The road to becoming a seasoned journalist

By Wendella Davidson

EDUCATION was key in Alva Solomon’s household while growing up, and today he holds the same principles as a family man, even as he sets his goal to one day hold a managerial position at his present workplace and to manage his own business.

Alva was born in the city but with both his parents, Malcolm and Valerie Solomon being teachers at Mabaruma, he grew up at Hosororo Hill in the North West District. He also attended the Hosororo Primary up to Primary Three, now renamed Grade Five.
When his parents travelled to the city to further their studies, he travelled with them as he was the eldest of three children. He began his education in the city by attending the Tucville Primary School where his mother was then attached, while his father taught at the Campbellville Secondary School.

His younger siblings, Morris and Vaughn, remained in Mabaruma with their paternal grandmother.

Alva recalled initially finding the relocation to the city difficult for him to adjust to the way of life of the people, the culture, and food. It took him about two months to settle in, stating that the hardest adjustment was for him to attend school as he was shy and nervous.

Being young, he had two chances to write the Common Entrance Examination now called the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). At his first sitting, he was placed at Central High School, but according to him, his parent allowed him to re-sit the exam in 1995, which saw him being awarded a place at Queen’s College (QC).

The achievement was quite a surprise for both him and his family, for while they expected him to do well, they did not expect Queen’s College from a child transferring from a hinterland school to the city in such a short space of time.
Alva continued at QC until the Sixth Form, where he wrote and was successful at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exam.

While taking a one-year break from serious studies, Alva said he took the opportunity to perfect his skills in one of his hobbies — cooking. He however had difficulty preparing stews and curry.

By then, too, his family who had shared accommodation with a relative when they moved to the city, was able to move into an apartment of their own and, were also able to send for his two younger siblings. When Morris and Vaughn later wrote the National Grade Six Examination, they were awarded Saint Stanislaus and Bishop’s High Schools, respectively.
Morris is now a chemist and Vaughn, an engineer.

Advancing his career
Alva, who during the break had completed a number of computer courses, was back into the work mode and had applied to a number of companies. He landed a job as an air traffic control assistant at the then Civil Aviation Department and also functioned as an aeronautical information officer.

Alva opined that maybe being exposed to travelling in aircraft from a tender age– as the fastest mode out of the hinterland was by aircraft– was the reason he developed an interest in aviation.

He said as a young man with an urge to continue studying, he enrolled and began classes in Public Management. He subsequently got married and the family increased with the birth of a son, but Alva said he found it difficult to juggle his job, studying and family life due to his working hours, so after five years he parted ways with the Civil Aviation Department.
In the meantime, he utilised his time helping out on the family farm on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway.

Journalism
With a penchant for writing, which he developed while attending Queen’s. College, Alva said he applied for a job at Stabroek News as a proofreader, which he opined would have given him enough time with his young family.

He recalled the editor-in-chief testing his writing skill in the newsroom by sending him on his first assignment: the launch of a snackette by the Mother’s Union and when the story was published with his byline, Alva said he probably talked about it for almost a week.
” I was elated, having gotten a story published in the newspapers with my byline, I must have spoken about it for almost a week, ” he said.

Alva who says he has an imaginative and creative mind, posited that his interest in local and international news helped him to become a rounded journalist in just under five years, adding that Stabroek News having discovered his potential, exposed him to every beat area and the job allowed him to do a lot of travelling.

He remembered with just nine months in the newsroom at Stabroek News, he travelled to Belgium in western Europe to participate in an agriculture and rural affairs conference that attracted participants who were experts in the field of agriculture; that made him feel honoured.

Alva is of mixed ancestry– Indian, Amerindian and Chinese through paternal links and African through his maternal lineage in the villages of Buxton and Victoria. He stated that the family also inherited the Carib, Warrau and Arawak tribes in Region One (Barima-Waini).

Alva said it was because of his knowledge of the Indigenous peoples’ way of life and culture being familiar with the region that he was able to bring the people of the hinterland to the city through his many village stories.

But he said, while all of the travelling and interaction in the interior was newsworthy and beneficial, unfortunately, it took a serious toll on his family life, so he called it quits and returned to studying. A worst-case scenario he recalled was a terrifying incident involving his daughter, who was just about five years old at the time. There was a protest at the village of Agricola that saw some people burning tyres and blocking the main road. Residing at Farm Village, he was trapped in the city and spent the night at his mother’s residence in South Ruimveldt, while his family, daughter included, viewed the entire scene on television.

The following day Alva said he visited his daughter at the Peter’s Hall Primary School where she was a student to ensure that she was okay. However, later in the day, someone who knew the family saw the daughter walking home by herself and called him. The child had explained that she was fearful of being left stranded on the road.

Exploring further

Upon leaving Stabroek News, Alva worked as a freelance journalist with Demerara Waves, an online news outfit whilst reading for a Diploma then a Degree in Communication Studies at the University of Guyana. He also helped out on the family farm.

In 2015, Alva began working with the Guyana Chronicle where presently he holds the position of Online Editor/Assistant Editor, where he was again able to report extensively on hinterland affairs, including acts of injustice against Indigenous peoples.
It was through Alva’s investigative insights that in 2016 the Venezuelan migrant issue at the remote Indigenous villages of Whitewater, and the cross-border trading at Gagah Landing were revealed.

With the intervention of the government in 2018, Gagah Landing has been upgraded from a deserted place with malnourished-looking people with no food and water to a small village.
It was while at Aishalton, an Indigenous village in the Rupununi savannah, some 60 miles South-east of Lethem, for the launch of Radio Aishalton, that Alva’s thirst peaked to learn some of the Indigenous languages, none of which he can speak.

Radio Aishalton, which is powered by solar energy, seeks to bridge the communication divide between the peoples of the hinterland, Alva recalled being impressed when the nine languages of the Indigenous peoples were celebrated at the launch, with nine persons speaking in the language of their respective tribe.

He credited the government through President Granger’s 5Bs initiative, which allows students of the hinterland to fully develop their potential, thus allowing them to perform better.

On this note, he reminded that hinterland students made their mark at the 2019 Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC). Within the field of top performers is a young boy who hails from Karaburi Primary School in Region One (Barima-Waini).

There is too, the Hinterland Scholarship Initiative which was developed to assist and motivate students to realise their educational, social and cultural potential, with students from the hinterland being provided with assistance to further their education.

Additionally, there is the recently commissioned $186M-plus Tertiary Students Dormitory, which seeks to reduce the disparities between the hinterland and coastland through education.