“Mi colega Arecunas perdio a su partido de anoche, pero hicieron su mejor esfuerzo. Nos sentimos orgullosos de ustedes PARUIMA.”
This is the Arecuna upon a Facebook page at 10 am on September 21.
The English interpretation: “My colleague Arecunas lost his party (football match) last night, but they did their best. We are proud of you Paruima”.
The strong statement of support even after the loss of a major football league is intriguing and tells a story of a community in the distant jungles of Guyana, but this is a story of a single young man living in the midst of it all – the man who made that statement.
Quite an intelligent speaker, far from what one would expect from someone living in where would seem like ‘a lost world’, this young indigenous man who benefitted from a hinterland scholarship programme has quite a story to tell, and great hopes for Arecuna, the outstanding tribe and community of his origin.
Chris Elliman is 27, and a former student of the renowned President’s College, a boarding school at Golden Grove on the East Coast Demerara. He attended the college when the dormitory was consumed by fire and though, coupled with financial constraints, his studies was affected, he successfully wrote Caribbean Secondary Examinations Certificate (CSEC) examinations in 1999 and worked in the city for a while before returning home.
Handsome and a little taller than expected, he is Mazaruni born and bred, and never left his community until he was selected for scholarship.
He describes himself back then as a shy home-boy who feared strangers.
“I was more a community boy… I was a shy person. I remember I was afraid of the coast-landers (because) we weren’t accustomed to seeing people from the coast, and they were very serious.”
But the opportunity to move away has made him over into a more confident youngster well versed in the English language and a true representative of and for Arecunas.
He knew little English and though learning was a challenge, his fellow students taught him well enough to pass the subject and gain a receptionist job at a popular international city hotel. He has however returned home permanently.
“When I came out, I was afraid of my English in school”. English was made easy by fellow students at President’s College.
He expressed disappointment in the fact that there was no teacher specifically assigned to assist hinterland students in learning English, which was fairly new to him. He said there were also times when he remained confused about pronunciations of words since some teachers articulate differently.
“It would be a good idea to have somebody out there to teach you,” he expressed.
He said while he was working at the Regency Hotel, he tried his best to pronounce the words properly but people would sometimes ask him if he is from another country. He would have them say where they think he’s from just to try to figure out whom he sounds like.
“I wanted to know where I am with my pronunciation, how am I sounding, where am I with my language… some tourists said I sounded like I am from Malaysia or Aruba.”
With high expectations, returning to serve the Peruima Mission and Arecuna tribe, is dearest to his heart. And from observations, he is a man who believes in working not with himself, but in being aligned with what he believes God expects of him. He is dedicated enough to volunteer for the past four years on the governing body of the village.
The youngest of eleven Councilors governing the Mission; a worshipper in the Peruima Seventh Day Adventist Church; Secretary of Roraima Sports Club and Volleyball player; Photographer: and big brother are all part of his portfolio, and from touring his Facebook page, he is indeed all the way with “his people”.
As worshipper in the Peruima Seventh Day Adventist Church, he travels in a group to participate in the Thrill Blazers Convention, usually held in Georgetown; as a Councillor on the Peruima Mission Council, his duties are mainly secretarial and overseeing the general development of the community, and he is also required to tour and support the sports groups in his club and community.
In his own words, he describes the community foreigners call ‘heaven’: “The Village is situated between the mountains, which place the village in a valley… there is the Kamarang river that runs through the village… The Arecunas are very cooperative and mannerly (which) makes the community very respectable by other communities and we try as much as we can to show leadership qualities.”
But even though “you get to live in a very well descent community and also be able to read the Bible and learn about God… the disadvantage is that we are way behind modern technology and living very far off the coast,” he said.
Though he hopes that serving on the council would allow him the opportunity to “develop the community by beautifying the area and thus starting tourism”, morality has taught him unselfishness.
“But we don’t want to be better than anyone, we rather be equal,” he stated suggesting that whatever benefits his Mission receives must also be given to all other missions.
He also is praying for telecommunications and the internet service so that people can be able to do researches and keep in touch with general society.
The young man is a little disappointed however that after sacrificing years away from home to study, and being back home for over four years, there is still no paid employment for someone like him with interests other than teaching or working in health.
“You come to be educated and to serve back in your community. They have teachers, health workers and no job to fulfill my interest. I want to stay in my community and enjoy the freedom of where I was born, and nature. I have interest in Photography and Information Technology.”
He said though returning home felt different, “I was able to go home with an experience of what life is like out here (and) though you may have your failures, it is nice to teach the young ones what is expected in life.”

By Shauna Jemmott