It’s a Rainy Day in the Neighborhood!

Today children across the country engaged in many activities in celebration of National STEM/STEAM Day.  The focus of this designated day is to encourage students to explore and pursue interests in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math, and D’Arcy Ortiz provides the perfect inspiration especially for young women. D’Arcy was born in Georgetown, Guyana and was raised by her mother, Yvette Irving, a Medical Laboratory Scientist, who worked with the Ministry of Health Guyana and later years…

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,…

Below, the first female army officers, from left, Brenda Aaron, Clarissa Hukumchand, Hyacinth King and Captain Joan Granger, in their uniforms of green khaki shirts and blouse, green berets, shiny black shoes and shoulder bags at Camp Ayanganna. Reprinted from Guyana Graphic, Tuesday, January 31, 1967 (Winston Oudkerk photo) The four young women are donned military uniforms of green khaki on January 30, 1967 and marched smartly off to begin a course of training as…

Vannetta Seecharran has been influencing art and design in the jewellery field for nearly 20 years. Born in Guyana in 1969, the London-based jewellery teacher migrated at the age of 11 with her parents to New York City. She graduated in 1991 from the prestigious Parsons School of Art with a BA in Product Design, and in 1996 earned an MFA in Jewellery from State University of New York at New Paltz.   She later moved…

Silent Hearer by Marcia Shury | ISBN # 978-1-68118-826-3 | Tate Publishing “Silent Hearer” chronicles the story of Marcia S. Shury as her happy childhood was turned upside down due to the onset of a sudden partial hearing loss.  The book details how she rose above the many obstacles and frustrations that she encountered in school, in her career and relationships as she resolved to live a normal life.

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….

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:11).  This five young women definitely epitomize this phrase. Meet Trea, Michelle, Sonya, Corlecia and Feigel who reign from the small town of Amelia Ward Linden in Guyana, and playfully call themselves the “Amelia’s Ward USCians.” These “beauties with brains” all attended the University of Southern Caribbean (USC) in Trinidad; an affiliate of Andrews University in Michigan and over the years have form a…

Her stage name ‘Big Red’, is symbolic of her maturity; she considers herself a “big girl”, and Red- describes the intensity of her performances – red hot. Born in Georgetown Guyana, Michelle “Big Red” King is the eldest of six children of the talented Desiree Edghill. The proud mother of two sons, Steve and Jonathan, Michelle “Big Red” King is a class act who has mastered the ability to harmonize. She possesses a powerful voice…

Congratulations to 18-year-old, Vena Mookram, who captured the crown last night and walked away with the title of  Miss World Guyana 2017.   The  5’6″ tall beauty was born on September 12, 1998 in the Capitol City of Georgetown and is a first-time beauty pageant contestant.  She will represent Guyana on the Miss World stage this coming December in China. A fitness enthusiast, Vena’s Beauty with a Purpose platform focuses on physical fitness and nutrition and she has collaborated with Guyana’s Ministry of Public Health to…

“Winner are not people who never fail, but people who never quit” and Lisa Punch keeps on winning.  The model/singer/songwriter who represented Guyana at the 2015 Miss World Pageant in Sanya, China beat out her fellow contestants earlier this week and made history for Guyana when she performed one of her original songs and won the Talent category of the Competition. Per missworld.com,  “Miss Guyana received a standing ovation from her fellow contestants and the…

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…

Congratulations to Guyanese-born Scholar, Kelly Hyles, on her recent graduation from the prestigious High School for Math, Science and Engineering in Queens, New York.  The 18 year old Valedictorian will be attending Harvard University this Fall on a full scholarship,  following her very impressive acceptance to a total of 21 colleges, including all 8 top Ivy Leagues schools in the US.  Back in April, 2016, Kelly was also the recipient of the very first Guyanese Girls Rock Award,…

Oslene Carrington is the CEO of the Guyana Economic Development Trust,  an independent philanthropic organization that incubates and supports projects that develop the workforce and boost the private sector of Guyana.  The US-based philanthropic organization has partnered with the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation (SEBI) of the University of Guyana (UG) to provide funding for an annual Guyana Innovation Prize of $10,000 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. The award provides pre-seed funding to commercially…

Karen Godette, MD, is a board certified radiation oncologist in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Godette practices general radiation oncology and specializes in breast and gynecological malignancies, prostate cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. Within these areas, her expertise is brachytherapy. Dr. Godette treats patients at Winship at Emory University Hospital Midtown where she has served as medical director since 2001. Winship Cancer Institute is Georgia’s…

New York-based lawyer Denise M. Grant was born in Guyana and is a Partner in the  Project Development & Finance Group, Shearman & Sterling,LLP. She is the daughter of Guyana’s former ambassador to the United States, the late Hon. Cedric Grant and the second oldest of four girls (three of whom are lawyers). Denise was raised in England before migrating to the United States in 1982 where she graduated with an International Relations degree from…