Former Secretary General of the Guyana Commission to UNESCO Carmen Enid Peterkin Jarvis died on Wednesday night in Atlanta, USA. She was 91 years old.
It was only last year October that Jarvis returned to Guyana to launch her autobiography, From Seedtime to Harvest. The book’s title was taken from the lyrics of the Bishops’ High School’s song where she was a student and later headmistress.
President David Granger was at that launch and yesterday in an invited comment he described Jarvis as a stalwart who from the pre-independence period made “an outstanding contribution to education.” He recalled that she was in the Girl Guides and the country’s representative to UNESCO and in that capacity gave Guyana great prominence for its heritage sites.
“…I was happy to be with her at that occasion… She was one of the people who helped to build Guyana; gave us one of the strong educational foundation we today enjoy,” the Head of State said yesterday.