A chat with Santa Rosa Toshao Mrs. Whanita Phillips

                         By Medino Abraham

   Mrs Whanita Phillips at the village office at Santa Rosa.( Photo credit: Medino Abraham)

The Amerindian Act 2006 has stipulated that toshaos in Guyana be elected to serve for three years. Mrs. Whanita Philips is toshao of the biggest and oldest Amerindian community Santa Rosa, Moruca. She is now in her first year.

 Santa Rosa has a population of 11,500 people. Last year, the village celebrated 200 years since its establishment by the Catholic Church.

Recently I met with Toshao Whanita and I would like to share some of what she related to me and the Catholic Standard.

I began by asking her what pushed her to want to be toshao of Santa Rosa. Her response, “I always was involved in community works in my village and acted in leadership roles. This stemmed from being the first regional queen of Santa Rosa. Where I represented my village at national level and was first runner up in the country. The pageant in Moruca at that time wasn´t too elaborate. Its main aim was to raise funds for the renovation of the roof and the sacristy of the church”.

She continued, “Under Fr. George Vanderwood´s pastoral care at Santa Rosa in the 80s´, we introduced the queen competition comprised of Upper, Central and Lower Moruca for the feast of St. John celebrations held for a week in June annually. At the St. John´s queens’ celebrations the girls dressed appropriately and proudly represented their areas.”

“The Moruca queen event also brought people together as a church community. I was responsible for those pageants”. According to her “my platform as a queen was always social work and to give back to my community. Being a staunch Catholic and being the Moruca queen, I never stopped giving back to my people. I worked with the Secondary school on board for six years. People saw me in these different environments and they thought that I possessed leadership skills”.

One year before she became toshao, people approached her requesting that she run for the leadership. According to Mrs. Phillips, “I was bit sceptical because the people don’t cooperate too much. They are happy to put you there but when you are there they don’t cooperate and they want you to do miracles overnight”. In the end she decided to run for the position of toshao of Santa Rosa.

Toshao Philips had a daughter with a disability. She died just before the Toshao election campaign. May her soul rest in peace!

According to her “People thought that after my daughter died I would have stepped out. But no, I decided to go forward and campaign and it helped me to somehow get over the bereavement of my child. To my surprise I was successful at winning the leadership, even though I was sceptical because most people have a traditional thinking that only a male should be leader of Santa Rosa”.

“When I won, I had the people of Santa Rosa at heart because I had seen so many things that were going wrong in the community. Being a staunch Catholic and having the principle of not sticking nonsense usually makes me challenge people and this would result in some villagers not liking me but that’s life,” she said smilingly.

When I asked her if Moruca had lost its culture over these years with the transformation that is taking place, she related, “The central area has an urban look where the indigenous customs are being practiced less and replaced by local entrepreneurs.

There are many varieties in Moruca. One cannot generalise. The other satellite villages are different. Places like Hirmaruni and Hassakata and other far-flung areas still pratice the local culture and languages much more. They use thatched rooves for their homes and produce crafts”.

At a time of material development taking place in Moruca, the flipside of this is the breakdown of moral values and social issues such as drugs and alcohol abuse in the community. These social ills she and her councilors are trying to deal with, but it’s a challenge. According to her, “Most times I put my challenges in prayers and ask God for spiritual enlightenment and inspiration in my leadership. I also have a good working relationship with the Catholic priest and with pastors in the community. They help me to address the issues”.

With regard to her leadership, I guess like other village leaders in the country, the toshao faces challenges from the councillors. Some dropped out because they don’t get a stipend like the other senior councilors who receive a little monthly assistance. She recalled the days when the people used to be involved with self-help or collective work especially in the Central area. “Nowadays people want payment to support their families. And it’s just a stipend, a very small amount for plenty work”.

There are some councillors who don’t cooperate, and there are others who are committed. “Some are there for many years, while some came into the council for their political agendas. Some of them don’t have the people’s interest at heart while others do. There is pulling and tugging and this hampers cooperation, betterment and the advancement of the administration of the village”.

The Toshao´s message to the other indigenous leaders across Guyana at the end of 2019 is don´t to give up. “Put God first in your work and seek divine intervention for guidance as your lead your people with love from the heart. May you all have a blessed Christmas”! 

