Bernadette Abraham, 84, recalls life in Moruca 

       Mrs. Bernadette Abraham of Kumaka Road, Santa Rosa, Moruca (Photo Medino Abraham).

From Medino Abraham

Mrs. Bernadette Abraham is 84 years old and is from Santa Rosa, Moruca. For the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Catholic faith in Moruca, the oldest Catholic mission in the interior of Guyana tells her story of what is like to be a Catholic for all this time.

Mrs. Abraham is of the third generation of the first Morucans who came from Venezuela to Mariaba (present-day Santa Rosa). She was educated at the convent school run by the Mercy Sisters that time. From that school came a few indigenous religious sisters from Santa Rosa. There were also a few young men who entered the seminary to train for the priesthood but they did not continue. She lamented that Moruca has not produce any priests in its 200 years of Catholicism.

Mrs. Abraham narrated to me her memories of going to church very regularly as a child with her parents who were strong Catholics and who themselves were educated by the sisters at the convent school. Mrs. Abraham is the eldest of five siblings, who are all still alive.

She recalled that when she was a small child, her life revolved around the home, school, the church and the farm. Being subsistence farmers, they worked hard to plant cassava and other crops to sustain the household. Their family life was very strong and despite the hard work, they had fun. “We prayed together, ate together, discussed issues and tried to solve matters about life as a family” she said. Mrs. Abraham noted that today this has changed much, with people not spending time with their families. “Nowadays people are married one day and sometime after they will separate. They make a joke of married life and the holy sacrament of matrimony. This is not good”, she said.

Another concern she has are the high rates of promiscuity seen today. “Today we have men making ‘pickneys’ all over the place with women who just think it is normal. The children grow up with single parents and most times they are wayward because there is no structured parental guidance”. She said that during the time when most of the people lived according to Church teachings this issue was not so common.

Mrs. Abraham noted that she heard her parents speaking the Arawak and Spanish languages at home to one another, but she never learnt those languages, except for a few words in Spanish. When I asked her if she regretted not knowing to speak her native language her response was a quick ‘yes’, and lamented that most people of Moruca nowadays don’t know their language either.

In our conversations about her experience of the celebration of Mass prior to Vatican II in the 1960s , Mrs Abraham narrated “I remember seeing the priest facing the wall and backing the congregation. The priest used to celebrate Mass in Latin, and the congregation used to accompany him with responses in Latin. I learnt a few words like ‘mea culpa,’ that means ‘through my fault’ and is an acknowledgement of having done wrong.

Then after the 1960s the priest began to celebrate the Mass facing the congregation. This I found strange for the first. But after sometime I got accustomed to it.

“I got married at age 15 to my husband Joseph Abraham who died a couple years ago, God rest his soul. We lived our married life happily together through rough and through good times and with the grace of God we never separated until he died”.

When I asked her what kept their married life strong and firm, she related that they always prayed together at home, and also tried to show love and respect for one another. “This for me is what it means to be Catholic”.

They also sought advice from the priest and elders in the community for encouragement and good advice to keep them going.

Mrs. Abraham recalled too that during that time, Santa Rosa was a uncorrupted place where the main time and place of social interaction was around the church after the Mass on Sundays. There were rarely places where people went to dance and drink as nowadays. With a tone of nostalgia she said she missed those good old days and laments some of the changes that have taken place over these 200 years in Moruca, which, according to her, are for the good and the bad.

Over the course of these 200 years things have changed a lot in Moruca, with many people leaving the Catholic church and joining other churches in the community. Also many people nowadays don’t go to church at all.

“I don’t know why people have changed so much like this. Because in my day every Sunday the church used to be packed whether there is a priest or not. But not today. People hardly go and it’s only those who have kept the faith or the diehard Catholics that go regularly”, she said.

Mrs. Abraham always practices her Catholic faith by going to church regularly. Besides this, she enjoys doing voluntarily work assisting the priest in her role as Parish Lay Assistant (PLA).

She served as a PLA for a number of years in Moruca during the time of Fathers Terrence Petry and Bernard Brown. Under these Jesuit priests she learnt many great things about her faith and about the teachings of the Church. Then after some years she decided to step down and encouraged younger people to take over.

