Happy Holidays GGR Family!

Today is a historical day in Guyana as supporters of the coalition APNU+AFC party celebrate an historic win over the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), which has been in power for 23 years.  The new President of Guyana, Brigadier David Granger is a former Commander of the Guyana Defense Force and National Security Adviser and  new Prime Minister, Moses Nagamootoo is an Attorney of Law and former Member of Parliament.  Many overseas-based Guyanese like myself, who were unable to cast our votes, waited…

Among the senior vice presidents at Rockwell Collins; the Iowa-based provider of avionics and information technology systems and services, Nan Mattai is the only woman. “Just the thought that something I say or do may change a life inspires me to be the best I can be,” Ms. Mattai, the Senior Vice President for Engineering and Technology, wrote in an email interview. “So, as a successful woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, I will try…

Female Officers of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force at the National Park on May 26, 2013 Source:  Stabroek News  – Photos by Arian Browne        .

The UK franchise of the Real Housewives is adding a fresh new face to the Cheshire version of the show.  Model, philanthropist, and entrepreneur, Lystra Adams, will make her reality TV debut when she joins returning cast members Dawn Ward, Ester Dohnalová, Hanna Kinsella, Lauren Simon, Nicole Sealey, Rachel Lugo, Seema Malhotra, and Tanya Bardsley for season 12 of the show. Born in Guyana, South America, Lystra originally moved to the UK at the age…

Born to Guyanese parents, Bronx native Leah Persaud, is a Ph.D. candidate in biology pursuing cancer research at the CUNY Graduate Center at Lehman College. Since 2015, Persaud has been conducting research in the lab of Moira Sauane, a professor in Lehman’s Department of Biological Sciences, that she hopes will ultimately lead to new cancer therapies and drug treatments. “The Lehman campus was always my first choice,” said Persaud, who expects to earn her Ph.D….

Only 6% of all surgeons in the United Kingdom are female, and Dr. Samantha Tross is one of them. She’s the first Black British woman to become a consultant Orthopaedic surgeon. Samantha was born in Georgetown Guyana on June 30, 1968 to Sammy and Gwendolin Tross. The second of their four children, she went to St. Gabriel’s Primary School before her diplomat father was assigned to England and the family relocated. Samantha obtained a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery degree…

Sunday’s Child by Anne Lyken-Garner is the remarkably inspirational true story of a little girl struggling to rise above poverty, appalling living conditions, food lines, violence, abuse, mental anguish and political hardships. It shows how she picks out little glimmers of hope and love and uses them as positive anchors in her life. She draws on everything she has – just to survive. Readers, all of the events I’ve recorded in this book have happened…

I always had childhood dreams of ensuring that I make a difference in the world; that a day would come when I would be able to do better for my family. And it became clear that law was the answer…like doctors, lawyers have the ability to shape lives, to change lives, to save lives. They bring life to society through various procedures which they use to secure justice.” ~ Latoya Andrea Roberts. From being a…

  Born in Guyana in January 1923,  Patricia Gomes has purposefully dedicated more than half of her life to theatre and along the way has been quite accomplished in other areas. She has, as they say, “done it all” – from stage plays to storytelling to dancing her life away, much to the enjoyment of the audiences she thrilled.  In 2010, Ms. Gomes was named by “Special Person”  by Kaieteur News, and in an interview…

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…

Former Miss Guyana World, Guyana Universe, Miss United Nations and Miss Jamzone International Soyini Fraser will take to the stage once again, this time to represent Guyana at the Miss Grand International Pageant 2015 to be held in Bangkok, Thailand on Sunday, October 25. The third edition of the Miss Grand International will see delegates from around the world assembling to compete fiercely in the world renowned pageant. Fraser, who is no stranger to pageantry,…

Originally from Jamaica, Queens, New York, Tracy Antoinette Greene Douglas now resides in the black water region of Madewini Creek, along the Soesdyke-Linden Highway in Guyana.  A naturalized Guyanese, Tracy co-founded “Pandama Retreat, Winery and Center for the Creative Arts” with her husband, Warren Douglas, who is a native of South Ruimveldt in Georgetown.  Following a 2009 visit to Guyana, Tracy’s spirit led her to leave her then North Carolina home behind and relocate with…

Mashramani is carnival like in nature. This year’s theme is “Showcasing our Culture, Sustaining Our Heritage.” Customarily, this is a colourful festival and is a combination of costume competitions, float parades, masquerade bands and much dancing and merriment in the streets to the sweet sounds of steel pan along with calypso and soca music. The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport continues annually to create and manage the Mashramani celebrations as the largest national event.

Too often people mistake Guyana for Ghana.  During  a recent trip to Florida, I was having a conversation with a colleague about the Mashramani celebrations in Guyana and she said to me “that’s in Africa right?”  I’ve also been asked quite a few times “what other language do you speak in Guyana?  That’s why I decided to put together this synopsis  to enlighten some folks on the difference between “Guyana” in South America and the African nation…

With 19 Grade One passes and a Grade Two, Queen’s College student Elisa Hamilton, an aspiring doctor, is the country’s unofficial top performer at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations. Speaking to Stabroek News from Texas, in the United States, an excited Hamilton, 16, related that she was over the moon when she received a text message from her mother telling her that she not only topped her school but achieved the highest…