Dr. Dee Dee Dynamo by Oneeka Williams, MD

Flora Zeta Zhang Elizabeth Tian Ai Cheong-Leen was born in Hong Kong in 1959.  Her father Hilton Cheong-Leen was born in Georgetown, British Guyana but is of Chinese descent and her mother Pauline Chow is from Beijing. Flora graduated from The Royal Ballet in the UK and at the Paris Opera in France. She starred as the lead actress in movies such as: “Life After Life”, “Duel to the Death”, “Chasing Girl” and “Return of…

Stacey Samuels Richardson is looking forward to the day when she will become a Licensed Family Life Educator.  The Berbice-native is a firm believer that the family is the basic unit of society and is currently pursuing a BA degree in Marriage and Family Studies at BYU-Idaho Online University. Three years ago during a mission trip to the United States, Stacey experienced her first bout with anxiety, which was possible triggered by the change in…

Dr Dionne Patricia Duncan, whose parents, Hector and Util Duncan, are both Guyanese, recently graduated from the University of Toronto with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Health Policy Management and Informatics. According to Dr Duncan, her Guyanese parents taught her from an early age that education was more than reading, writing and arithmetic. “It is one of the most important investments a country can make of its people and its future and is critical…

Name: Kiesha Nicole Benn Specialty: Obstetrics & Gynecology Residency: Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, PA Fellowship/Graduate school: Maternal Fetal Medicine, Second year Fellow at The University of Connecticut Health Center Medical School: SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY Undergraduate: City University of New York: Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education, NY, NY.   1) When did you decide you wanted to become a Medical Doctor and what led to this decision? “I knew I wanted to…

Windee Algernon will go down in history as Guyana’s first female army Colonel and the first full-serving female member of any of the Caribbean’s armed forces to hold such a rank.  Colonel Algernon was promoted in the Guyana Defense Force from Substantive Lieutenant Colonel to this male dominated rank in January 20, 2012. Reflecting on this milestone, Colonel Algernon told reporters that she has been in the army since 1980, served in a number of appointments and underwent several training…

Grace Aneiza Ali is the founder and editor of  OfNoteMagazine.org, an online magazine that celebrates people of color in the arts. She was born in Guyana and moved to the United States when she was fourteen years old. Having grown up surrounded by a culture of illiteracy among women, she is committed to the work of educating girls in developing nations. Grace launched Of Note in 2009 as a platform to honor “artists whose work values compassion,…

Melinda Shankar (born February 18, 1992) is a talented young actress who is best known for her role in the Canadian teen drama television series: Degrassi – The Next Generation. She was born and raised in Ottawa, Canada to Guyanese parents and has 3 siblings. Melinda started her acting career at age 10 appearing in TV commercials, print ads and some theatre work.  She made her starring mark in 2008 in the 8th season of Degrassi as…

Donna Makeda is definitely a musical force to be reckoned with. She was born in Kwakwani and grew up in New Amsterdam, Berbice, Guyana. Donna started singing and performing over 25 years ago, her foundation in music came from the church, which she attended when she was a little girl. Donna started out as a dancer; she was trained in Afro-Caribbean Dance, Modern Dance, Folk Dance, Kathak and Classical Ballet. At age 16, she opened…

Ms. Valerie Rodway (1919-1970) was a teacher and Guyanese composer.  She is best known for her national songs, which include, “O Beautiful Guyana,” “Kanaïma,” “Hymn for Guyana’s Children,” “Arise, Guyana,” and “Guyana the Free.  She also put to music the famed Guyanese independence poem by Martin Carter, “Let Freedom Awaken.” Ms. Rodway was a member of one of those families whose contributions to Guyana are still evident. Her father, Newton Berthier Fraser was born in…

The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love: The 11 Secrets of Feminine Power The Sacred Bombshell Handbook of Self-Love is your passport to become the woman you were born to be. If you’ve been looking for a sign, this is it. Love-Body-Spirit coach, advice columnist, and motivational speaker Abiola Abrams reveals 11 self-worth secrets with assignments to awaken your feminine energy, reclaiming the word bombshell to mean a woman who deliciously embodies her mind, body, spirit…

Last Saturday evening the The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale in Florida hosted the  “Translation of Art” Fashion Event showcasing designs from 10 countries, including Guyana, Africa and many Caribbean Islands.  Guyanese Designer, Sonia Noel, presented her “First Resort” collection to a very impressed crowd of fashion enthusiasts.   This is what event coordinator, Ruth Michel Dupoux, had to say about Sonia and her collection “The museum of art of Lauderdale was illuminated last Saturday by…

Nirmala Narine is a World Traveler, Author, Executive Producer, Television Host, and Founder of Nirmala’s Kitchen, the go-to company for spices, grains, sauces and much more.   She was born in Guyana and at the age of six Nirmala began to cook in a tiny kitchen with no running water or electricity.  It was Nirmala’s grandfather, an Arya Samaj Hindu Pandit, who schooled her in the ancient Indian arts of holistic cooking and Ayurvedic living.  When…

The Port of Spain-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has a new registrar and marshal. Guyanese national Jacqueline Graham, who took up the post from July 1, 2014, is an attorney with an MBA in Finance (University of Manchester, UK), an undergraduate degree in Management Studies (University of Guyana) and is a graduate of the Hugh Wooding Law School at St Augustine. Before her appointment at the CCJ, Graham was the legal assistant to the Chancellor…

Rianna Soraya Scipio is a British television host, journalist, producer and director who is perhaps best known for her work on UK national television, as a prime time television host (presenter) of such flagship series as the BBC‘s Watchdog, Holiday, UK’s Worst…?, Newsroom Southeast, Wide World (Channel 5), and on BBC Radio 2 and Choice FM (Global Radio). Scipio’s outstanding awards and achievements include, breaking record figures as a host within the BBC’s ‘entertainment features’…

This past weekend the people of Guyana felt a sense of pride as Rafieya Aasieya Husain became the first Guyanese in over 40 years to place at the Miss World Pageant. The 22-year-old beauty queen, who is a native of Essequibo County, was one of the top 10 Finalists named at the Miss World competition finale held on Sunday at the Excel London ICC Auditorium. Rafieya also won the ‘Beauty With a Purpose Title’, which…