Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
Retired head teacher/politician basks in national award
Mrs. Doreen Duncan is the kind of person who commands one’s respect. Her demeanor speaks volumes. The Politician, Pastor and retired Headmistress is no ordinary woman. She was recently named with another Essequibian, Mr. Ivor Allen, a former Region Two Chairman, to be awarded the Golden Arrowhead of Achievement, A.A.
Doreen Duncan
Mrs. Duncan’s wish however, is to be able to see young people carry on from where she would have left off when that time comes. “I learn by trial and error.”
Mrs. Duncan emerged on the political scene in 1972 after she had completed her training as a teacher, at the Teacher’s Training College in Georgetown. From that time Mrs. Duncan soared in her political life. Many hardly knew her as a teacher, because of her involvement in politics.
Reflecting, the former retired Headteacher who chalked up over 33 years as an Educator, retired as Head of the Good-Hope Primary School in 1995.
However, in 1972 after accepting the invitation of a friend who encouraged her to attend a political meeting hosted by the then People’s National Congress, at Good-Hope, Mrs. Duncan later became the secretary of that group.
Politics seemingly became a focal part of her life as Mrs. Duncan later become Regional Secretary, and later rose to the position of Regional Chairman of the then Women’s Revolutionary Social Movement(WRSM).
She held the position as the first Chairman of the National Congress of Women of the Region Two chapter of the (NCW) until 2014. “If I am to come back, I would still be a teacher and politician; my politics is to help people.”
Mrs. Duncan also served as Chairman of the Good-Hope/Pomona Neighbourhood Democratic Council. Mrs. Duncan is still a Board Member of the Essequibo Local Board of Guardians of the (NCW).
The simple, assertive Politician, Pastor and retired Headmistress spent her childhood at Good-Hope, Essequibo Coast. She and her only brother grew up with their grandmother who admitted, that her guardian exerted all of her energies to ensure that she and her younger sibling enjoyed a disciplined and contented life.
The 74-year-old widow is the mother of a daughter. She is also the grandmother of six and her great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Duncan who is elated to still be around especially at a time when change has come to Guyana, is sending a reminder to President David Granger of his promise to the children in the Pomeroon to provide them with a river ambulance which would aid in seeing them attend school regularly.
She would like to express gratitude to Urmia Johnson, former Minister of Cooperatives who helped in molding her into the extraordinary politician she is today. She said that God also played a key part in her life.
(By Yannason Duncan)
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