This, I found it very interesting because nowadays there are a lot of long standing, generous PLAs who continue to be there and may not be giving the chance to the young ones to take over.

When I asked her about this common issue with the young verses the old in the leadership of the Church she said it was always there. “But I used to know how to deal them. We need the youths in the Church to be active and for the senior ones to help them to learn so that they can take over and not just to shut them out.”

Craftwork depicting the 200th anniversary of Catholicism in Santa Rosa. (Photo Medino Abraham).  

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The participants and planning team of the Bible Quiz in Aishalton Photo credit ( Judy Winter)

From Judy Winter

Youth leader

St. Robert Bellarmine R.C Aishalton

South Rupununi

In Region 9 and particularly in the South of the Rupununi there are always games being played among the young people such as foot ball and cricket between different teams; competing against one another, and also keeping themselves physically occupied and talented.  Aware of this reality,  Medino Abraham who is based at Aishalton along with the church team, thought about engaging the youths- mainly the confirmation candidates in a game in which they do compete with one another, but this time in a religious education activity, namely a Bible Quiz. In this way they will learn about the Bible and also boost their faith.

Thus, on Saturday June 30th the Catholic Community of Aishalton in the South Rupununi held a Bible Quiz among the young people preparing for confirmation.

The religious educative programme began at 4:30 and finished at 5:30 pm that evening. It was organized by the church team and the youths who wanted to know more about the scripture and particularly the Gospel of Mark.

Much preparation took place. At first Medino Abraham and the church team held a Bible Seminar on the Gospel of Mark in first week of June to give the participants some background and preparation.

The participants were given three weeks to get ready for the event.

 It was agreed upon by the youths that the quiz would be boys against the girls and four in each team.

The team conducting the quiz namely Leah, Medino, Bunny and Mrs Leona Spencer selected twenty questions from the gospel of Mark. The participants answered many of them almost without hesitation. However, as in each competition there must be a winner and as such, the girls emerged as the winners by six points.

According to one parishioner “it was really good to see that the young people carefully studied the Bible and prepared well. I was impressed with their performance at the Bible Quiz. For me I saw all of them as winners and I wish them well as they continue educating themselves about the holy book”.

A participant receiving a certificate of participation at the Bible Quiz exercise. (Photo Judy Winter).

At the end of the quiz, all participants were presented with certificates of participation and merit prizes, all compliments of the Planning Committee.

The youths and audience, who seemed to enjoy every minute of it, were not only given the opportunity to be more motivated about the Bible but also to experience a bible quiz which the church in this community had never witnessed before.

This religious activity is the start of a good and successful initiative being implemented that will continue to help youths, particularly Confirmation candidates to be more involved and learn more about the bible.  

Perhaps someday we can even send a team to the annual Bible Quiz in Georgetown.  😩🙌

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Participants listen to a talk on scholarships and education at the SRDC meeting in Aishalton June-14th-16th (Photo: Medino Abraham)

After functioning for some years even though it was not formally recognized, the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC) was officially Gazetted on March 25th 2017. It was done by Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock under Section 35 of the Amerindian Act of 2006 and came after the villages in question submitted requests approved by village general meetings for the setting up of the council.

The South Rupununi District Council is comprised of a toshao and one councillor from the following fourteen villages: Aishalton, Awarewaunau, Achawib, Karaudaranau, Katoonarib, Maruranau, Parabara, Parikwarinau, Potarinau, Rupunau, Sand Creek, Sawariwau, Shea and Shulinab.

The first SRDC meeting for this year was held in March in Rupunau, a village about 90 miles from Aishalton.

From Thursday June 14th Friday to Saturday 16th members of the above District Council gathered in Aishalton for a meeting. At the event there were representatives of the villages chosen by their newly elected toshaos and their senior councillors. In all there were about 120 persons gathered for the meeting.

