How investments in education are enhancing the lives of community residents
GUYANA is more than its coastland. Our country possesses numerous diverse and culturally rich communities that lie beyond the coast. Caria Caria is one such community.

Through community development efforts, particularly in the area of education, Caria Caria is building for the future.

Located on the shore of the mighty Essequibo River, Caria Caria is roughly an hour’s journey via speedboat from Parika. Longtime resident and Caria Caria’s resident nurse, Everly Sampson, was able to offer insights into its history. She noted that the community that became Caria Caria was founded in the 18th century. Its original name was “Camoudie Caba”. “It got the name from the camoudie and caba seeds,” she said. “However, when the missionaries came, they changed it to Caria Caria.” The community is made up of approximately 56 households, with a current population of 254. The residents are primarily involved in the areas of farming, mining and logging.

Caria Caria is predominantly a mixed-race community, according to Sampson. The residents come from various ethnic backgrounds. “It’s a real Guyanese community because it’s mixed; everybody is just mixed,” related Sampson. The community’s primary school is overseen by two teachers while a single teacher oversees its nursery school. She noted that the total student population of the nursery and primary schools numbers approximately 40. Caria Caria’s 18 secondary-age students currently attend secondary schools outside of the community.

Sampson noted that one of those students recently completed her CSEC examinations. The young lady attended Saint Stanislaus College and was able to obtain passes in all of her subjects. The remaining students attend secondary schools on the Essequibo Coast in Region Two and stay in the school dormitories during the school term. “Most people don’t have relatives outside that you can leave them there,” Sampson stated. She explained that the secondary schools in Region Three do not possess dormitories. One student, Sampson’s son, currently attends Anna Regina Secondary while the other students attend Aurora Secondary.

Prominently located at the heart of the community is Caria Caria’s Community Centre. The building of the community centre was funded by Caria Caria’s partnership with Guyana Goldfields Inc./Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), as one of the company’s numerous sustainable development projects in engaged communities. Behind the well-cared-for centre is the community’s sports ground which hosts the community’s sporting and cultural activities. Adjoining the Centre itself is a pavilion for spectators.

INVESTING IN EDUCATION
Caria Caria’s Community Centre has been the site of adult education classes for members of the community who did not complete their formal education. In another initiative funded by Guyana Goldfields Inc./AGM, retired headteacher Mr Allan Barnes was able to help interested residents develop their Math and literacy skills. In fact, six persons expressed further interest in going further and writing the CSEC examinations. The company acceded and the residents sat the examinations this past June.

Everly Sampson was among the students of the adult education class. She has worked and residesdin Caria Caria for the past 20 years. She explained that it was the young people of Caria Caria who motivated her to be a part of the initiative. She recalled that years ago when she first started working in the community, children would complete their primary education and go no further. “Since coming to the community we started encouraging parents to send their children to secondary [school],” she said. She noted, however, that lack of finances led to some students who had started secondary school to drop out.

Sampson and her brother, Compton Patterson-Klass, decided to pursue the classes and persevere to encourage the young people of Caria Caria who had not completed their secondary education. “At the same time we could help even the children at primary [school],” she stated. She has already seen a difference, for as previously noted, 18 of the community’s youths are currently pursuing their secondary education. “I think it really impacted the children not only for the class but, since [Guyana Goldfields Inc./AGM] came, they would have been behind the primary school as well,” noted Sampson. “They would go in and do programmes whenever possible, they associate with the community.”

Patterson-Klass related that he noticed that certain areas needed improvement when he first moved to Caria Caria, particularly in the area of education. Once he started having children of his own, he recalled that he told the leaders of the community at the time, that the educational standard of the community needed to be improved. He was the one who made the request to Guyana Goldfields Inc./AGM to start the adult education classes in the community. “From then onward, I am always working towards education in the community,” he said. He was sure to note that education in a community determines whether it rises or falls.

Taking a hands-on approach to improve education in the community, Patterson-Klass sometimes assists with teaching the community’s children. He is also a community leader and Vice-Chairman of Caria Caria’s Community Development Council (CDC). He noted that he has seen some results, relating that the CDC concluded a programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs where he taught 16 youths aged 14 to 35 in life skills, concentrated language experience, among other subject areas. “I see education as the only way forward for the development of individuals.”

SECOND CHANCES
Ingrid Monroe, one of the participants, explained that she had only attended school up to the primary level. She related that she is thankful for the experience. As a mother of two, it was essential for her that her children go out and do their best. “I told myself if I came here I could help them and so I decided to get on board and come here to get my education and help my children,” she stated.

The students who wrote the exams included two sisters. The girls’ father Flavio Gibson related that it meant a lot to him that his daughters were able to participate in the programme. He noted that his daughter, Jelesia, had unfortunately dropped out of secondary school because of an ongoing heart condition. The adult education classes gave her the opportunity to return to education. One sister, Brittany Gibson, explained that she had wanted to re-write Mathematics. Her sister Jelesia Colinet wrote English Language in which she received a Grade One. She noted that the experience of attending the classes was a good one for her. “I dropped out of secondary school and I always wanted to finish it,” she said. “I know that it’s only one subject that I wrote but education has always been important to me and I’m happy that I got the chance to rewrite.”