A reflection on primary education in the Rupununi in the 20th Century

By Mrs. Joakina Fredericks, Pioneer Teacher, Shulinab Village

In the early 20th century, Christianity played a vital role throughout the length and breadth of the Rupununi Savannahs. It was during those times the Catholic Priest Fr. Cary Elwes SJ, well-known as the founder priest, was very active throughout the villages of South Rupununi.

All the time he believed that with proper education the people would be able to understand better how they could all benefit and develop them-selves as well as their villages respectively. Fr. Cary Elwes fell short of his great plans because of severe illness. He died shortly after and then he was replaced by another English Priest Fr. Bernard McKenna. Fr. McKenna, a man very devoted to his Catholic faith, thought that bringing pioneer teachers from Santa Rosa Catholic Mission in the North West would be a good idea in promoting primary education, as well as Catholicism in the Catholic Schools throughout the Rupununi. He was finally granted the permission by Bishop Lester Guilly, now all deceased.

For each village in the South Rupununi a teacher was placed in charge of every school: I begin with Achawib, the first pioneer teacher was Mrs. Martina Rodrigues; Karaudarnau’s first pioneer teacher was Mr. Alexis Atkinson, Aishalton’s first pioneer teacher Mr. Salvador Atkinson; Awarewanau Mr. Lawrence La Cruz, Maruranau  Mr. Patrick Abraham, Shea  Mr. Basil Rodgrigues, Sand Creek Mr. Cyril Rodrigues, closely followed by Mrs. Carol Viera, the daughter of the first Amerindian Parliamentarian the Hon Stephen Campbell; Sawariwau  Mr. Manuel Rodrigues, Shulinab known as ‘Macushi village’ Mr. Brown and Mrs. Joakina Fredericks who is now 85 years old and was present at the grand opening of the new Church at Sawariwau.

The beautiful church structure is a landmark that the young generation will continue to remember.

Sawariwau village, the only staunchly Catholic Village in Region #9, has shown us the example that united we remain very strong, divided we fall. Let us follow in the footsteps of this wonderful village.

Sawariwau  Catholic Church celebrates 100 years                                                                                                           

Photo credit: Leah Casimero

By Leah Casimero

“Wakonaukiikida wakamoon kaawan!” “We rejoice that our day is here!” This song of rejoicing resonated throughout the newly constructed church at Sawariwau village on the First Sunday of Advent, December 1st 2019. Seven hundred and four Catholics from South Rupununi joined the people of Sawariwau in praise and prayers of thanksgiving for the gift of the Word of God that was brought by Fr. Cary Elwes SJ a century ago in 1919.

To commemorate 100 years of the Catholic Faith in the South Rupununi, the villagers of Sawariwau built an impressive “benab-style” church through self-help activities spearheaded by former Toshao Jerome Marques.

Heartfelt gratitude was given to the neighbouring Catholic churches which contributed, particularly to Katoonarib village for contributing 3,000 of the 15,000 ite palm leaves for the church’s roof.

The blessing and commissioning of the newly-built St John Berchmans church by Bishop Francis Alleyne OSB was followed by the confirmation of 54 candidates from Sawariwau, Katoonarib and Shiriri villages.

Bishop Francis, during his sermon, described this historic occasion as a time of reflection and a time of looking forward to the future with hope, keeping in mind the crisis of the Amazon. According to the Bishop, the establishment of Parish Lay Assistants (PLA’s), the participation of the two young Wapichan persons at the Special Synod for the Amazon, the Quality Bilingual Education Programme for Wapichan children and the ongoing bible translations are a few highlights of the journey of one century of evangelization of the Wapichan indigenous people of South Rupununi.

Also in attendance were Fr. Chris Llanos SJ, Regional Superior of Guyana and Jamaica; the priests of Regions #8 & 9: Fr. Elias Surin SJ, Fr. Ronald Fernandes SJ, Fr. Edwin Anthony SJ and Fr. Paolose Vellakada SJ; Mrs. Joakina Fredericks, pioneer teacher of Shulinab Primary school; and Fr. Varghese Puthussery SJ—the first priest to celebrate the Holy Mass completely in Wapichan.

May the Word of God continue to live in the hearts and lives of the Wapichan people.