During the three days of activities and discussion different topics were dealt with such as:  mining and its impact on the environment; the use of Mercury which is polluting the rivers that pass through most of the villages in the south Rupununi and affecting the local residents; trafficking in persons and other social issues which residents experience as offshoots of the mining which is taking place in proximity to indigenous communities. The issue of land titling for indigenous communities along with the Wapichans ongoing discussion for their ancestral land claim with the government were among other challenges faced in the villages in the South Rupununi which were included in the matters raised.

Through attending these meetings one learns about and experiences the struggles of Guyana´s indigenous peoples who are also confronted with the challenge of timber exploitation which can cause serious damage to the environment and have socio-cultural impacts on the population who predominantly inhabit the interior.

These and other challenges are also of particular concern for the Church in the Rupununi in terms of addressing them and assisting the indigenous people who are considered more connected to these vulnerable environments. These affected areas are considered the home of the Indigenous population which include the forests, scared sites, rivers, creeks, savannahs, and mountains where minerals, vegetables and animals are, as indicated by Pope Francis in Laudato Si.

The Wapichan indigenous District Council faces challenges and limitations in executing its mandates and plans effectively. Nevertheless, they are going ahead trying to pool together to achieve their goals, with the cooperation of the government and other Non governmental Organizations (NGOs) who are embracing their cause and contributing for the betterment of the South Rupununi peoples´ culture and way of life in this part of the country.

Its admirable to see that most of indigenous people who are Catholics, along with other small christian groups are proactive in planning, producing scientific studies, coordinating internal decisions in their indigenous communities that comprise the South Rupununi area and putting into practice what they feel will be best for future generations.

Other areas of interest are collective farming, preservation of scared sites and indigenous myths, languages, hunting, fishing, and harvesting.

All this is also being done in a joint effort to strengthen jurisdiction as part of their responsibilities.

The Wapichans are also in constructive dialogue with the government on land tenure and want to ensure that all the above activities serve as evidence of proper use of the land.

All this is being done in accordance with the indigenous view of development and use of natural resources including the pristine rainforest our common home,  in a sustainable way as mentioned in Pope Francis´ Laudato Si.

Participants of the bible seminar in Kraudaranau village, South Rupununi. (Photo credit Medino Abraham)

Participants engrossed in the bible study.

From Pius Ernest chairman; and church team of Kraudaranau

Last Sunday June 10th, the Catholic community of Kraudaranau, a village about 15 miles from Aishalton in the South Rupununi held a Bible Seminar. It was organized by the chairman and the church team of the above village. The Seminar was conducted by Mr. Medino Abraham who is based at Aishalton. Since he is based in the South Rupununi and had held a Bible Seminar in Aishalton the church team of Kraudaranau requested that he come over to our church to share his time and knowlegde with the people of Kraudaranau. So he came over, and we told him that we would like to learn more about the bible and especially the Gospel of Mark which we are hearing most in the readings at services for this year.

Hence, the theme of the seminar was on the Gospel of Mark. Forty persons, made up of children, youths and adults attended the religious education activity. The Bible seminar began after the Sunday Service held in the morning, and it was kept in the church building.

Medino gave us a very good explanation and instruction about Saint Mark the evangelist who wrote the Gospel. It was good to learn of this great evangelist and his gospel. It was also good to learn especially for the younger ones, how the Gospel of St. Mark and other readings came to be included in the lectionary. We heard about the Seasons of the Liturgical years in the church for example Advent, Christmas and the Ordinary Time and how the liturgical calendar follows a three-year cycle, each year represented by the letters A, B and C.  The gospel of Mathew is year A, Mark- year B and year C is Luck. The Gospel of John is proclaimed on particular Sundays in each of the years.

The presenter used various methods to instruct the participants including songs, games Power Point presentations and vídeos –some taken from Youtube of Catholic Religious Education, and dramas of bible stories which kept the lessons lively and interesting to those participating.

Reading the bible, in particular Mark´s Gospel, and finding scripture verses was a good mental exercise for the participants. It prompted interest in us to pick up the scared book regularly to find good teachings and inspiring messages from it. However, apart from the mental or academic aspect to use the bible, the Jesuit also taught us another dimension of scripture which was reflection.This involves reading a scripture passage and praying or reflecting on it and putting ourselves in the story. This exercise was very helpful because it touched our inner feelings. In concluding, we would like to say that the bible seminar helped us to discover the power of the Word God in this scared book, the Bible! Blessings to all!

