A little girl’s struggle to be educated bears fruit… How Coleen Germaine overcame poverty to become US award winning teacher

Jul 15, 2012 News

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By Rehana Ashley Ahamad

She grew up in a one-bedroom home in Gordon Street, Kitty, where she lived with her mother, eight siblings, and a visiting father. They never knew where their next meal would come from, but today, 57-year-old Coleen Germaine is proud to have overcome the odds, and is celebrating ten years of being an award winning teacher in the United States.
She was honoured for her “Outstanding Leadership and Commitment” by the New York State. She was also the recipient of the “Outstanding Professional Achievement Award” from her school.
Her father used to work in the interior and would show up months, or in some cases even years, apart.
All the while, her mother was on a mission that required much courage and guts. Her goal was to not have her children abandon their education because of their poverty.
Though they were in a dark phase, Coleen’s mother was determined. She was a seamstress, and worked three additional domestic jobs, which sufficed their meals.
It was a struggle, as Coleen describes it. She was her mother’s second child, and was faced with many responsibilities from a tender age.
But, with all the overwhelming odds, Coleen knew she wanted to become a successful woman. Hers is a true story behind the lyrics of Baby Sham and Alicia Keys’ “Ghetto Story”- “Big dreams in my head, empty my tummy, might crack a smile, but ain’t nothing funny.”
Even during that intense struggle, Coleen managed to obtain a sound primary education. She attended ‘Saint James-the-Less’ Primary School in Kitty.
However, as the Common Entrance Examination approached, Coleen was over-aged and could not sit the examination. And strange enough, she was too young to take the test the year before. Thus, Coleen was put in the upper forms of the same primary school.
That’s when her frustration set in. She was embarrassed, especially since everyone at school knew she had great potential.
Though Coleen yearned to pursue a secondary education, nothing was for free back then. Not even education.
Even though Coleen’s mother badly wanted to make her dream of attending secondary school a reality, she could not have afforded it. During my gaff with Coleen, she recalled sharing her feelings with her mother, who, being the wise and understanding woman that she was, decided to transfer her daughter to another school – the Fountain AME Primary School in Queenstown.
But that just made the embarrassment go away. It did not deter the deeply driven 12-year-old from wanting to further her studies. At that time, she badly wanted to become a Mounted Branch rank- “one of the officers who would ride around on their horses”.
Despite the odds, Coleen would make the most of every little opportunity that came her way.
After a few months of attending the Fountain AME, Coleen managed to obtain information about a partial scholarship being offered to attend the Rama Krishna Secondary School.
She was confident, but still, she knew that even if she was able to secure the partial scholarship, her mother could not have afforded to pay the remainder.
But surprisingly, Coleen wanted to take the test. Again, the odds were not in her favour, but she felt all she needed was a little courage and faith.
So one Saturday morning, under the pretext of going to the market, little Coleen went to take that test.
She said she was confident that she would be one of the few persons to obtain the scholarship, but did not know what would happen thereafter.
Coleen made it; the very young and jovial girl managed to obtain the partial scholarship.
While her mother was very proud, she was heartbroken about not being able to afford the other half of the scholarship.
Even Coleen’s siblings began to look up to her as the one who managed to accomplish “the unthinkable”.
Again, Coleen was determined to attend the Rama Krishna Secondary School, but didn’t know how.
Sitting, thinking about her next move, Coleen recalled her father had once told her about his brother living in Dominica. Her father was a Dominican, and his ancestral home was also there.
Though vaguely, young Coleen even remembered the address, so, she decided to write him a letter.
She was not very hopeful for a reply, but after a few days had passed, Coleen received a letter. It was from her uncle. He acceded to her request and promised to send her some money.
It was not long after that Coleen received an envelope addressed to her. It contained a large sum of cash, and a letter from her uncle.
Coleen’s mother was the happiest of all. Coleen was finally able to attend secondary school – that too well equipped and well dressed, thanks to the uncle she never met.
Fast forward three years, and Coleen’s life had slightly improved. She was in the third form and all was well. But then came the massive postal strike, which caused her to lose contact with her uncle.
Coleen was once again desperate. She could not have attended the school any longer. Her faith, for the first time, faltered.
Coleen had to leave the Rama Krishna Secondary School. She spent a few miserable days at home, before she made up her mind to pull herself together.
She read about a voluntary programme
