THE Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO) on Saturday honoured the late Mrs. Janet Jagan on her 92nd birth anniversary.

Addressing a gathering at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre (CJRC) on High Street, Kingston, WPO member Ms Philomena Sahoye recalled that she had first seen Mrs. Jagan when she was twenty-one years old, and her memories of her can never be erased. She said that when she first met Mrs. Jagan she was going to nursing school, and Mrs. Jagan gave her some advice. “She said it’s an excellent profession, but to be a good nurse you have to care,” Sahoye recalled.
Mrs. Sahoye-Shury said the amazing thing about Mrs. Jagan was that she had come to Guyana from another part of the world to tread in our mud. She remarked that Mrs. Jagan was a very articulate, compassionate and disciplined person who didn’t take nonsense from anyone.
She added that Mrs. Jagan had been very committed to women and children, and education had been very important to her. “Janet Jagan has to live in the memories of all those mothers she encouraged that, just as how you’re educating the boys, the girls must be educated,” Mrs. Sahoye-Shury noted.
She said the situation in Guyana then was trying, noting, “I think she made a commitment to herself that she would do everything possible so that the children could have lights to study, and that they wouldn’t have to fetch water, and they would have clean drinking water.”
Mrs. Sahoye-Shury remarked that Mrs. Jagan had also been very passionate about the environment. “She would walk around in Port Mourant; she would stop at every house so that she could listen to the problems of the women. She’d go around on the sugar plantation to listen to the women who had to plough,” she noted.
She noted that Mrs. Jagan worked hard for equal pay and equal work for men and women; and while she didn’t accomplish all she hoped to, she had documented all that she wanted for the women and children of Guyana.
Another member of the WPO, and a long standing member of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Shirley Edwards, also gave her recollections and memories of Mrs. Jagan, whom she referred to as “JJ”.
She noted that at first she was very afraid of Mrs. Jagan, but the latter grew to become her mentor and teacher, and had been a very warm and compassionate woman. Ms. Edwards recalled an occasion when Mrs. Jagan had given her a puppy, which she named “JJ” after her. She said she was very surprised that Mrs. Jagan had been very delighted that she had named the dog after her.
According to Ms. Edwards, Mrs. Jagan was a very generous person, who even paid the doctor’s bill when her daughter was sick. She added that Mrs. Jagan somehow always remembered everyone’s birthday, and always gave those persons gifts, especially gold jewellery.
She recalled that on one occasion a woman wrote a letter to Mrs. Jagan saying that she was hungry every day. According to her, without even meeting that woman, Mrs. Jagan ensured that the woman was provided with groceries every month, and even paid her electricity bill.
Ms. Edwards disclosed that Mrs. Jagan had inspired her to be an independent woman, and therefore her love for Mrs. Jagan is eternal and will never forget her.