-and was roundly rewarded for her yeoman services
For the other half of Centre:
CYNTHIA Daly, who describes herself as “a total Jack-about,” is the epitome of a strong Guyanese woman among whose many accomplishments is playing a pivotal role in the establishment of the Crane Housing Scheme on the West Coast of Demerara back in 1977.

After spending  fourteen years in  the United States and being recognised for her service to community  there, Cynthia is now back to share with her people her many experiences while living in the ‘Big Apple’.

Cynthia was born on May 3, 1937 at Stewartville, a community located on the West Coast Demerara, the third of eight children, two of which have since died.

Her mother, Doris Cyrus, a newspaper vendor, raised Cynthia and her siblings single-handedly and sent them all to school. Her  maternal grandmother, Emilene McGarrel, took care of the children when their mother had to work selling the  Guiana Graphic and   The Evening Post.  “We grew up knowing how to keep a kitchen garden,” she declared proudly.

Her brother, George, who later took up journalism, got a Guiana Scholarship and went to Queen’s College. Her mother used to receive $90 every quarter to help with clothing and books.

After completing her primary education at the Uitlugt Church of Scotland School, she went on to the Critchlow Labour College where she received her secondary education.

Daly went back to her mother’s after a failed relationship that produced her first child, Lancelot, on October 31, 1956. She was just 19 at the time.

“I didn’t even know what it was like to get a baby,” she said. “I didn’t know anything. So when I told my aunt how I was feeling, she told me, ‘I think you’re pregnant.’” Her other son, Brian, came along some three years later. Like her mother, Cynthia, too,  brought up her children on her own, doing dressmaking and cake decorating and other odd jobs to earn a living.

In preparation for taking up a career in social work, she participated in a summer workshop for social workers in 1980, where she studied ‘Casework Techniques’, ‘Structures of Social Service’ and ‘Family Life and Social Conditions’.

Participation in another programme run by USAID in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security helped her hone her skills in the area of ‘Basic Interviewing Techniques’, ‘The Placement Process’ and ‘Employment Counseling’. She then went back to the Critchlow Labour College where she took up ‘Industrial Relations and Labour Economics’.

Started out at Guyana Employment Exchange at Regent and Bourda Streets, where she was employed as a receptionist, Cynthia served the Guyana Government for about 27 years. “I was there when the departments moved to Brickdam, where the Ministry of Labour is currently standing,” she said.

She eventually moved up the ladder to Assistant Manager (ag), which saw her being in charge of the drivers and Seaman’s Pool. “Road construction was going on, and drivers needed to be recruited for the ‘German’ trucks,” she recalled.

It was around the said time, she recalled, that the Crane Housing Scheme was founded. After locating a suitable plot of land, she drew up a plan of how the land could be built, showing her proposal to the then Ministry of Labour, Health and Housing.

As building commenced, Cynthia was responsible for giving out and taking in tools. “They didn’t want me to go out,” she said, “but I would still go out and fetch blocks. The foremen complained to the then minister, Mr Winslow Carrington, but the strong-headed Cynthia   simply told him: “Minister, I can’t be in the room all the time.” For 15 years, she  served as a self-helper, she proudly said.  “When there were things that needed doing, I would get up myself and go.” Unfortunately, most of the people who knew her have since left Crane, she said.

After migrating to the United States fourteen years ago, she found her calling in the St. Louis Senior Centre of New York City. “We have these senior centres, and seniors help out in the community. Centres are for persons 62 and over.”

Cynthia, who likes to keep active, visits the hospitals and centres, and cooks for the patients. She is fond of crocheting, and at one time made seven blankets for the children’s ward of a hospital.

She was recognised for her work with the Centre and the community at the St. Louis Senior Advisory Board’s Annual Reunion Luncheon last October, when she was presented  with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. Other citations include: A Certificate of Appreciation and Recognition (Eric L Adams NYS Senator-20th District); The City Council Citation; Citation of Appreciation (District Attorney Kings County); A Salutation from President of the Borough of Brooklyn; and a Certificate of Excellence in recognition of outstanding service for Membership at St. Louis Senior Centre.

An extract from the programme reads: “Cynthia Daly, a member of St. Louis Senior Centre for 14 years. She has made remarkable contributions to the centre’s success in fundraising. Ms Daly is reliable, thoughtful… A true milestone honour for the forerunner of volunteer services, her roots of goodwill can be traced to Guyana.”