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Mention Dr. Cheddi Jagan’s name to any of his protégés then watch their faces light up with thousand-watt smiles like a starburst in a night sky. Newly-appointed General-Secretary to the Women’s Progressive Organisation (WPO), and head of the Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI), Sheila Veerasammy, is no different from the multitude of persons who adore and hero-worship the Father of the Nation, the greatest freedom fighter in the corridors of our history, the Liberator of Guyana – Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Waxing lyrical, she said, “Dr. Jagan was the father you never had; the teacher every student dreams of having; the leader you want to emulate; the role model you want to be; and most of all, the prime motivator of all your achievements.”
“He engaged one in discourses; and no subject area was off-limits. His knowledge-base was phenomenal, and he taught us to widen our own sphere of knowledge with discussions on political, social, economic, and every issue under the sun.
“He was always interested in the day-to-day lives and problems of the grassroots people, and he encouraged the women in the Women’s Progressive Organisation to work toward improving the conditions of the women and children as much as possible within communities countrywide – without fear or favour.
“Dr. Jagan exemplified the best of everything a human being could be and always listened attentively to everyone, always with great humility and willingness to serve whenever and wherever possible; and he encouraged all party members never to show anger toward anyone seeking assistance; no matter what the aggravation, but smile always in spite of provocation, because everyone’s problems impact their approach and needs resolution, and thus they may not be in a good mood. Our duty as leaders, he always stressed, was always to be pleasant toward the people we serve.”
According to Sheila, Mrs. Jagan was a perfectionist who always encouraged everyone to strive for the ultimate in achievement and to aim for goals without ever submitting to the concept that they may be out of our reach; and she was strict about her work and never compromised her standards to satisfy anyone. “At the end of the day”, she averred, “we are all products of both the Jagans. They were visionary leaders who always encouraged us to aim for the stars”.
One of the major strengths of the PPP – and the recipe of its enduring mass-based support, is the Jagan legacy of empowering women through its many educational and developmental programmes; and Sheila Veerasammy is a prime example of the phenomenal success of such a paradigm in the socio-political dynamics in Guyana.
Born the last child of eight to a traditional Hindu family, with an educated but stern, unyielding, conservative father who did not really accept that a female child needed to attend school, Sheila had to fight every step of the way to attain an education. This was compounded by a favoured older sister who was given all the breaks and wasted them, so she was discouraged as a result of her sister’s failures from furthering her own education after the age of twelve, when she was forced to leave school and learned to do housework; but by dint of much effort and great stubbornness, she managed to further her studies and educate herself in secretarial science, funding her courses herself through clerical work at a sawmill.
Simultaneously, she was deeply involved in political struggle with the PPP and was always joining picket lines to peacefully protest for food and against injustices and the mal-administration of the country that kept sending the value of Guyana’s currency, once one of the strongest economies in the region, on an ever-downward spiral. Of course the PNC-controlled police force and the House of Israel thugs harassed and terrorized us unendingly.
During those years food was so scarce that people worked free for a full 8-hour day of hard labour at Hope Estate, which Burnham had taken away from the Kissoon’s family, for a pint of cooking oil, one cake each washing and bath soap, one lb flour, one pt peas, and a half lb of margarine. While people worked relentlessly in the sun, Burnham rode around like a ‘massa’ to inspect the work – bullwhip in hand.
They had destroyed the country that only the rice once used for ‘fowl feed’ was available to Guyanese, the good rice was all exported, except that which was retained for consumption by the new ‘massas’.
A staunch Hindu from a household that adhered to cultural norms, it was a tremendous effort for her to break out of the mould pre-set by her traditional heritage; but after having joined the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) in 1979, she was encouraged to empower herself by the Jagans and was first sent to Accrabre College, named after the revolutionary slave, then subsequently, in 1984, on a scholarship to the USSR, now Russia to study political science.
Upon her return, rather than being allowed to continue on her path of self-elevation, Sheila was forced into an arranged marriage at age 20 and settled down into being a housewife; albeit she was still active in party work, which was all done on a voluntary basis.
After Sheila’s first son, Vladimir, was born in 1986, she was forced to return to the world of work to augment the family’s income. She was employed at the Transport and Harbours Department as a Personal Assistant to the Commonwealth Adviser; but was subsequently retrenched when it was discovered that she was a member of the WPO/PPP, which appalled her boss, who protested the injustice, to no avail.
In 1990 Sheila was heavily involved in the house-to-house registration. This exercise was a verification process to ensure a clean voters’ list.
Her second son, Michael, was born in 1991 and she stayed at home to take care of her family, although she continued her party work on a voluntary level.
