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.”