Oluatoyin Alleyne

If you were a regular visitor to the zoo in the Botanical Gardens, you would have noticed the decrepit-looking pens in which some of the animals were kept, but as of recent your eyes could not have missed the sprucing-up of those very pens and other areas which has given the zoo a colourful and cheerful atmosphere.

There is no doubt that it was the love of it that kept Country Manager of World Wildlife Fund Guianas (WWF) Aiesha Williams in the field of biodiversity and conservation.

For many years she has quietly worked in the background helping to ensure that the eyes of Guyanese are taken care of and while she does have clinics, she has been helping especially children to access eye care free of cost, through various organisations.

“My mom was not there for me, she would never support me with my homework and so.

On any given day, Noreen Gaskin or her employees can be found feeding stray dogs on the streets or in the National Park and according to the businesswoman and humanitarian her “love affair” started almost 20 years ago and it has grown over the years, with her having some 22 dogs in her home at one time.

“I got pregnant when I was 12 and my mother was angry, and she would beat me.

For years, Clonel Samuels-Boston has seen the struggles and pain teenage mothers endure on a daily basis as she has been assisting them, and though there have been times she wanted to give up, she kept pressing on.

“There are always the memories, there are tears sometimes too. Quite a lot of memories, but I console myself with the fact that according to my faith in the resurrection I would see my son again under better circumstances.”

“She does really make you feel like you deh back in school.

“Well some of my days are beautiful, and bright and energetic.

Almost two weeks after she became the first woman toshao of the Pakuri Village (formerly St Cuthbert’s Mission) on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, Beverley Clenkian is on a mission to improve educational opportunities for the youth and develop the community socially.

“I want a divorce. I don’t know if he is going to give it to me, because I believe he may want to give me a hard time.

“Some days does be trialling, but I had to throw pride and dignity behind and just do what I have to do.

The grieving mother of a 31-year-old woman who passed away recently from cervical cancer believes that the treatment she received at the Cancer Institute of Guyana caused her death, but the attending physician says all was done to save the young woman’s life.

Fifty-seven-year-old Sumintra Bridgmohan dreams of one day owning a home and not worrying about where her next meal will come from, but it is a dream that may never be realized as the mother of eight does not have a steady job nor does she own a piece of land.

“My daughter-in-law water bag buss since yesterday morning and she in suh much pain and only now dem preparing she to go theatre,” the woman said, worry etched on her face.

Clutching a photograph of her daughter with tears rolling down her cheeks Dhanraji Murray is the picture of a broken woman and seconds into a conversation with her one quickly realizes that the pain she feels is more profound because of guilt.

“I really don’t know how I get this thing and who give it to me.

Every morning, a pregnant Shondell King leaves her home and treks for about half of a mile to work which entails fetching pieces of wallaba wood and packing them into sandpits and even as she does this she may have a pit burning simultaneously to produce charcoal.

“Sometimes I feel as if I am going out of my mind and then at other times I feel guilty as if I am not doing enough and I am failing them,” she said with a sad shake of her head.