Sponge fruits 2

Once all the various "fruits" and "vegetables" were completed, they were gift wrapped, with each bag containing a colourful, tempting selection.

The completed bags of sponge fruits and vegetables- thank you  for all donations.

There were enough bags to allow for some to be taken with us last week when the Special Education unit travelled to the remote southern part of Guyana, the Rupununi. (The Rupununi is famed for its biodiversity, and its scattered eco-lodges have hosted visits from David Attenborough, Gerald Durrell and the like.)
Travelling by air, in small planes with strict baggage allowances, and wanting to present some active teaching and learning methods using simple aids, the feather -weight sponge fruits, plus an adaptable story in my head, and plenty of ideas shared with my Peace Corps teacher buddy Susan, supplied the materials I needed for our teacher training sessions.

Telling a story-with actions and role play- to teachers at Moco Moco Primary and Nursery school.

The Rupununi covers an area of about 5,000 square miles of mostly untouched and largely unexplored savannah, dense jungle and mountain chains. The Bradt guide book describes the area thus: "biodiverse wetlands, rainforest covered mountains, endless fresh water river systems marked by strands of palms in the middle of grasslands, Dr Seuss-like termite mounds, sprawling Amerindian villages and cattle  ranches steeped in history." The Rupununi is home to an estimated 15,000 inhabitants living in 60 scattered villages, and another 3,000 in the main regional town of Lethem.

Visiting five nursery and primary schools and meeting with teachers from another two, plus therapists from Lethem hospital Physiotherapy department (staff of 2) meant we only reached 1/7th of the schools in the region. Nevertheless, the teachers we met were enthusiastic, eager  to  discuss and learn and clearly committed to the education of the children in  their schools. With the Kanuku mountains in the background and the breeze blowing through the benab (an Amerindian style structure with a roof and open sides),  the training session at the appealingly named Moco Moco Nursery and Primary school must rank as one of my favourite locations of all time.

Children from Arapaima Nursery waiting to be collected at the end of the morning .

Children at Moco Moco Primary line up for lunch. Older pupils, (who stay on at the primary school in the top class  rather than leave the village to board in Lethem and attend secondary school) act as supervisers.

Sponge fruits 1

During the past eleven months a number of blog readers have generously contributed to provide books and materials for children in the special education schools in Guyana.
Books have been bought at the Guyana Book Foundation, a charitable trust dedicated to the memory of a Guyanese teacher and campaigner, Olga Bone. The inscription on the wall next to the entrance reads:
"If children cannot learn the way they are taught, then we must teach them the way they can learn."
This message summarises not just good Special Educational Needs teaching but all teaching.(Mr Gove take note!)

In addition to supplying each school with much welcome pencils, crayons, practical literacy and numeracy materials I arranged for a quantity of "sponge fruits" to be made and shared out. These could then be used creatively by teachers.

The "fruits" are made by young people in a craft work shop at the Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre education section. Here, a dozen young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one spend one day per week making decorative items for the various festive occasions in the year, supported by two teachers and parent volunteers. The workshop funds itself through selling all items made.

The template for star fruit or carambola-known here as five-finger- is drawn onto the sponge.

Sheets of foam sponge are sprayed bright colours-and happily, this can be done outside the open walled classroom in the yard.
When they are dried, stencils are used to cut out the basic fruit shapes.
The young people take part in each stage, according to their abilities, while the local radio station maintains a cheery background noise.

The five- finger fruit is pulled into shape before glue is applied. 

The cut out sponge is then shaped, and held into position using a combination of glue, (using a small glue gun) and stitching.
Final details are added with indelible marker pens.

A slice of water melon awaits the felt pen marks to denote the seeds.

Having travelled away from Georgetown and into the interior of Guyana, I know that such craft activities can only happen here in the capital where (expensive) imported materials- foam sponge, cans of spray paint, craft glue guns, heavy duty scissors, marker pens- are available.

The guided tour of Georgetown, Guyana's capital- 4

Two major political figures summarise both Guyana's move from colonial dependence to independence and the political divide, based on race, which arose and persists to this day.

Cheddi Jagan, with his wife Janet (US born) teamed with Linden Forbes Burnham to form the Peoples' Progressive Party in 1950. The  pre and post war period saw similar movements towards independence and embracing versions of socialism and communism as alternatives to a colonial and capitalist dominated rule across the Caribbean, Africa and India as the former British Empire finally gave way.
The PPP the underwent splits, with Forbes Burnham setting up what would eventually become the Afro-Guyanese based Peoples National Congress (PNC) , in opposition to the PPP, now identified as Indo-Guyanese.

With evidence of international interference, (based on accusations of communist plottings) Jagan's earlier electoral success in the fledgeling democracy of the fifties finally faltered after the world's longest General Strike- lasting 80 days in 1963-broke his authority. A year later Burnham made an alliance with a minority party and became Premier of British Guiana, later becoming the first President of the Cooperative Republic.