GUYANA VILLAGER THANKS CHURCH FOR THE SCHOOLS

Sir,

After all the desk shifting and paper arranging which followed the taking over of all denominational schools, I would like to state publicly my sincere thanks to all the Catholic missionaries who devoted all their time and energy in improving the welfare-spiritual, social, but more especially academical-of nearly all the interior folks. True they had their faults, but the good outwighed the bad by far.

The Catholic Missionaries did a tremendous job in our schools- a tough job.They struggled over rough terrain through which the gospel penetrated and over which a trickling of education flowed; there was the contínuos battle against the elements; there was the language barrier and the everpresent unknown.

They survived through sheer determination and dedication.These two qualities should become parts of every Guyanese.

I must record my gratitude to the late Frs. Cary Elwes, Keary, Banham, Wilson-Brown (the great botanist), Mather and Bishop Weld. These were true ‘ambassadors’.

Later, Frs. McKenna, Bernard Brown, Maitland, Keane, O´Rielly, Metcalf, Kiss and Doc Loretz, came on the scene.The last batch is still with us.

Their field of operation ranged from the North Pakaraimas to the South Rupununi. It leaves me to wonder if I, a Guyanese, would have been able to accomplish so much under such harsh and heart-breaking conditions.

The work of these priests duplicates the task done by the late missionary Fr. Fray Junnipera Serra among the Indians in what is now known as the United States and Mexico.

Writting now for the people of my village I can safely say they will always remember the good work the priests did in fostering Educational Development in these far-flung corners of Guyana. It will take generations to erase these fond memories of the work they did in our schools.

Joe Torres

Achawib, S. Rupununi.

Fonte: Jesuit Missions, 1976, p.14.

Fr. Mckenna tells the dramatic story of The teacher-heroes of the Rupununi

Fr. McKenna SJ.  (Photo Medino Abraham)

From the Sunday Graphics, Sunday May 18, 1969 page 9.

The Minister of Education has called teachers who go to the far interior “heroes”. Thank God, there have been many such “heroes” or else there would have been no schools in the Rupununi. Almost 40 years ago Stephen Campbell and his wife Umbelina Campbell went to Pilanawa in the South Rupununi to open a school.

In those days there were no doctor, or medical ranger, or midwife. The lack of medical attention proved too great an obstacle and Mr and Mrs. Campbell had to come back.

In 1946 Alexis Aktinson went up to the Rupununi alone to found a new school. The trip by boat took nearly three weeks to Wichabai, then over 40 miles of road remained. As all the creeks were swollen Alexis was not allowed to leave Wichabai for a week. Then he walked to Karaudarnaua while a couple of bullocks carried his food and clothes. On arrival he found that practically nobody spoke English- the school was still being built – and his house was not yet finished.

In a short time he got his own house and a good school building. Unfortunately owing to malaria numbers fluctuated for the first years till the anti-malaria campaign of Dr. Gigloli took effect and the health of the children got better. Fifteen miles away Alexis had a relative at Aishalton who also opened a school. For the first year the priest who lived over 90 miles away at St.Ignatius was able to visit only twice a year as he had an area to cover that took 24 days on horse back and over 20 days walking.

PERIODIC VISITS

A medical ranger used to visit periodically. No cinema; no beer; no rum; no dances; no young friends. Not a life that would appeal to many young men! Fortunately, when Guyana Airways started postal flights with Grumman and later with the Dakotas, mail and supplies were easier.

Mr. A.A Banister, Deputy Diretor of Education paid a visit in 1949 and decided that the teachers needed a training course. Mr. E. J. Farley was appointed to give the course and to act as an Education Officer. Somehow, someway the teachers got to St.Ignatius. A small American jeep which had been flown in for the priest at Sand Creek helped. Mr Bannister´s visit was the start of a long long flight to improve qualification. Alexis Aktinson and Mervyn chance of Annai are the only two survivors of the course which repeated in 1950. Mr. Farely encouraged all the teachers to study- to take exams. Alexis tried hard. His first exam took place at Lethem. He had to walk 40 miles cross country to Dadanawa; over 30 miles was done at night and there were snakes about. He came across some but he was not attacked.

