Letting go….

I was told by a friend that she wanted to plan a small reception for her mother’s 80th birthday; she wanted something very elegant. A Champagne Reception is ideal for this type of event. It is also perfect for small weddings or any other function, where the intention is to host a top notch classy event that has a small guest list. You will need three types of champagne: ‘Dry’ or ‘Extra Dry’ for cocktails  …

Maya A. Trotz, Ph.D., born in Georgetown, Guyana is an Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF), Tampa. She works at the nexus of geochemistry/water quality and global/community sustainability and education with current and previous student research projects in Barbados, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Bolivia, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, and Peru. She currently holds a patent on “Functional composites formed from colloidal polymer particles with photocatalytic metal oxide nanoparticles.” Dr….

You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 1 Peter 3:4 Look in the mirror and start loving yourself, then your inner beauty will grow and radiate to your outer self.

Rainy Milo (Rachael Smith by birth) is an R&B recording artist born on November 12, 1995  in south-east London  to a Guyanese mother and British father.  She got her stage name, Rainy Milo, from a nicknames at school that stuck.  Milo began her career singing with local musicians and arts collectives at age 14   She attended the Harris Academy South Norwood and then went on to study Musical Theatre at the BRIT School known for honing the talents of acts like Adele, Amy…

Growing up in Guyana I was very very skinny and I desperately wanted to gain weight. But try as I may, nothing seemed to work. I wanted to be like other women who were referred to as being “thick” or having “a little meat on my bones.”  But it just wasn’t in my DNA, I guess. I even wanted to try pills to gain weight. How delusional of me! Fortunately for me none of my…

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…

Assemblywoman Alicia L. Hyndman was elected to the New York State Assembly on November 10, 2015 in the 29th AD, encompassing the neighborhoods of Laurelton, Rosedale, St. Albans, Addisleigh Park, Hollis, Springfield Gardens and Jamaica. The daughter of Guyanese  immigrants, Assemblywoman Hyndman emigrated to the U.S. from London, England as a young child. She spent her formative years growing up in Hollis & South Ozone Park attending public schools, PS 34, IS 109, JHS 226 & John…

Victoria Marianna Gunraj is the owner of  Miami-based Caribbean clothing line and T-shirt Company “DeportedTEES.”  Born in Miami, Florida on December 17th, 1989, Victoria’s parents hail from the villages of Wales and Vreed-en-Hoop in West Demerara, Guyana. A graduate of the University of Florida, this 24- year-old business woman earned a B.S. Degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition.  Victoria’s passion for fashion and design led her to start her own fashion company in 2011…

Professional bodybuilder, Alana Shipp, has muscled her way to the top echelon of  Women’s Body Building in just a few years.   Born in 1982 in Barbados to Guyanese parents, Alana spent her early childhood in Guyana prior to moving to Queens, New York at age 11. After graduating high school, Alana enlisted in the US Marine Corps and spent almost 8 years as a non-commissioned officer, working as a logistics procurement manager in Okinawa,…

Owner and principal designer of Shasha Designs (shashadesigns.com), Keisha Edwards, says she has always had a designer’s mind. Born in Georgetown, Guyana, she recalls, as a child, sketching outfits and asking her mother, a seamstress, to bring her creations to life. In fact, coming from a line of seamstresses and tailors has given her an almost hereditary talent. She taught herself to sew, and the art of design, she says, came from God. “The seed…

Congratulations goes out to the Bollers Sisters! Two young ladies who migrated to the USA from Guyana, and have achieved academic success. Samantha Nazena Bollers is a former student of Queens College (Guyana) and graduated from Cornell University (Class of 2013) with a  Degree in Government Studies.  Natasha Lazena Bollers-Robert, is former student of Bishops High School (Guyana) and a recent Graduate of  Medgar Evers College CUNY (Class of 2015)  with a Degree in Mathematics. Well done ladies!  Your accomplishments will inspire…

Allison Butters-Grant  is the Chief Executive Officer of Global Seafood Distributors, an importing/exporting business that she jointly operates with her husband, Kerwin.  The daughter of successful seafood entrepreneurs she opened her own Seafood Market in Guyana specializing in wild caught seafood sourced from Guyana with the mantra “straight from the sea to your plate.” Her business distributes  seafood locally in Guyana and to the international markets, including the Caribbean and the US.  In 2015, Guyana Chronicle…

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…

A family that braids together stays together!  The braiding technique developed by the talented Smith sisters has made them a household name in Kansas City, Missouri and earned them a well-deserved feature in the May issue of Allure Magazine.  Originally from Linden, the five sisters (Glynnis, Shelly, Rhonda, Alecia and Leslyn Smith) are the powerhouse stylists at “Braid Heaven” Hair Salon who have perfected the “bubble braiding” technique.  Here’s their story by Allure Magazine. They…

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie, Quoted in “Simple Abundance”, by Sarah Ban Breathnach