offered by the Ministry of Public Works with regard to the Mahdia Road Project. Coleen, once again hopeful, filled out the form, and was taken via an airplane to work on that project.
After she spent about a week in Mahdia, Coleen returned home.
Not long after, she got hold of another government project in Orealla. There she met a few teachers.
Their behaviour and conduct made an immediate impact on Coleen. She suddenly knew, with all her heart that she wanted to teach.
During this time, her family had been slightly lifted out of poverty, and Coleen had a step-father.
She said that the last thing she heard about her father was that he left on a ship to go to Trinidad. The ship left Guyana, but disappeared before reaching the twin-island republic.
Nonetheless, Coleen was thankful for the presence of her step-father, who helped tremendously to lift them from their poor state.
Her mother managed to obtain a plot of land in Enmore, East Coast Demerara.
And after returning from the Orealla trip, Coleen, being about 15-years-old, decided that she will open a bottom house nursery school.
Nursery schools did not exist during that time, but many people conducted what one would refer to as a “bottom house school”, it was basically an off record institute so to speak.
“I talked to my mother about it, and she asked our pastor if I could utilize a section of the church for a couple hours every day, and he agreed.”
Coleen remembered walking around the community with her siblings trying to advertise the newest bottom house school of Enmore.
Enmore was where their new home was. Coleen’s stepfather, her mother, siblings, and herself built the home with their bare hands.
It was a comfortable house, and Coleen’s family crisis had eased, since her stepfather was planting a garden, while both he and her mother worked other jobs.
Nonetheless, Coleen’s bottom house flat went up and running. Two years had passed, and Coleen was still teaching at that very bottom house nursery.
She then heard about a Teacher’s one year training programme in Georgetown.
It was called the Guyana Assessment for Early Education, a programme geared to assist unqualified teachers who desired to become qualified; it seemed like a programme designed specifically for Coleen.
During the training, Coleen had to work along with teachers from three private schools. The first was Winfer Gardens.
After much dedication, Coleen’s efforts were admired by the owner and Headmistress of the School, who started to give her a salary.
After a few months spent there, Coleen had to take off for another school.
“It was so sad you know? I didn’t want to leave. Ms. Winifred and I became attached to each other. She even made me promise to return for a job after the training. And I did.”
As the programme came to an end, Coleen returned to work for Ms. Winifred.
Before she knew it, she was in her 20s, married and pregnant.
Coleen gave birth to baby boy, Esan Germaine, just before her marriage ended. That centered on Coleen wanting to continue working.
The young woman, having gone through a lot to be where she was, took a transfer, and returned home to work at Haslington Nursery School.
Coleen managed a child, while attending the teachers’ training college, where she graduated with two distinctions.
It was not long after that Coleen’s Dominican uncle visited Guyana.
Fast forward a couple years, Coleen, at age 30, was promoted to the post of Headmistress of Enmore Nursery.
Yet, the determined little girl inside of her was not satisfied. She decided to once again volunteer.
Coleen found the Caribbean Based Rehabilitation (CBR) (Guyana) to be a meaningful programme.
She joined, and had been advocating for disabled children countrywide. She was among those advocating for the ramp at the National Cultural Centre.
This was the programme that gave Coleen a chance to travel overseas. Whenever the head of the local chapter could not make it to a regional conference, Coleen would be next in line to go.
The programme was also working in coordination with the Ministry of Health, with Coleen being its liaison.
The CBR programme exposed Coleen to a scholarship offered to attend the University of London. She applied, and days after (election day of 1992), Coleen was off to England on a full scholarship to be trained on how to become a trainer.
By that time, Coleen’s two children were staying with her mother who still resided in their Enmore home.
After getting her Diploma, Coleen was offered to stay on another scholarship to complete her Master’s Degree. But, Coleen was missing home, and refused.
A few months later, Coleen was traveling to Africa on another CBR seminar, and had to make a stop in England. During that stop, Coleen decided to enquire if the offer was still available.
It was, and she took the offer. She went ahead again, and completed her Master’s Degree.
While coming back home from her first Scholarship, Coleen had obtained a 10-year visa to the US.
So after both her scholarships, Coleen spent some time home, and was back on the boat again.
She managed to take up residency in the US where she pursued a Master’s in reading before becoming a teacher.
For the past ten years, Coleen has been a teacher there. Her award has made her family proud.
Today, Coleen advises others that nothing is impossible, and that one should always strive for greatness despite the many inevitable obstacles.

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