He was fortunate to get a lift in a vehicle 50 miles to St.Ignatius a couple of miles from Lethem. It was sad that the first examination was quashed but Alexis did not give up and by 1956 he was a qualified teacher 3rd Class. Apart from coaching by his manager, Alexis had no help. The school grew with time and Alexis was able to get an assistant for his Reg. 95 school. The assistant was paid $ 40 a month. There were no such things as station allowances and air passages. But it was possible for the manager to arrange a charter flight once a year for the months´holiday at Christmas at a cost of about $ 15 a head.

AlEXIS´ PROBLEM

Meantime Alexis had a problem. He wanted to marry and of course there were not many girls locally who were suitable somehow, some way Alexis found the right girl and did his “courting” by letter. He got married and has five or six children. In those days, it was impossible to get trained or qualified teachers as conditions were so difficult. Even as late 1956, a trained teacher found life too difficult and dangerous at St.Ignatius, Lethem centre of the administration and lasted only three or four days. He landed at Lethem on a Friday and flew out of Wichabai on a Tuesday. Who can blame a poor man? There were snakes about, tigers were not unknown: his nearest neighbour was over half a mile away and he was all alone. The natives looked hostile. The qualified teacher to stay in the Rupununi was Mrs. Carla Viera, who took over the school at Sand Creek in 1955. The school had under a hundred on roll then and now have over 270. In a few years she presented her first candidates for the PSC examination and she got her first successes. This school has gone from good to better - PSC to CP.

The number of CP candidates cannot be very large as the school is small but the results have always been good. CP is the highest external examination the school is permitted to take. Basket making, woodwork and painting are of the high standard under the drive of Johnny Vieira. At Expo 1967, Sand Creek School supplied mats for the Guyana Pavilion. A painting by Alcidio Barjoon was represented to the Queen at the GCC ground during the children´s rally in 1966.

Visitors to the South Rupununi are always surprise at the good English spoken by the children. As early as 1959 the children at Aishalton were able to notice the difference between the English they spoke and the English spoken in the other parts of the country. It is true that English is a second language to children in the Rupununi but up to the present time the children hear good English in school and no bad English elsewhere. This is a great help to English compositions. The children do lack knowlegde of the trains, steamers and cinemas of the coast but they have not got to correct bad grammar.  A few years ago an Education Officer was very worried by the poor essays he was correcting for the PC examination. Suddenly he came across a different type of essay about a part of the country he did not know and the English was simple and good. The essays were written at Sand Creek centre.

Twenty years ago it was hard to find anybody who could speak English in the villages of the South Rupununi. This is not so today. The first teachers tried to use the native language to teach English but this was a failure. The direct method was adopted after the first course in 1949 and has proved very successful. Games help the speaking of English. It has been noticed that wherever cricket really flourished, the English is good. The children lose the fear of the new language and gain facility by hearing others speak.

Efforts to make the children read outside school have not been very successful apart from a few exceptions. The children have no good lighting in their homes or schools. Sand Creek alone has electric light in the school for evening study. Another problem was a lack of reading matter, but thanks to the kindness of people in other countries this is being remedied.

Unlike schools on the coast, where the children provide their own materials, the savannah schools have to provide everything. This includes pencils, exercise books, readers slates, rulers drawings books, crayons. Money was scarce.

ISOLATION

A great problem in the Rupununi was isolation. A teacher and his family were often the only people in a village from outside the Rupununi. The nearest neighboring school might be 15 miles away so the life was a lonely one. Year after year the teacher would be alone in his village without any visitors for the wet season four or five months of the year. It was possible however to get the unmarried teachers to Sand Creek for the holiday especially the five weeks in August. An attempt was made to hold classes for the teachers in the day and in the evenings card game, especially happy families and monopoly, were played. Most teachers will remember the enthusiasm with which monopoly were played. Most teachers will remember the enthusiasm with which monopoly was played with local rules. Isolation must still continue in the wet season when travel by Land –Rover is almost impossible.

