you see the terrain and the difficulty in terms of getting into those places, I still believe more can be done if the effort is made. We’re talking about people, we’re talking about Guyanese.”
Her colleague, Kester Hamilton, meanwhile, marvelled at the differences in the lifestyle of the people they interacted with, who he noted use solar power for electricity and springs and streams as their water sources.
First Vice President of Nulli Secundus Tiffany David opined that travelling around Guyana can create and inspire initiatives that can improve the country’s conditions. A challenge was meted out to other young people to utilise their August holidays to explore their own country, rather than travelling abroad.
“I would always tell my mom that before I travel to go to any other country I want to see some parts of Guyana, so I’m just seeing my dreams fulfilled bit by bit,” stated Alexis Knights.
The expedition last month included Pastor Wilbert Lee, Vanessa Thompson, Yonnette Rosheuvel, Robert Lee, Kezia Gordon, Martin Massiah, Tiffany David, David Brathwaite, Adielle Rosheuvel, Aubrey Sultan, Shaunette Lee, Jewel Waldron, Natoya Seymour, Elizabeth Baptiste, Alex Hinds, Alexis Knights, Mowava Maison, Keisha Nelson, Nyron Sookram, Daniel Waldron, Martin Watson, Jared Watson, Ikia Thompson, Ivana Thompson, Kester Hamilton, Omaiah Hall, Imani McKenzie, Natuily Girar, Denita Gillis, Giselle Sealy and Shevon Moses.
The Nulli Secundus youth group meets on Sundays from 12 pm – 2 pm, at the Generation Next Building, located opposite the Wortmanville Assemblies of God Church on D’Urban Street.
