Amerindian Heritage Month launched – Students’ deaths prompt toned down celebrations

Sep 02, 2008 News

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The Ministry of Amerindians Affairs yesterday launched “Amerindian Heritage Month”, which is being observed under the theme, “Inspiring Our Nation To Move Forward In Unity.”
The event was attended by a number of dignitaries, among them, President Bharrat Jagdeo, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Members of the Diplomatic community, as well as government ministers and several parliamentarians.
A number of activities have been scheduled to take place during the course of this month, including an exhibition and symposium on indigenous women’s art and craft which will be held today at the Sophia Exhibition Centre. There will also be a symposium on the life and work of Stephen Campbell, which will take place next week Wednesday (Sept 10) at the Umana Yana; the observance of Amerindian Heritage Day on September 13 at the Santa/Aratack Village, and a heritage dinner at Le Meridien Pegasus on September 18 among many other events.
At the launching last evening, Toshao of the Santa/Aratack Village, Aubrey Samuels, urged Amerindians to take time out to reflect on the progress they have made over the years in the areas of health, education, electricity and water supply among others.
He explained that CARIFESTA X has allowed them the opportunity to showcase their many talents to the world and as such they should be grateful.
Meanwhile, Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai noted that this year there will be a toning down of the celebrations as a result of the deaths of three students from the Upper Mazaruni community of Waramadong.
However, she explained that during this month, Amerindians must be cognizant of all the developments and transformation that they have achieved over the years.
Sukhai said that the Amerindian Affairs ministry, supported by key stakeholders, has worked hard over the years to reduce existing gaps and to improve the delivery of service to the people.
She pointed out that the Amerindian Act of 2006, which was passed in the National Assembly, gives evolution of authority to the Amerindian village council and its people, as it guarantees significant opportunities to the Amerindians to participate in major decision making.
As it relates to the hinterland scholarship programme, it was noted that students have shown excellent performances. As it is, currently, forty-one (41) students are eligible for scholarships, while others have benefited from school uniforms and scholarships to Cuba and the University of Guyana.
Sukhai said that the administration has allocated $50 million for the construction of a modern student hostel to accommodate scholarship students in Georgetown.
“The improvements in access to primary and secondary education in the hinterland regions, the increasing number of trained teachers, improved educational infrastructure, and material resources continues to improve the quality of education being delivered to schools in the hinterland, which is a direct correlation to the better performance of our students,” the minister said. 
She revealed that the last census revealed that the population of Amerindians has increased. This, she noted, has been attributed to direct results in improved health care and access to services in the hinterland areas.
She also opined that the construction of the Lethem hospital and the near completion of the Mabaruma Hospital would improve the access of health services to many communities, while adding that a number of communities have already benefited from solar powered electricity.
For this year, Sukhai said, the intention is to address the livelihood options and to focus on the further expansion of Agriculture to support the food security drive for the communities.
Meanwhile, President Bharrat Jagdeo in his feature address noted that during the hosting of Carifesta X, most Amerindian brothers and sisters had a sense of pride in sharing their talent with the rest of the world.
The President said it cost the administration some $35 million in bringing persons to the city and building the infrastructure at the sites.
“The money was not so important… It is the knowledge and showcasing the life of the people of this country and how rich we are in our diversity and how deep our culture is. So I think it was money well spent and if we had to do it over again we would do it the same way and maybe even better,” the President said.
President Jagdeo highlighted Carolyn Rodrigues, former minister of Amerindian Affairs and current Minister of Foreign Affairs, as an example to the indigenous people. He noted that this is the highest position an indigenous person has ever reached in Guyana, and apart from being the first woman as the foreign affairs minister of Guyana, she is the youngest Foreign Minister of the country.
“And through the eyes of an indigenous woman and through her presentations around the world, Guyana’s policies are seen and explained… she takes all that we do in this land… our economic polices, our trade policies, our social policies and presents them to the rest of the world and I think it is a great honour for our indigenous people,” Jagdeo noted. 
He also commended the performance of Pauline Sukhai as the new Amerindian Affairs Minister.
Meanwhile, President Jagdeo also touched on the issue of climate change, which he noted can be catastrophic to the way of life of the people of Guyana, especially to the indigenous people.
He noted that Guyana is already experiencing the effects of Climate Change and he has made it clear to all the indigenous leaders about preserving the forest. 
The President noted that he admires the value that Amerindians place on education despite the challenges they face in terms of transportation issues, in getting their children to school.
The Head of State said that he sees the commitment in these communities.
In some instances, the president said that this commitment puts to shame, sometimes, the coastal people, where they have schools close by with better facilities, but their children do not get the same kind of encouragement
“And I have remarked before how children paddle for miles to get to school, or walk across the savannahs, going to school miles away and they are encouraged by their parents,” Jagdeo said. 
He called for the spirit of communalism to be taught to the rest of the country, as is obvious within the indigenous people.
“Here in this land, too often we see each other differently, and we categorise people based on ethnicity and religion and a whole range of other things… we need to change that and if we can change that our country will grow faster, it will realize its dreams faster, it would be able to provide more life for all of our people faster, so I wish we can take heed of this,” Jagdeo noted.
Meanwhile, despite the many improvements in Amerindian villages, the President said that the administration has been unable to significantly alter the income structures of these villages.
He explained that although there are isolated areas that have changed their economic activities, the structure of the village economy remains the same.
“We have to change the village economy… not the culture, but the economy. We have to retain subsistence farming so that we can continue to grow what we eat in these villages,” the Head of State said.

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