Happy Holidays GGR Family!

Maya Tiwari (born April 16, 1952 in Liverpool Village, Guyana) is a humanitarian, world peace leader and author. Also called “Mother Maya,” she is an international teacher of Ayurveda, a health activist and the founder of the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda and Mother Om Mission.   Biography Maya Tiwari was born in Guyana, the daughter of Brahmin priest Pandit Bhagawan Ramprasad Tiwari, whose family originated from Lucknow, India. Thereafter, she became a fashion designer…

Dr. Michelle Mickle Foster has been the President and CEO of The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation, in West Virginia, since February 2016. Prior to this position, she served as the CEO of the Kanawha Institute for Social Research & Action, Inc. (KISRA) for 17-1/2 years. She developed all of KISRA’s 13 major programs that are in the areas of Health, Employment, Asset Development and Learning. Michelle was born in Guyana, the oldest child of three….

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 Honourable Madam Justice Désirée Bernard, a citizen of Guyana, was born on 2 March 1939. A lawyer by profession, she began her career in 1963 when she attained a Bachelor of Laws Degree from the University of London.  Qualifying as a solicitor in 1964, Justice Bernard engaged in private practice in the High Court of the Supreme Court of Guyana from 1965 to 1980. During that period, she was appointed a Magistrate (1970), Commissioner of…

At the young age of 8, Anaya Lee Willabus will go down in US history as the  youngest published female author of a chapter book.  She was born in Brooklyn, NY to Guyanese parents, Dimple and Winston Willabus of Georgetown.  Anaya’s book, The Day Mohan Found His Confidence, tells the story of a young boy named Mohan and the many challenges he faces at home and at school. On June 9th, 2015, Anaya was recognized by Guyanese-born New York State…

Guyanese, Iris de Freitas, was the first female lawyer in the Caribbean and possible The chance discovery on eBay of a postcard featuring a portrait of a young black woman in university robes has led a Welsh university to honour one of its alumni. As part of its International Women’s Day celebrations on Tuesday 8 March 2016 Aberystwyth University,  a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales officially named a room in honour of Iris de…

June Givanni is a pioneering international film curator who has considerable experience in film and broadcasting for over 30 years and she is regarded as a resource for African and African diaspora cinema.   She was born in Guyana and grew up in the UK .  The development of the Pan African Cinema Archive is based on her collections from years of working in the field of cinema. Her motivation for the archive is to make this…

Guyanese, Debra Amata, received the top score out of 836 students who sat for the SEA examination in Tobago this year.  She scored 238.298 points and told the media her success was due to her spirituality, parents and teachers.  Debra moved to Tobago in 2014 with her parents, who are both medical doctors at the Scarborough General Hospital in Tobago.  Her mother, Dr Vivienne Amata, said her daughter was a well-rounded student and she was very proud of her…

 It was out of the need to connect with Guyanese who were interested in seeing films by Guyanese and Caribbean filmmakers that the Timehri Film Festival was born three years ago, according to Romola Lucas, one of its founders. And while the business community and the government And while the business community and the government have not fully bought in to the festival financially, Lucas is heartened by the response at the community level, in…

Guyanese-born legislator, Roxanne Jacqueline Persaud, was elected to the New York Senate on November 3, 2015 after defeating her two challengers in the elections for the 19thSenatorial District.  Back in November 2014, she became the  first female, first black, first Guyanese to hold the position of Assembly member for the 59th Assembly District in Brooklyn, New York . Persaud, 49, polled 6,980 votes, or 88 per cent of the votes cast, while Jeffrey Ferretti, the Republic Party challenger, received…

Writing poetry and short stories since the tender age of 7 years old, aspiring music artist Danielle BlaiQ opens her private collection of heartfelt expression to the world in Based On A Love Story. Best described as ‘love at first sight for the heart and mind’, this collection of poetry unfolds revealing the beautiful imperfections found in a young woman on her journey to defining womanhood. Honored for her lyrical illustrations, bold reflections, and vulnerable…

Ruth-Anne Lynch is a Guyanese travel writer and radio practitioner  based in England.  With parents from Guyana and Jamaica, she was educated in Guyana, Jamaica and the UK with degrees in International Tourism Management and Radio (Production and Management). In 2010, the writer embarked on a travel research tour of the three Guianas in South America, to update the Guianas chapter of Rough Guides’ South America on a Budget (2nd Ed.), published in August 2011. …

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…

Verna Walcott-White a.k.a Teacher Verna, Ms. Verna or Ms. V is versatile, creative and is truly proficient in her field. She is passionate about her profession (dance). She began dancing at the tender age of three, under numerous famous Guyanese and International Instructors and Guru. Ms. Verna joined the Guyana School of Dance as a teenager, from its inception, under the tutelage of its founder and Director, Lavina Williams famous Haitian/American Dancer/Choreographer/Director. Ms. Verna was…

By Ronald J. Daniels Elisabeth Knights invites you humbly to join her as she navigates her journey as a wife, mother and successful business executive from her humble beginnings in East Ruimveldt Squatting Area, Georgetown Guyana to her business platform across the United States of America, where she currently resides and operates. Liz, as Mrs. Knights, is affectionately called, fancies it rather important to begin this journey by thanking God and her mother for cultivating…