THE story of how a young Lindener paddled her way to the shore of success with mustard seed faith, was documented in her book, ‘What’s Faith got to do with it?’ and is now available to be shared with all of Guyana.

Feigel Niles was born and bred in South Amelia’s Ward and while she was not dirt poor, all was not a bed of roses either. Being a part of a big family; and being the fourth of nine children, even at a tender age while attending the Amelia’s Ward Primary School, Niles wanted to have an education, as she saw it as the solution of poverty.

Graduating from the Mackenzie High School was not enough for Niles and though her parents could not afford to support her financially to pursue tertiary education, it was at this point that her insurmountable faith stepped in. She did not know how she would have done it, but she only knew that she had to get it done. “My parents could not have afforded to send me to study and by faith, I believed that God was going to make a way for me to be able to get through this phase of my life,” she related, and he did. “Many doors opened up; I got little scholarships here and there and I was able to make it.”

In 2008, she left Guyana to attend the University of Southern Caribbean in Trinidad. “All I had in my purse was US$25,” Niles reminisced, but it was enough to water her plant of faith and keep her going. By the grace of God, as she puts it, she successfully completed the programme where she majored in Family and Consumer Science and minored in Health.

Niles then returned to Guyana and landed herself a job as the principal of the Agape Educational Institute in Port Kaituma. As the old Guyanese saying goes, “When ya think ya bad, others deh worse,” and this was a reality that Niles faced during her stint in Port Kaituma.“ It was during that time I met a young lady while I was there who had dropped out of school since in Grade Seven and she should have been in Grade 10, she really wanted to go back to school and so I got her back into school even though I was not financially stable to do so, I reached out and helped,” Niles said.

One good however was not enough, as there were many children in the community that were school dropouts and yearned for an education, but could not have afforded one. With her principal’s salary, Niles was unable to help the multitude, but just saying no was not enough. “Others reached out but I could not have helped everyone, so one day I sat in my office and said to myself, ‘What can I do to be able to help these children a little?’” she said.

She decided that one answer may be to work on the book she has now authored. Faith again peaked its way into Nile’s life and she journeyed to the United States where she benefited from scholarships and pursued studies at Andrews University in Michigan. She commenced the process of writing her book and though a plethora of challenges faced her, she had to complete writing that book and completed it she did. “With faith, I stepped into the unknown and it took me places I could have only dreamed about,” Niles said.

Her book was released in January and is currently on Amazon. It is also available for sale in Amelia’s Ward Linden for GY$5,000. In 2019 Niles will be launching the Feigel Olive Niles Foundation, which aims at helping students, especially those in the Hinterland, to have an education. “It doesn’t matter what you do in life, make sure you have a basic foundation because education can take you out of poverty. I support education 100 per cent. My struggles brought me to where I am today. I’m so grateful for them,” she posited.
Niles also plans on writing more books in the future.