Folklorist cooks up plateful of good old Guyanese proverbs

SEVEN years overdue was how cultural exponent, Allan Fenty described his launch on Friday evening at the Umana Yana of ‘A Plate-a Guyana Cook-up’, a handbook collection of local proverbs.
Fenty has for years taken a closer look at local proverbs in his five-minute cameo programme, ‘Words of Wisdom’, aired every Monday, Wednesday and Friday on the National Communication Network (NCN) radio.
In the book, he features over a hundred Creole proverbs, sorting them into various categories such as animals, trees, plants and fruits, personal advice/relationships, hinterland, and Hindi.
Also in the book are explanations of the origins and meaning of some place names here in Guyana by Fenty, and two nostalgic pieces, namely ‘The Village’ by Vibert Cambridge, and ‘My Kitty of Yesteryear’ by Bonnie Paragraph.
At the launch, Fenty said it was the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport which ordained the book as part of its efforts to work with the United Nations on the observance of International Year of People of African Decent.
Noting that the long-term goal is to introduce the publication into the school system, Fenty said he fervently hopes it will “enlighten and provoke” as was his intention when he first set out to pen it.
Highlighting the importance of proverbs in our daily lives, Fenty said these sayings have been around for ages, and were slowly created over time by observation of animate and inanimate objects in the environment. He however noted that English proverbs cannot usually be broken down to make Creolese proverbs, an undertaking which he himself tried but failed at.
Speaking about the Queh-Queh component of the programme, Fenty, citing Guyanese academic Dr. Kean Gibson, told his audience that to Africans, “Life with its rhythms and cycles is dance, and dance is life.”
Fenty noted that Gibson lamented the fact that Western influence has diminished the dances of birth, marriage, death and religion that were once practised by Africans in bygone days, noting that only some religious-oriented thanksgiving rituals such as Comfa and Queh- Queh still attract elements of original African dance.
The most popular of these in Guyana being Queh-Queh, he noted that the ceremony, essentially a pre-wedding event performed the night before the wedding, is for jollification as well as emphasizing new relationships created by the union.
Minister of Culture Youth and Sport Dr. Frank Anthony lauded the publication, noting that it was important for the people of his generation and younger to have exposure to our local proverbs. He expressed the hope that the handbook would not be the last of its kind.
Executive Director of radio soap, Merondoi, Margaret Lawrence, who wrote the books appreciation, expressed pride at being associated with the work, saying that it was a “valuable exercise.” She noted that the documentation of oral tradition is important in giving authenticity to our history.
In the queh-queh segment of the programme, local actor and comedian, Henry Rodney and his Victoria Village Troupe entertained and informed all present with a reenactment of a Queh-Queh Ceremony incorporating explanations, narration, drumming and dance.