AFTER his February 19, 2004 misfortune outside the St. Gabriel’s Primary School in Georgetown, where a live power line from an exploding electrical transformer entangled him when he was just seven years old, Dakari Jordon lost his right arm, and suffered a memory loss and multiple burns on his body.
Nevertheless, this young man of steely determination and an iron will has successfully completed all three categories of the President Youth Award Republic of Guyana (PYARG) programme.

What handicap?
Dakari Jordon was one of the thirty-one participants who concluded a successful Gold Expedition to the Kaieteur Falls last week. Although having a physical impairment, he matched his fellow participants in every activity of the programme in the expeditions he attended.
It was very interesting to watch him, after the first stop of the 2012 Gold Expedition at Mahdia Primary School, tucking his bath towel around his waist in going to have a bath. One could not help admiring this young lion who was bravely soldiering on despite his serious accident.
Asked by a 31 Special Forces Squadron rank of the GDF what had happened, he bravely explained; after which the rank asked, “Are you a Christian, Dakari?”
He answered in his usual soft and cultured voice, “Yes!”
I began to closely monitor his movements, and asked him a few questions about and apart from the expedition. He was firm and confident in all his answers.
Upon arriving at Pamela Landing, where movement and transportation were different from what had hitherto obtained, and travelling by boat down river, I keenly observed his actions and saw that he was not afraid of the challenges.
I asked him if he was afraid of the river, and he promptly replied in the negative, saying that he could swim, but not for long distances and periods.
The expedition travelled to Amatuk Falls by boat, and in observing him, I soon realised that he was just like, and in some cases better than, the other youngsters. Also, he was excited to achieve the objectives of the expedition and award.
As we reached Amatuk Falls and disembarked, the boat preparatory to cooking a hot meal and having a bath where we were spending the night,
this young man was involved in every activity of his group: preparing the hot meal and setting up the tents for sleeping over night.

A different challenge
I witnessed his first challenge when two participants tried to bully him by taking away the garbage bag he used as a protection for his clothes in his backpack. He physically and verbally defended himself, causing the bullies to abandon their enterprise as ranks of the 31 Special Forces watched and laughed.
He assisted in lifting the boats through the islands as we passed Amatuk and Waratuk falls; and he was in the first group to arrive at the top of the falls, and among the first to descend from the falls.

Experiences
During this interview, Dakari spoke of the award experiences, noting that it was rewarding to travel and explore the country, seeing places he had never heard of, and being able to contribute in some areas of community activity during the three years of his involvement.
He spoke of the physical activities in which he was able to learn a skill – swimming — which he could do today with one arm; and he spoke of plans to improve this with practice.
We spoke about his present academic situation, and his challenges in deciding what field he wanted to enter as a career in the world of work.
Dakari smilingly replying that he wanted to be everything. He said that he attended three secondary schools before moving to the private school he presently attends, where he is preparing to write the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) examinations, and will decide in a matter of days how many subjects he would write.
Dakari told me that he presently reads for 10 subjects, but the school he attends does 15 subjects at the examination level, and he wants to sit all the subjects the school is offering at the CSEC examinations.
Speaking about his mishap, Dakari told me that his family had sued the Guyana Power & Light (GPL); and with legal representation from Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes, they were given a compensation of G$17M, which Dakari cannot access until he reaches the age of 18 years. He currently receives subsistence of $80,000 to assist in providing academic fees and other support.
He explained that he also receives assistance in school books and other academic funds from Dr. Colin Watson, whom he indicated has been one of his main mentors.
Dakari will receive his Gold award from the PYARG in the month of October, and after his examinations, will be looking to rejoin the award as a prospecting unit leader. He has vowed never to forget the experiences this prestigious programme has afforded him.