AT the age of 11, his older brother would drop him off at the Leonora Market to sell whistles. He would often walk around and sell candy on a stick just to help his family make a dollar. The family experienced hard times, and the dire situation that existed in Guyana, back in the 80’s, did little to help them. Today, he is the Finance Controller, the Company Secretary and the Strategic Business Manager at Sterling Products Limited. Having studied extensively, he is one of the most qualified persons in Guyana at present.
Meet 31-year-old Deodat Indar, who allowed harsh living conditions to mould him into a productive individual, and who worked hard to make his way out of severe poverty. He was raised at New Road, Vreed-en-Hoop, but later moved to Tuschen, on the East Bank Essequibo.
His mother, the late Taijwattie Persaud, known as Sheila, already had eight children when her first husband died. She later married Deodat’s father and had him and another son. Mrs. Persaud’s second husband left her and the children when Deodat was just two years old.
“My mother had a real hard time to bring us up. And in the 1980’s, it was a hard time. So we had a very, very difficult childhood in terms of having the basic necessities. Clothes I wore was handed down, I went to school bare feet. We used to eat but it was a period of testing,” Deodat told the Chronicle in an interview.
Mrs. Persaud worked hard to look after her children. She was a security guard at one point and even did domestic jobs, just to care adequately for them. At times, she held several jobs at once.

Studying and Working
During these hard times, Deodat, now a father of two, said he realised that the only way out of that “severe poverty” was through education. He started paying more attention in school and received the help of kind teachers.
“At the age of 12, I was given a chance by a primary school teacher who saw something in me. Up to now, I don’t know what this person saw in me. I was brought from the back bench to the front bench and so I started to listen. I came from the extreme dunce guy to the extreme brilliant guy.”
He started to do well in school and in 1991,  after passing the then Common Entrance Examinations, he went to St. Stanislaus College where he spent the next five years. Meanwhile, his mother continued to look after him financially.
One year after leaving school, Deodat received employment at Guyana Beverages as an Accounts Clerk. One month after starting to work, his mother died. “I was 17 and was left with the responsibility of raising my younger brother,” he recalled.
At the age of 20, he became the Operations Manager at the same firm and started to study for the Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) examinations. Though working and studying was difficult, he concluded the CAT certification in only nine months and was the best student in Guyana for the highest aggregate marks.
This served as motivation to him and he immediately went into the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) programme. He finished this in two years and by age 24, was already a qualified chartered accountant.
By this time, he was working at the Guyana Forestry Commission but decided to leave to job and take up one at Sterling Products Limited. There, he was the youngest Finance Controller for a public company.
At Sterling, he was able to elevate himself even further. He finalized his first degree at the University of Oxford Brookes in England and received his Bachelor’s Degree honours. He did the Certified General Accounting Exams of Canada, and received his Master of Business Administration Degree at the University of East London. He then proceeded to do the US (United States) Certified Internal Audit Exam.
“I did all of these things concurrently. So at the age of 28, I finished all. I had about six designations at the age of 28. I do a lot of public training. About two years ago, the Government of Guyana and the IDB (Inter American Development Bank) contracted me to do a consultancy for them. I completed it to the satisfaction of both parties.”
In addition, he is also President/Chairman, Board of Governors, at the Institute of Internal Auditors – Guyana Chapter; Facilitator at the Australian Institute of Business – Nations University; Treasurer of the Guyana Scout Association; an investment advisor; and an ACCA lecturer.

Honesty and Smart Work
“I care a lot for poor people. When I see them, I am reminded of myself. A hard life actually moulded me. A poor life is a happy life. Nothing is wrong with it. But you can come out of that. And I don’t mean poverty as in lack of money, but lack of knowledge.”
“I am driven by my upbringing. Many times I would go home from school and there would be nothing to eat. I would just pick a green mango, drink some water and go back to school. At that age I understood I had to do something,” Deodat offered.
He believes in honesty and smart work. “Honesty is the best way to go. It might be slower. But it is sure,” he said.
Deodat’s inspiration comes from his dear mother, who died at the age of 53 from a swollen liver. “If I could think of a model of a human being, it would be my mother. She was an exceptional person. She worked extremely hard and never engaged in any wrong doing. Her focus was her children.”
His only regret is that he did not start his studies earlier. “Between the ages of 17 and 20, all I did was work, keeping my head above water. So I think I lost three years of unproductive time,” he says.
Deodat’s  main hobby is karaoke, which he said helps to take away his stress.