Happy New Year GGR Family!

It’s said that true charity begin at home and Keshia Adams is determined not to keep it there.  The Brooklyn-Based Executive Director/Founder of Lifting You For Tomorrow’s Success (L.Y.F.T.S) is on a mission to break the cycle of poverty for families in her community and in Guyana.  L.Y.F.T.S. is a  non-profit organization that tackles many social problems like poverty, at-risk youth, and hunger. Another passion of Keshia is the The Adams Project (T.A.P.); a subsection of L.Y.F.T. that…

Joyce Ferdinand-Lalljie  was a child prodigy who began playing one of her mother’s piano pieces when she was three years old. She and her younger sister Mavis both became concert pianists and were known as the two Ferdinand girls. Joyce is accredited as being the first black woman, if not the first woman to play a full piano concerto.  In his article on radio in British Guiana for the 1951 Chronicle Christmas Annual, Albert E…

During the colonial period in Guyana, the country’s coastal lands were worked by enslaved Africans and indentured Indians. In Creole Indigeneity, Shona N. Jackson investigates how their descendants, collectively called Creoles, have remade themselves as Guyana’s new natives, displacing indigenous peoples in the Caribbean through an extension of colonial attitudes and policies. Looking particularly at the nation’s politically fraught decades from the 1950s to the present, Jackson explores aboriginal and Creole identities in Guyanese society….

Mrs. Sita Nagamootoo,  the wife of Guyana’s newly elected Prime, Moses Nagamootoo, says that women must be given a greater role to play in the development of Guyana and she is convinced that they will get a better deal under APNU+AFU administration. “Education is her pet concern, having been a teacher for some 35 years, a headmistress and lecturer at the Cyril Potter’s College of Education for teachers.”  This is according to a recent statement made by…

Reported By Allison Skeete Special to NAN News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. May 31, 2019: A Grammy Award winner Caribbean roots singer is set to be in Brooklyn, NY this Sunday, June 2nd for the launch of the Guyana Innovation Prize Venture Fellowship. Melanie Fiona, a Canadian-Guyanese, is slated to be part of the Brooklyn, NY launch of the Fellowship, the brainchild of the Guyana Economic Development Trust CEO, Oslene Carrington. The event aims…

Pop music singing sensation Zandra Brown, was born in Guyana, South America. She grew up listening to a diverse array of artists that inspired her, including Tina Turner, The Beatles and Bob Marley. Before moving to America at the age of 18 with her family, she was always in the spotlight, representing her school in dancing performances and fashion shows. Zandra joined her church choir in 2008 and shortly thereafter began writing songs as an outlet to…

Elisa Hamilton, a proud daughter of the East Coast Demerara Village, secured five grade ones and one grade two at CAPE, and was honoured by her fellow villagers at a simple, yet auspicious ceremony. Her achievement placed her among the country’s top CAPE performers. Also, in 2014, Hamilton secured 20 passes; 19 grade ones and a grade two at Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC), making her the top Regional performer for that year. President announces Village…

Aminta Kilawan Narine is an attorney, community activist, and writer. Born in the Bronx, New York to Guyanese parents, Aminta’s passion for social justice manifests in various aspects of her life. Aminta writes a weekly column for The West Indian newspaper titled, “Civics, Culture, and Community Engagement” in efforts to increase involvement and stewardship in areas such as politics and volunteerism. Aminta uses her voice for multifold purposes: she is a spirited bhajan singer but…

Guyanese-born Daphne Steele made headlines around the world when she became the UK’s first black hospital matron in 1964. For the time, Daphne’s achievement was nothing short of amazing. Former Deputy Director of Nursing at the Department of Health, Nola Ishmael, described Daphne as a ‘first’ who led with dignity and determination.“ She helped to shape aspirations for BME nurses across the profession who sought to follow in her footsteps.” Daphne was born in 1929…

Kite Flying in the Village: A Guyanese Girl’s Story A Guyanese Girl’s Story is a series of short stories from my childhood. One of my favorite is “Kite Flying in the Village”. Kite flying is a family outing for many in Guyana, South America. Easter is a very special holiday in my village of Vreedenhoop in which the children of many ages make and decorate kites to fly in celebration of Easter. Another part of…

https://www.amazon.com/After-Botanical-Garden-Maggie-Harris/dp/0956290116?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc https://www.amazon.com/Berbice-Broadstairs-Maggie-Harris/dp/1902294289?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc https://www.amazon.com/Limbolands-Poems-Maggie-Harris/dp/1902294092?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc About the Author Maggie Harris was born in Guyana but has lived in the United Kingdom since the early 1970s. She performs her work widely in the United Kingdom, the Caribbean, and throughout Europe.

Toronto-based Caterer Shaunna Marto never thought she could have a career doing what she loves.  Trained in culinary arts, Shaunna founded Party’s By Shaunna in 2006; a full service catering and party business. Born in Georgetown, Guyana to a middle class family, Shaunna started cooking at the of 11; much to the horror of her parents who were concerned that she would hurt herself at the stove. They soon realize she had a talent for…

Cindy Rajkuma, a dual-enrollment student who graduated from Valencia College and Ocoee High School in Orlando, is determined to get into medical school. “Becoming a doctor has always been my career path,” says Cindy, who will begin classes at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in January 2016, right after she completes an internship in Washington, D.C., with the National Institutes of Health. She doesn’t have to worry about paying for college because Cindy has been named…

Waveney Ann Moore is a general assignment reporter for the Tampa Bay Times. She covers a wide range of topics in the metropolitan area, most recently the debate over the future of the St. Petersburg Pier. She was a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for “For Their Own Good,” about abuse at Florida’s oldest reform school. The series won the Dart Award for covering trauma, the Casey Medal for exemplary reporting on children and…

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame 2012 Inductee, Charmaine Hooper, was born on January 15, 1968, in Georgetown, Guyana. She was raised in Ottawa, Canada, and is a former striker for the Canadian Women’s National Soccer Team. She began playing soccer as a child in Zambia, where her father was posted with the Guyana High Commission. Known as one of the world’s most lethal strikers throughout her career, Charmaine has been a fixture on the Canadian…