Heroine of Apoteri: Bertina Domingo seeks better life

Jan 01, 2024 News

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…vividly recalls surviving the jungle with sister, Bernadette 27 years ago

By Alva Solomon

Kaieteur News – On New Year’s Day, 40-year old Bertina Domingo plans to relax at her home or head to her farm, to care for her cassava crop, as she depends heavily on the tuber for farine.

The staple is used within her household at Apoteri, a remote village located some two to four hours upriver by boat from Annai in the Rupununi region. She also sells it to make ends meet.

Bertina’s name and that of her younger sister, Bernadette came to prominence within the public domain back in 1995 when the two sisters were lost, deep in the virgin forests of the Essequibo and Berbice, one month after they left their home at Apoteri in the company of their uncle one Friday afternoon. He later died during the trip, leaving them exposed to the jungle and its elements.

The woman told Kaieteur News from Apoteri on Sunday that life for her has been “tough” as she struggles financially to provide for her children. The mother of eight resides with her family at Apoteri and she noted that as the new school term beckons, she is working “hard” to ensure her children have all that they need to return to school next week.

The woman has three sons and five daughters, the eldest being 22 and the youngest, 6, a girl. She said she sells farine at the village in order to make a living and feed her family. “It is hard but I have to do it,” she said.

Her sister Bernadette lives in Brazil but the family has not heard from her for months. “She is there living in Brazil,” she said.

Survival story

The woman said she vividly remembers that Friday afternoon back in April 1995 when the two sisters left their home in the company of their uncle, a journey which would lead the then 13-year-old Bertina and 9-year-old Bernadette to survive in the jungle for a month.

The two sisters walked for miles and miles, from the depths of the Essequibo, to Kwakwani, in Berbice, walking along trails in the rain and in the scorching sun, crossing creeks, sleeping in trees, and at one point, surviving an encounter with Guyana’s national animal, the feared jaguar.

“Sometimes, I would tell the story to my children to let them know what I went through. Sometimes I would forget parts of what happened but I still remember the things which happened,” she added.

On April 7, 1995, Bertina and her sister were told by their uncle that he was going to take them to see their parents who were working at a farm in the Rupununi at the time. “We go in the boat, a corial, and he start paddling on the Essequibo River,” she said during the interview on Sunday.

At the time, their uncle had disobeyed instructions which their father had given to him. Instead of taking them to their parents, he would head in the opposite direction along the river, paddling for miles to a trail which would eventually take them to the Berbice region.

Bertina recalled falling asleep as darkness stepped in on the cold waters as their uncle paddled along the river. “When I wake up, I wanted to know where we were, I wanted to know what happen,” she said. She said since it was dark, neither she nor her sister could have “jumped” out of the boat.  She noted too that their uncle told them that he would stop the boat when they arrived at a trail. “My sister was crying because she was frightened,” she said.

The girls were unsure what their uncle’s motive was, but she said he seemed bent on taking them to an area in the Berbice region.

On the trail

She said eventually, they arrived at a trail and from there; the trio trekked along a trail. She later found out that the trail was utilised for trade, back in the 1960s when balata was traded out of Apoteri to the Coastland.

While she could not recall how long after they left the village he became ill, Bertina said her uncle was using medication during the ordeal, since he was sick and as they walked along the trail, his condition worsened. The man was suffering from malaria at the time.

“He started giving up, vomiting, and we didn’t know where we were going. He keep telling us to continue walking,” she said. “He left us on our own and he keep telling us where to go on the trail,” she added. At the time, they had hammocks, a knife and a box of matches. Days turned into nights and the children were growing increasingly hungry even as their uncle encouraged them to walk.

Eventually, she said one day she and her sister took their uncle to a nearby creek to wash his face. He soon passed away at the edge of the creek. “He died in our hands,” she said, noting that the sisters decided to leave him in a hammock.

The sisters would continue their journey along the trail for days, crying, screaming for help and hoping that someone would hear them. They would eventually reach the bank of the Berbice River and Bertina said her little sister would often cry as they wondered where their next meal would come from. From time to time they would use “fire sticks” to roast fish which they caught at the river side. She said they also ate wild berries which their schooled them about earlier in the trip.

“We would catch the fish and roast it and eat. We were very hungry,” she recalled.

Being the eldest, she would try her best to comfort her sister, and according to Bertina, they would sling their hammock up in the trees and when darkness is about to set in, they prepared to sleep.

“We put the hammock high because we were frighten,” she said.

Encounter with a jaguar

Bertina noted that one day as they were walking a trail when they heard an animal. “We see it coming towards us and we ran up in a tree,” she recalled. “Is the first time I see a jaguar,” she added. She said her sister was crying as the vicious animal walked towards them. Then, in fear, her sister slipped out of the tree and fell. Luckily for the girls, the animal walked away. She said some five minutes later, they continued walking.

The girls would brave the elements for days until one morning when they heard an engine in the distance.

“Whistling” to be rescued

Bertina said they spent an additional three days walking towards “the noise” they heard earlier that week.

Eventually, on the afternoon of May 3, 1995 while sitting on the river bank, they saw several men on a “river dredge.” She said it was around 16:30hrs. “I remember the time,” she said.

“We were scared,” she said. The girls started whistling to the men in the distance and eventually one of the men, whom she noted was called “Cosmo” went in their direction with a boat. “They were Amerindian people so we were not so scared after they came,” she said. The men then took them to their camp and the sisters begun to relate their ordeal.

Bertina said the men were very kind and helpful. “They gave us food, tea and hammocks to sleep in and they were asking us a lot about what happened,” she said.

“I feel glad when I see them because I was hungry and my sister was hungry and we were tired from walking,” she recalled.

She said the men then made arrangements to take them to Georgetown. “We came out on a boat from the camp and from Kwakwani they put us on a bus and then we went to town,” she said.

The girls’ story made national headlines at the time and Bertina noted that during that time, she only wanted to be with her parents. She said the ordeal was traumatic since the witnessed their uncle’s death while being exposed to the dangers of the forest.

In 1996 the two sisters were awarded the Medal of Service by the late president Dr Cheddi Jagan. They also received many gifts from members of the public.

A special fund was set-up by the government to assist the sisters and they could have accessed the money when they attained the age of 18. However, Bertina noted that the paperwork which the family was given, which included the fund’s bank information, was misplaced. To date the girls have not received the fund.

During the interview on Sunday, which was made possible by Aldwin John, a village leader of Apoteri, Bertina said in 2024, she plans to continue working “hard” to provide for her children, even as she continues to relate to them daily, her 1995 survival story.

Anyone who wishes to contact Bertina Domingo can reach her via WhatsApp on 678-6831.

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• Alva Solomon, Bernadette, Bertina Domingo, jungle, Rupununi

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