Her faith in and loyalty to her party was further deepened following an attack in Linden on her husband, Bernard, who had left his construction job to work with Dr. Cheddi’s security detail.
The beating her husband received was so severe that he sustained compound fractures in his arms, with damage to his right frontal brain that caused severe paralysis on his left side, cervical spinal damage, among other injuries.
That was in 1994 and she was in her seventh month of pregnancy with her third and last son, Kevin. That was when Sheila discovered the real strength of her party comrades, who supported her all the way to restore her husband’s good health; with the reward being a total recovery. She was high in praise of all her comrades, especially Roger Luncheon and Gail Teixeira, for being with her every step of the way, and rendered every assistance to aid her husband’s recovery.
Her experiences then was the defining moment when she decided that she wanted to spend the rest of her life empowering women and children so that they could overcome the difficulties in their lives.
She subsequently accepted an appointment at the Women’s Leadership Institute while simultaneously studying for a degree in social sciences. She says that her formal job in the WLI, to which she was appointed head in November of 2012, ties in beautifully with her political portfolio in the WPO; both positions of which allow her ample opportunities to better the lot of women countrywide – a job begun with Mrs. Janet Jagan, continuing with Indra Chandrapal; and now her remit. Sheila said she was fortunate to have been mentored for ten years by Indra, a protegee’ of Mrs. Jagan.
“If I had to live my life all over again”, Sheila stated, “I would not want to change anything, because every experience was an educational journey.” She avers that her experience and involvement with politics and the PPP inculcated in her a passion for voluntary work toward the betterment of women and children in particular, and society in general.
She says both her current mandates provide her with a platform to aid the development and empowerment of women.
Among her most cherished achievements, said Sheila, are first her “…three wonderful, intelligent, resourceful, and independent sons, Vladimir – an auto electrician; Michael – a medical student on scholarship in Cuba; and Kevin – a first-year student at UG who passionately wants to become a cardiologist; and second her Bachelors’ Degree in Social Sciences, having graduated with distinction.
Sheila Veerasammy has overcome parental injustice, an abusive relationship with her alcoholic father in what she terms a dysfunctional family structure, marital infidelity compounded with emotional and psychological abuse, and has emerged stronger for her experiences. Her character, she said, was shaped by her father’s self-assurance and confidence and her mother’s kindness and gentleness; and the indomitable will and commitment to hard work of both sets of her grandparents, who all travelled to a strange land named British Guiana in 1916 on a ship named “Astoria” in search of a new destiny for themselves and their descendants. Sheila has fulfilled that destiny.
“He engaged one in discourses; and no subject area was off-limits. His knowledge-base was phenomenal, and he taught us to widen our own sphere of knowledge with discussions on political, social, economic, and every issue under the sun.
“He was always interested in the day-to-day lives and problems of the grassroots people, and he encouraged the women in the Women’s Progressive Organisation to work toward improving the conditions of the women and children as much as possible within communities countrywide – without fear or favour.
“Dr. Jagan exemplified the best of everything a human being could be and always listened attentively to everyone, always with great humility and willingness to serve whenever and wherever possible; and he encouraged all party members never to show anger toward anyone seeking assistance; no matter what the aggravation, but smile always in spite of provocation, because everyone’s problems impact their approach and needs resolution, and thus they may not be in a good mood. Our duty as leaders, he always stressed, was always to be pleasant toward the people we serve.”
According to Sheila, Mrs. Jagan was a perfectionist who always encouraged everyone to strive for the ultimate in achievement and to aim for goals without ever submitting to the concept that they may be out of our reach; and she was strict about her work and never compromised her standards to satisfy anyone. “At the end of the day”, she averred, “we are all products of both the Jagans. They were visionary leaders who always encouraged us to aim for the stars”.
One of the major strengths of the PPP – and the recipe of its enduring mass-based support, is the Jagan legacy of empowering women through its many educational and developmental programmes; and Sheila Veerasammy is a prime example of the phenomenal success of such a paradigm in the socio-political dynamics in Guyana.
Born the last child of eight to a traditional Hindu family, with an educated but stern, unyielding, conservative father who did not really accept that a female child needed to attend school, Sheila had to fight every step of the way to attain an education. This was compounded by a favoured older sister who was given all the breaks and wasted them, so she was discouraged as a result of her sister’s failures from furthering her own education after the age of twelve, when she was forced to leave school and learned to do housework; but by dint of much effort and great stubbornness, she managed to further her studies and educate herself in secretarial science, funding her courses herself through clerical work at a sawmill.
