Shortly after Jocelyne Josiah’s student application for entry to the University of Guyana (UG) was rejected, supposedly based on her qualifications and teaching experiences, she was accepted at the University of Waterloo (UofW) in Ontario, Canada.
Covid-19, lack of funding and other unforeseen circumstances have led young and ambitious but struggling, upcoming artist, Demion Mack, 22, of Rewa Village in the North Rupununi to postpone completing studies at the Burrowes School of Art.
Now four years into running her own business in the predominantly male-dominated, local, booming construction industry, Canada-born Guyanese entrepreneur Sonya Oodit, 28, is the only local businesswoman supplying a variety of geotextile fabrics for mainly sea defence and road construction.
Former educator Berkeley Wendell Semple, 56, a two-time winner of the Guyana Prize for Literature, Poetry category, in 2004 and in 2022, who is now putting together his fifth volume of poems for publication, found inspiration to write during his years of serving the USA in the military during Desert Storm and while stationed at sea.
Dr Leroy ‘Jimi’ Hendricks, 29, is using his skills and knowledge as a medical doctor, entrepreneur, and through activism, which he says is new to him, to to empower Indigenous people in Guyana, and help the wider Guyanese population and people around the world to take pride in their indigeneity.
Educator and former broadcast journalist Dr Wanda Chesney nee Rohlehr has spent the last 17 years abroad simultaneously sharing the wealth of skills and knowledge at tertiary institutions she acquired in her journey but has returned home to give of her expertise through her year-old WERC Consultancy, as she believes her steps are ordered by God for the greater good.
A master’s degree student in water governance and water management, Romario Hastings is eager to banish the stereotypes and preconceptions surrounding Indigenous People and intentionally adopted the Akawaio name, ‘Kapohn’, once he became culturally aware of his identity.
Having worked here in 1974 as a secondary school teacher fresh out of the University of the West Indies, Barbadian financial management and financial analysis consultant William Layne developed a love for Guyana.
On the heels of obtaining bachelor’s degrees in law and in political science simultaneously, both with first class honours, former Caribbean table tennis champion and national player Shemar Britton, 25, has qualified to play in the 2023 Pan American Games to be held in Chile in October based on his performance at the just-concluded Central American Games (CAC) held in El Salvador.
Albert Burnett Jnr, 41, the seventh of nine siblings, was born two and a half years before his younger brother Jermain, 38, who is paralysed from his waist down and has limited mobility from the waist up.
From medical technology to marketing his poems in the Caribbean and then to South Africa where he was a mentee and a mentor in leadership development strategies, Astell Collins took his brand of leadership to the political level temporarily and now continues his calling as a leadership strategist.
A farmer, 37-year-old Patricia Amanda Persaud holds a number of positions in several voluntary organisations in her Western Hogg Island, Essequibo River community and strongly recommends the establishment of a secondary school or a secondary department to meet the needs of the student population in Hogg Island, Caria Caria, Great Troolie Island and mainland Buckhall.
Self-taught football coach Monique Emmanuel, who recovered from a serious childhood injury and was warned against physical exertion, nevertheless spends most of her time volunteering and being involved in outdoor sports.
From performing in community musical theatre productions, small-town born and raised Canadian actress with Guyanese and Jamaican roots, Vanessa Sears, 30, has made her Broadway debut in the new musical “New York, New York”.
Having spent more than half of his life wrapped up in academia at the University of Guyana (UG) and the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr Mark Kirton is currently working quietly in the background at home but with his heart still on tertiary education.
Newly-appointed Chief Commissioner of the Scout Association of Guyana Yonnick David sees a lot of potential and employment opportunities for young people in the country to hone their skills in making Guyana a world-class business and tourism destination.
As a professional, civil engineer Egbert ‘Bert’ Carter could have migrated as so many others have done but he chose to remain in Guyana to contribute to its development, and the many projects he undertook are today testimony to his work in spite of the discrimination he faced because of his political affiliation.
From a bookless home in Palmyra Village, East Canje, Berbice and growing up among cattle, historian and author Clem Seecharan dug deep into local and international repositories and has researched and authored over 18 books on cricket, the Guyanese and Caribbean way of life, all steeped in social and political history.
Marcia Smith was a housewife when her son Jared, who is now 17, was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Dr Karen Hall is a special education educator, who was born with a congenital physical disability that mimics a triple amputee.
The ePaper edition, on the Web & in stores for Android, iPhone & iPad.
Included free with your web subscription. Learn more.
