A pioneer with a passionate love for humanity

Apr 17, 2011 News

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Ellena Stewart-Leander is a ‘Special Person’
Her warm and welcoming disposition represents a mere fraction of the qualities that depict how much of a special person Minister Ellena Stewart-Leander is. Whether it is through her delivery of a spell-binding message in church, or when counselling young girls and reinforcing the importance of life, or even when she recites one of her many touching poems, the general consensus is that Minister Ellena is nothing less than an extraordinary human being.
In fact, she is recognised as the first Guyanese woman to complete the degree programme at the Theological College in Trinidad, effectively paving the way for women in Christian Ministry to elevate themselves.
Born to parents, Joseph and Caroline Elizabeth Stewart, Ellena was born in Queenstown Village on the Essequibo Coast on October 13, 1931. She was the fifth of seven siblings and lived a relatively modest lifestyle with her parents. But as fate would have it, a strange epidemic emerged on the Essequibo Coast when she was just a tot, which in some cases incapacitated children, even killing a few.
Fearful that the outbreak would have overwhelmed her young daughters, Caroline Elizabeth made the selfless decision to place the only two daughters she had at the time, Elaine and Ellena, in the care of her sister Matilda, who resided in the city. Though Aunt Matilda, a homemaker, was married she had no children of her own and was elated to mother the young girls.
At the age of four, 43 Russell and Broad Streets in Charlestown, Georgetown, would become home to the young Ellena.
“From that young age I lived with my Aunt Matilda and I remained with her for the rest of my childhood…and it did turn out to be a blessing,” Minister Ellena recounted as she eased herself into a chair during our chat.
She recalled that as a young child she attended Miss Millington’s Private School, which was located a short distance from her aunt’s home. Following this, she was tutored at St Stephen’s Scot School under the tutelage of Headmaster Fletcher.
A few years later, life would again transform to some extent with the death of her aunt’s husband, given the fact that he was the sole breadwinner. The sudden death, Minister Ellena recalled, would force her aunt to leave the home she had shared with her husband and return to her father’s property at 140 Sixth Street, Alberttown, Georgetown, which even today remains a heritage of the Andries.
But Aunt Matilda, though financially constrained, ensured that the young Ellena’s education would continue uninterrupted.  She went on to attend the Queenstown Roman Catholic School under the tutelage of Francis Percival Loncke.
Back in the day, Minister Ellena reflected, students had a genuine respect for their teachers.
“We respected our teachers no matter what. We were well groomed and always ensured that we were neat and tidy with our pony tails and ribbon bows. We were school girls and school girls were proper.”
By the time she had entered adulthood, in the early 1950s Ellena had already successful completed her Senior Cambridge Exams at the Progressive High School.
But in those days there were no particular intriguing employment opportunities for young girls, she remembered.  However, she was not deterred, “Stemming from a burning desire to climb.  I had some famous teachers at the Progressive High School such as Desmond Hoyte (former President) who taught me Latin and French and Dennis Roy Craig…I am truly grateful for the background education I got from them because I believe that it helped me to be who I am today.”
But even with the thorough education she had received, no jobs were forthcoming at the time.
“Here I was with a Senior Cambridge, no work and wanting desperately to help my aunt who was so loving and kind to me and my mother, but there was nothing in British Guiana for me at that time.” However, opportunity would come knocking one day, or at least so she had thought when she opened the pages of the Guyana Chronicle and laid eyes on an advertisement.  It was a job opportunity, no doubt; a call to all those young girls who were desirous of becoming domestics (housekeepers) in Canada.