Simultaneously, she was deeply involved in political struggle with the PPP and was always joining picket lines to peacefully protest for food and against injustices and the mal-administration of the country that kept sending the value of Guyana’s currency, once one of the strongest economies in the region, on an ever-downward spiral. Of course the PNC-controlled police force and the House of Israel thugs harassed and terrorized us unendingly.
During those years food was so scarce that people worked free for a full 8-hour day of hard labour at Hope Estate, which Burnham had taken away from the Kissoon’s family, for a pint of cooking oil, one cake each washing and bath soap, one lb flour, one pt peas, and a half lb of margarine. While people worked relentlessly in the sun, Burnham rode around like a ‘massa’ to inspect the work – bullwhip in hand.
They had destroyed the country that only the rice once used for ‘fowl feed’ was available to Guyanese, the good rice was all exported, except that which was retained for consumption by the new ‘massas’.
A staunch Hindu from a household that adhered to cultural norms, it was a tremendous effort for her to break out of the mould pre-set by her traditional heritage; but after having joined the Progressive Youth Organisation (PYO) in 1979, she was encouraged to empower herself by the Jagans and was first sent to Accrabre College, named after the revolutionary slave, then subsequently, in 1984, on a scholarship to the USSR, now Russia to study political science.
Upon her return, rather than being allowed to continue on her path of self-elevation, Sheila was forced into an arranged marriage at age 20 and settled down into being a housewife; albeit she was still active in party work, which was all done on a voluntary basis.
After Sheila’s first son, Vladimir, was born in 1986, she was forced to return to the world of work to augment the family’s income. She was employed at the Transport and Harbours Department as a Personal Assistant to the Commonwealth Adviser; but was subsequently retrenched when it was discovered that she was a member of the WPO/PPP, which appalled her boss, who protested the injustice, to no avail.
In 1990 Sheila was heavily involved in the house-to-house registration. This exercise was a verification process to ensure a clean voters’ list.
Her second son, Michael, was born in 1991 and she stayed at home to take care of her family, although she continued her party work on a voluntary level.
Her faith in and loyalty to her party was further deepened following an attack in Linden on her husband, Bernard, who had left his construction job to work with Dr. Cheddi’s security detail.
The beating her husband received was so severe that he sustained compound fractures in his arms, with damage to his right frontal brain that caused severe paralysis on his left side, cervical spinal damage, among other injuries.
That was in 1994 and she was in her seventh month of pregnancy with her third and last son, Kevin. That was when Sheila discovered the real strength of her party comrades, who supported her all the way to restore her husband’s good health; with the reward being a total recovery. She was high in praise of all her comrades, especially Roger Luncheon and Gail Teixeira, for being with her every step of the way, and rendered every assistance to aid her husband’s recovery.
Her experiences then was the defining moment when she decided that she wanted to spend the rest of her life empowering women and children so that they could overcome the difficulties in their lives.
She subsequently accepted an appointment at the Women’s Leadership Institute while simultaneously studying for a degree in social sciences. She says that her formal job in the WLI, to which she was appointed head in November of 2012, ties in beautifully with her political portfolio in the WPO; both positions of which allow her ample opportunities to better the lot of women countrywide – a job begun with Mrs. Janet Jagan, continuing with Indra Chandrapal; and now her remit. Sheila said she was fortunate to have been mentored for ten years by Indra, a protegee’ of Mrs. Jagan.
“If I had to live my life all over again”, Sheila stated, “I would not want to change anything, because every experience was an educational journey.” She avers that her experience and involvement with politics and the PPP inculcated in her a passion for voluntary work toward the betterment of women and children in particular, and society in general.
She says both her current mandates provide her with a platform to aid the development and empowerment of women.
Among her most cherished achievements, said Sheila, are first her “…three wonderful, intelligent, resourceful, and independent sons, Vladimir – an auto electrician; Michael – a medical student on scholarship in Cuba; and Kevin – a first-year student at UG who passionately wants to become a cardiologist; and second her Bachelors’ Degree in Social Sciences, having graduated with distinction.
Sheila Veerasammy has overcome parental injustice, an abusive relationship with her alcoholic father in what she terms a dysfunctional family structure, marital infidelity compounded with emotional and psychological abuse, and has emerged stronger for her experiences. Her character, she said, was shaped by her father’s self-assurance and confidence and her mother’s kindness and gentleness; and the indomitable will and commitment to hard work of both sets of her grandparents, who all travelled to a strange land named British Guiana in 1916 on a ship named “Astoria” in search of a new destiny for themselves and their descendants. Sheila has fulfilled that destiny.
