THEY wept openly as the casket bearing the remains of their departed teacher, Ms. Shabiki Natasha Edwards-Joseph, was wheeled into the over-spilled Shalom Full Gospel Church at the corner of Main and Pilot Streets in New Amsterdam, Berbice.

On Friday, September 27, the Tutorial Academy teacher ran her last race with her colleagues at the Edinburgh Community Centre Ground. Racing was not unusual to her; she once represented the New Amsterdam/Canje district at National Schools’ Sports competition. But although some of her colleagues had pleaded with her not to run, even reminding her of her four-month-old son Josiah, and a prevailing medical condition, Shibiki was not to be deterred. She ran her final race, during which she stumbled and fractured her tibia [inner and larger of the two bones on the lower leg].
And hours after the injured foot had been placed in a Plaster of Paris cast, the educator suffered from several bouts of unconscious and had to be returned to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where she died less than half an hour afterwards.
The passing of Ms Shabiki, as she is fondly called, has left her class, which is referred to as the ‘school rejects’, overwhelmed by grief. “Nobody wanted our class. They [the teachers] referred to us as the baddest’, but Miss said she will take us and make positive things come out of our lives,” recalled Sabeeda Nezamudeen as she stood beside the blue casket.
Just days before, Ms Shabiki had designated that student the Public Relations Officer of the class. The student was so elated with the position that, on telling her mother that she was the PRO, the parent wondered whether she could have carried out the task effectively.

But at the funeral service, the teenager assumed that role with distinguished grace and poise, armed with her notes on a piece of paper, from which she recalled the moments of lectures received from her teacher, with whom any student could have discussed anything.
“She was with us in Fourth Form, and insisted on having us for the new school term, in order to help us with the upcoming CSEC examinations. But she is gone, much too soon.
“Our teacher helped us to believe in ourselves, despite our constant failures and shortcomings. The sky is the limited, she stressed, while noting that the only thing which can change our situations was sound education, and that she insisted that we have, even with the lashes.”
Another student, Nicolas Patterson, recalled the uplifting, exalting, encouraging words of his teacher, who took himself and David Vankeric into her arms. “Sometimes we feel weak and don’t want to go on, but she brings that light with her presence that pilots and guides our way.
“If she can hear me, I want her to know that we have got the messages [instruction] and our lives will never be the same, as it has been transformed for the good,” he concluded.
But it was the resounding soprano tone of 16-year-old David Vankeric as he rendered “Can’t give up now” that resulted in loud wails from the congregation. Supported by his classmate, the teenager emphasised on the lines “I just can’t give up now, I have come too far from where I started out. Nobody told me the road would be easy. And I don’t believe you have brought me this far to leave me.”
Other members of his class also rendered the song “Lean on me”.
Head of the English Department, Ms. Simone Bollers, recounted that on the morning prior to the teacher’s death, although she was on medical leave, she was finalising a recipe for a cassava competition organised by the Department of Education.
Retired Regional Education Officer Ms Shaifran Bhajan recalled the entrance of Shabiki Edwards-Joseph into the education system, when the child-friendly concept was being implemented under the tutorage of Mr. Stanton Lambert, a head teacher.
“She quickly embraced this innovation, not in a superficial manner, but with a genuine fervor that unfolded her qualities. She accepted all children, regardless of their disparity in socio-economic status, disabilities, gender or ethnicity. She reached out to each child by sustaining a very stimulating learning environment and establishing a conducive psychological climate in the classroom, nurturing every learner. Even if they came from a hostile home environment, they would find love and acceptance in the classroom,” Bhajan said.
She remembered being escorted through the hall of the New Amsterdam Branch of School of the Nations by its principal, when her attention was drawn to the one classroom that stood out from the rest. “A beautiful, child-friendly classroom replete with all the learning materials; so stimulating. And I asked whose classroom is this. When I walked further, there was my friend, disciple of child-friendly spaces, standing smiling as she welcomed me; and I knew then that Shabiki was indeed a special teacher.
“Her pleasant personality, her students and her commitment to the teaching profession place her in a special category. She bore the hallmarks of a true educator, and has left a legacy worthy of emulation by her counterparts,” Ms Bhajan declared.
In his tribute, President of the Guyana Teachers Union, Mr. Colin Bynoe, remembered the teacher as an athlete; and again, when she was interviewed prior to entering the teaching profession. “But what came out foremost from that interview was her passion to fight the medical cause that she had. In addition, she was also striving to become a graduate teacher,” he said.
“Shabiki has transformed many lives, while taking on the class that many teachers did not want,” Bynoe said.
Admonishing fellow educators, students and parents, Bynoe said, “After you have done all you can, just remember there is need to support teachers. The education system is poorer without the passion (that was) hers.”
Pastor Wilbert Daniels questioned whether the revelations made during the funeral service were a local episode of the movie ‘To Sir with Love’.
“Teachers,” he said, “you are of great importance. Your work and labour are not in vain. I wish the parents and the Government could do more for the teachers, who have the responsibility of moulding the minds of the students.”
Other speakers represented the University of Guyana, where Ms Edwards–Joseph was a third year student; the church body, and relatives. The eulogy was read by Bertie Carter, prior to her being interred at the Stanleytown Cemetery.
Ms Shabiki Edwards-Joseph is survived by her husband, Compton, four-month-old son Joshi, siblings, relatives and a host of friends.