— for Indigenous People’s Affairs Ministry

The Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs is considering the establishment of a Cultural Department at the Ministry to better preserve the culture of the indigenous people.
The Ministry is working to ensure indigenous communities benefit from the services of professionals who have been trained and who are expected to return to serve their hinterland villages.

This is according to Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, who was at the time addressing a gathering at the Umana Yana at the launch of Indigenous Month 2017 activities on Wednesday.
A calendar of events is carded for September and this year’s celebrations are being held under the theme “Guyana’s First Peoples: Sustaining a Rich Cultural Environment”.
St Cuthbert’s Mission, which is located off the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, has been identified as this year’s Heritage Village.
While addressing the gathering at the Umana Yana, Garrido-Lowe said the authorities plan to establish a section within the Ministry which will look at indigenous music, way of dress and languages.

“Right now we are focusing on the languages,” she said, noting that sums of monies have been allocated to this area of culture.

She said the upkeep of the indigenous languages “may have died a bit” but she noted the government is working to restore it.
In addition, Garrido-Lowe said the authorities will pay attention to musicians, poets and authors within the hinterland.
She mentioned that an Indigenous book titled “Kamarang” is expected to be launched this year, while another is expected to hit the shelves in 2018.
Following the presentation of the Ministry’s agenda for September, Nicole Cole of the Rights of the Child Commission noted during a question and answer segment from the floor, that following visits to indigenous communities, it was discovered that persons who were trained from such villages have not been returning to serve their fellow villagers.
She said that there are several social problems and persons are needed to assist in curbing the issues

Garrido-Lowe said the government has been training indigenous persons to take up “much-needed” posts, such as health workers across the hinterland and many have gone back to serve their communities.
She explained that some persons would have started families on the coastland and this would have led to a shortage of professionals in hinterland villages.
“We are not giving up, we are training more,” she said, noting that the authorities are working to ensure that each village benefits from the services of a health worker.
This year’s celebrations will kick-off on August 31, with an inter-faith service at the indigenous village at the Sophia Exhibition Complex, Georgetown.