Intrigued by the possibly of making a considerable amount of money, the young Ellena opted to apply.  During that time she was a Sunday school teacher at the Church of God on John Street in the city, and even then recognised that there was a need for dedicated Christian workers.
The Church was then headed by Minister Herman Smith who proposed that the young Sunday School Teacher avail herself to edification in theology (Christian studies) at the Theological College in Trinidad.  Torn between her convictions to serve the church and her desire to make money, the young Ellena decided to weigh her options.
“I was just a Sunday school teacher but I knew there were people who supported me and there was a need for Christian workers… but then I needed a job too.  There were two applications in my hands: one to go to Canada where I would earn lots of money to send back to my family and another to go and study where I would not earn any money at all…I would have to pay my way through. I truly battled with these options.”
Her personal battle would not last long as she recalled that “it was one night under the lamp post at the corner of Sixth and Light Streets I actually heard a voice talking to me, it was clear as day…’you must follow God’ it said.”
Without questioning the voice, the young Ellena would immediately make the biggest decision of her life to head to Trinidad. She was so financially deprived at the time that she could not have purchased a $28 ticket needed for the flight and instead had to travel by boat.
According to her, it was during this time of her life that she learned to trust in God, without reservation, adding that the best advice one can give to any young person today is to “trust in God with all your heart…He will always come through for you…he works when there is even no way. I did and I saw door after door open wide for me.”
Though the Theological College was at that time opened to both men and women, women were only allowed to undertake a two-year programme while the men could aspire for a full-fledged degree programme. However, when the time drew near for her graduation,
the Head of the Faculty approached her and offered her an opportunity to complete the four-year programme.  The decision she would soon learn was based on her professional qualities and the subsequent assessment of her work over the two-year period.
After completing her studies, Minister Ellena returned in grand style, aboard a Bauxite Boat. Upon her return, too, her achievement was recognised nationally; she was the subject of many articles in the press and was spoken of in glowing terms on the airwaves.  Her success was in fact seen as an auspicious achievement for Guyana.
She would continue to work with the church, particularly the John Street and Bel Air Churches of God for two-and-a-half years and remembers that “I followed dreams and I followed my feelings. When I came back and considered my position before going to Trinidad I saw a broader scope rather than just preaching in the church.”
But there was not much for a female Minister to do in the church, given the vast number of qualified male Ministers.  Consequently, she decided to join the ecumenical movement and thus joined forces with a number of Christian denominations.  One year later another proposal came her way, this time for her to return to Trinidad to learn to be a writer. Even as a little girl, she recalled that she had a passion for writing, but it was not until the prime of her life that that talent would be nurtured.
“I did a lot of writing…I had really explored a lot in that field so they wanted me to write for the ecumenical movement, to prepare lessons for juniors, and so I committed myself.”
Although she did not pursue this calling at length at that time, she did recognise that she had a special place in her heart for young people, especially girls.
Her qualities were soon introduced to another arena when she was accepted to fill a position of Female Welfare Officer at the Demerara and Bookers Sugar Estates.  She would spend the next 14 years of her life at the Estates during which time she met her husband, Oscar Leander, who also worked on the Demerara Estate. He passed away almost two years ago.  The two had tied the knot on Valentine’s Day in 1965 and their union had produced three children, two boys and a girl.
For the most part, Minister Ellena’s role on the Estate was centred on the grooming of young women. She reflected that she did not only furnish them with information on homemaking but also prepared them for the wider world.  The Estate would offer her a scholarship to undertake a course in the Humanities at the University of the West Indies, thus helping her to further her academic standing.
But after indulging in a few more years of Estate life, Minister Ellena and her family migrated to the United States in 1977 due to a change in the political climate. However, life in the United States was not as straightforward as she had anticipated as none of her academic certificates were recognised.
“The Americans wanted to see a piece of paper with a signature from an American College. So in my 50s I was forced to go back to school… and so to the New York City Technical College I went. There I graduated with a degree.”
Minister Ellena however didn’t just settle for simply passing her exams. Her performance was so exemplary that she was able to secure two honorary awards.  Today her name can be found written in golden letters on the walls of the Technical College.
Having graduated she ventured into the field of Social Work and certainly did not take a role that was unnoticed. She applied for a position within the New York City Board of Education as a Social Worker and it was there she proved a force to be reckoned with.
“I saw in the school system, girls were being removed because they were pregnant and that hurt me…I questioned this and raised my concerns with the relevant authorities.  I was just one Guyanese woman trying to represent these young girls, but believe you me, it was addressed and for the first time New York Technical Schools took back pregnant girls.”
Minister Ellena was eventually able to offer her service to about 20 hospitals across New York ensuring that pregnant girls found their way back into the school system.  Her intervention also paved the way for a programme for young fathers which saw them becoming more supportive to their pregnant girlfriends, a movement which even led to several marriages.
“A lot of mothers thanked me and a lot of girls met me all over New York even after I retired and reminded me of what I did for them…that gives me a sense of gospel satisfaction.”
Minister Ellena had also taken her expertise as a Welfare Specialist to the mentally retarded, whom she believed needed her care and support just as much as the young pregnant girls.  All this while, she remained committed to her religious Ministry taking the word of God wherever she went.
And it was the experiences that she was able to accumulate over the years that saw her devoting more time to writing after her retirement.  The 79-year-old writings, mainly poetry, are understandably about Guyana, the land of her birth. She has thus far completed two books – Guyana Excelsior Volume One and Two.
Though unpublished, most of her pieces, which are inclusive of oil paintings, are reflections of her school days and the time that she was privileged to spend on the Estates. So authentic are her pieces that she has since been able to secure copyright from the United States Government.

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