For 21 years, until Forbes Burnham's death in 1985, his controversial PNC rule lead Guyana through optimistic times through to economic disaster. Since, the PPP has held political power, with Jagan elected as President in 1992, holding the post until he died, when his wife Janet was eventually appointed, then Bharrat Jagdeo taking office in 1999.

Today, Jagan is publicly celebrated. The country's main airport is named after him. His Book "The West on Trial" exposes how the strivings for democratic self rule were undermined.

The Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (The Red House)- Georgetown

Forbes Burnham's death (1985) saw an ending of a period of increasingly autocratic rule and diminishing of democratic rights. Only in 1992 were verified free and fair elections held once again. Probably as a consequence, although there is a public memorial to Burnham in the Botanical Gardens, evidence of the tremendous optimism which independence under his rule brought, is harder to find.  A lasting legacy is the Caricom trade movement.

(Above) The International Secretariat of the Caricom movement- an economic partnership of the Caribbean countries- founded by Forbes Burnham, boasts one of the biggest most sophisticated buildings in the whole of Guyana.

(More frivolously, last week the dance class I go to had invitations to a social evening, at the Apex Ballroom Club, Festival City, South Ruimveldt. The venue was a Lions club in an urban district of Georgetown. "Festival City" was built through "self help" to house the contingents from the 30 participating countries who came to the first Carifest- to celebrate Caricom through the Arts- in 1972. After the Carifest, local volunteers were able to purchase the houses through easy-to- repay schemes.)

And finally, a third political figure:- well known to students of African studies and left politics:- Dr Walter Rodney, whose PhD thesis, "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" became essential reading. As the title says, Rodney garnered evidence to demonstrate how the colonial powers, rather than offering a two way give and take, in fact deliberately exploited areas of the continent. With the later demise of so- called Marxist regimes in Africa, eg Zimbabwe, Rodney's work is now viewed more critically, but remains an important work, given the continued poverty of many African states and the shift in world super-powers.
After studying at the London School of Economics, Walter Rodney returned to his country to devote himself to local politics, co- founding the left wing Working People's Alliance (WPA) and openly criticising the increasingly powerful Forbes Burnham. He was killed by a bomb in 1980, the third  leading member of the WPA to die in mysterious circumstances. Poets Martin Carter and Linton Kwesi Johnson wrote commemorative verses after his death.

The Walter Rodney Memorial, Hadfield Street.

The flag and national coat of arms of this "young" country are seen everywhere- in taxis, on buses, in all public buildings. They embody the aspirations of the optimistic and proud side of Guyanese life.

The guided tour of Georgetown, Guyana's capital- 3

How does Guyana celebrate it's own heroes?
Who are they?

The 1763 Monument- created by Guyanese sculpture Philip Moore- depicts Cuffy- the African slaves who lead an unsuccessful rebellion against plantation owners in Berbice.

The statue of Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow, in the Parliament compound. Critchlow, known as the Father of Trades Unionism in the Caribbean, founded the British Guiana Labour Union in 1917 to campaign for better wages and conditions. He also launched the demand for universal adult suffrage-setting the way for future activists to follow.
The Critchlow Labour College is named after him.

Above, students at the Cyril Potter teacher training college in class session. Appointed in 1928, Cyril Potter was the first principal of Guyana's teacher training college.
He also co-wrote the words  to the country's national anthem, for the 1966 declaration of independence from Britain.

Dear land of Guyana, of rivers and plains,
Made rich by the sunshine and lush by the rains,
Set gem-like and fair, between mountain and sea,
Your children salute you, dear land of the free.

The guided tour of Georgetown, Guyana's capital- 2

The elaborate City Hall

Wood has been the preferred choice for building materials- with excellent hardwoods- Purpleheart and Greenheart available from the interior.
Ironically, with the advent of controlled logging and a thriving timber export trade, imported concrete makes for a cheaper option, and is used for the majority of new structures- both housing and commercial.

At 143 feet, St George's cathedral is one of the tallest free standing wooden structures in the world.

More Victorian Gothic- the High Court

The Parliament Building- opened for administrative rule just as slavery was abolished in1834- used today as the seat of  government.

The Georgetown lighthouse- no longer working, but a favourite for school visits

The guided tour of Georgetown, Guyana's capital.

With one month of my placement left, its time for the (virtual) guided tour of Georgetown.

Georgetown- 1893 -woodcut- image-Philograhikon.com

Water Street, Georgetown, 1905

Stabroek Market- pre independence.

Water Street- joining Stabroek Market- 2012

Georgetown- once called The Garden City of the Caribbean- has developed slowly and evolved, rather than changed, over the last century.

An air view over the city shows a lack of high rise buildings- because, as any taxi driver will tell you- lying below sea level, on drained reclaimed lands, the subsoil and lack of solid rock would not support the foundations needed for tall buildings. Therefore, as everywhere else along the coastal strip, the sky is seems enormous, the land small and flat.

View of Georgetown from the wooden lighthouse.