The arrival of a Land Rover for the priest in 1952 was a great help. Apart from two other Rovers at Dadanawa and Wichabai it was the only one in the South till 1967. Since then two Rovers and two Mini-Mokes have appeared. The priest´s Rover was used for everything. It served as an ambulance for the sick-a hammock made a very useful substitute for a stretcher- it was used to transport good for teachers and as a funeral hearse. It had to take all the school feeding material for the schools. It helped to carry teachers back to their schools after the holidays and to take round education officers as Government transport was very limited. Some of the most enjoyable trips were the ones to carry cricket teams who always enlivened the long journey by singing. Invariably they composed a song for the occasion using a familiar tune. Of course the Rover got bogged down in muddy swamps but it was rare that one had to sleep out. That happend to the writer only about 10 times due to swollen rivers. But then, he was so unfortunate as the sick people in a medical Rover that was going to Lethem. The vehicle got held up by a river for a week. Fortunately the sick; survived as the driver was a good fisherman, the people did not starve.

As time went on the standard of teaching improved. Mrs Vieira´s great contribution to education- apart from running a good school- has been the training of pupil teachers. In the old days this was difficult with four Pupil Teachers´Exams. Few head Masters have been so devoted as Mrs Vieira in coaching young teachers and showing them how to teach. Not all have persevered but slowly teachers have become qualified and gone to the training college. At least four teacher of her former pupil teachers are now fully trained-one male has been trained as an infant teacher. Altogether the South Rupununi has produced eight trained teachers.

The college of Preceptors examination –that so despised examination –has been most useful. It enables the children to reach a higher standard than prevailed in the fifties and it entitles a successful candidate to enter teaching as a pupil teacher of the third year with only two more exams to face before college. This is a great help and more young teachers are persevering and looking forward to the training college.

Despite loneliness and isolation trained teachers like Percival Griffith, Vibert Yaw and Mrs Yaw, Miss Beveghems have boldly come to the Rupununi and stayed for years. They have helped to raise the standard of various schools. One year three schools had successful candidates at the PC exam, when schools elsewhere found it difficult to get candidates through. At least it shows that the teachers are trying and that the schools are making some progress. Much remains to be done such as home economics and handicraft in more schools. I venture to say that the next few years will show great progress. A solid foundation has been laid.

This article does not include the schools in the North Savannah as the writer does not know them well. Nothing has been said either of the Pakaraimas. Life in the South Rupununi is easy compared with the isolation and difficulties of the Pakaraimas. There teachers must walk. Distance is reckoned in hours or days walking- possibly two days walking, in one case four days.  All goods must be carried by ‘droghers’. Social life does not exist. Yet people do stay.

DIFFICULTIES

The question has often been asked “How is it that some teacher stay so long and refuse to leave the Rupununi despite all the difficulties?” There have been difficulties and at times these seemed overwhelming. But provided the teachers were able to discuss their problems and get some one ready to listen to their troubles-then they were able to carry on. Twenty –three years Alexis Atkinson, 17 years Basil Rodrigues, Mannie and Helena Rebeiro, Francis and Joaquina Fredricks, 14 years Johnnie and Carol Veira, 10 years Desmond Massiah, Lynette Joseph, Stanley and Nellie Singh. There were able to carry on and take difficulties in their stride.

In March 1969, 13 children had to travel from Sand Creek to Aishalton 80 miles away. Transport arrived at 6.00 pm. Aishalton was reached after a bumpy journey at 11.00. The exam started next morning. A visitor from the coast exclaimed “I´d not stand for that with my children”. The Rupununi people just laughed and said “That´s the Rupununi.”

A few years ago one teacher who was pregnant, saw a doctor in March. It would have been easy to ask for special leave and retire to a place where there was at least a midwife. The babe was born in the middle of July and the mother who is not a strong woman-saw a midwife and a doctor in the middle of October for much needed help. Such devotion to duty is not a rare case. But the lady in question took it as nothing out of normal and would laugh if she were called a heroine.

While there are young people ready to go forward and face difficulties Guyana can look forward with confidence to the future. The teachers have led the way and shown “what Guyana´s sons and daughters can do.”