ONE of the Directors of School of the Nations and Nations University, Dr. Brian O’Toole, has been awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the British Government for his outstanding contribution in the field of education.
According to a press statement from “Nations,” he will receive the award from a member of the Royal family at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace.
Dr O’Toole and his wife Pamela O’Toole left the United Kingdom (UK) over 40 years ago to be of service to the Baha’i community of Guyana.
According to the press statement, before founding “Nations,” the O’Tooles were involved in a number of developmental projects through the Varqa Foundation, a Bahai-inspired development agency that they founded.
One of the first projects that they worked on was in partnership with the Guyana Office of Social and Economic Development that developed the ‘Bahai Community Health Partnership’ (BCHP) in the Rupununi.
This was spearheaded by Dr Jamshid Aidun, who spent several years serving the health needs of the area at a time when there was no doctor in the entire Rupununi region.
Dr O’Toole recalled the vivid image of Dr Aidun walking part of the distance to Karasabai, after having swum across a creek, in his bare underwear, coffee mug in one hand and a stick in the other looking like a latter-day Ghandi.
The Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) programme was pioneered along with Geraldine Maison-Halls.
The CBR programme worked with thousands of persons with disabilities in almost all the regions of Guyana. It attracted visitors from many countries and resulted in more than 30 articles in leading international journals, two books and a series of video programmes that were translated into Spanish, Italian, French, Arabic, Farsi and Amharic.
Out of the work in the Rupununi, the literacy programme, ‘On the Wings of Words’, was developed to train literacy facilitators in seven of the regions of Guyana and received support from CIDA, the British Embassy, the Luxembourg government, the Guyana Book Foundation and UNICEF.
“Laureen Pierre and Juliet Solomon worked with both the BCHP and the CBR programme for years in the interior of Guyana, earning the deep respect of so many persons for their dedication, detachment and ability to connect with persons from all backgrounds,” said Dr. O’Toole in the press statement.
As the BCHP and the CBR programmes grew, they attracted visitors from many parts of the world, including Sweden, Italy, Mauritania, North America and India.
The funders, AIFO from Italy, allowed great flexibility in the work in the Rupununi.
The other major funder, Unity Foundation from Luxembourg, also proved to be invaluable partners as they struggled to learn what development might mean in practice.
These development efforts were mirrored by so many persons in Guyana as School of the Nations began to emerge 20 years ago.
HUMBLE START
Nations began with five children 40 years ago and has now grown to 3,600 students from more than 34 countries and partnerships with the universities of Cambridge, London and Bedfordshire in the UK.
After many years renting property in Kingston, the O’Tooles purchased the old Woodbine Hotel property on the fringes of Tiger Bay.
“At the time a number of parents were concerned by the perception of the area; however, over the years, more than 100 children from Tiger Bay came to “Nations” two or three afternoons per week for free classes in literacy, numeracy, art and music. Eight children from Tiger Bay were given scholarships to attend ‘Nations’,” Dr O’Toole related.
“Nations” won a contract recently to undertake a USAID project in Sophia and East La Penitence. This formed part of the very vibrant service project at “Nations,” whereby 20 Sixth Formers at “Nations” were the mentors for the programme.
A Baha’i couple from Canada, Gordon and Ellen Naylor, came to Guyana in 1978 at the same time as the O’Tooles. They served in Guyana for seven years and then went back to Canada to develop the Nancy Campbell Academy (NCA) which has developed into one of the most visionary schools in Ontario.
“Nations” and Nancy Campbell are now sister schools, with each enriching the other. Last month, 18 students of “Nations” spent one week at Nancy Campbell to learn about World Citizenship, the Performing Arts and learning about the Ruhi Institute.
Another partnership that “Nations” has developed is with London International Academy (LIA) in Ontario, Canada. A group from Nations recently went to LIA to learn about robotics; another group will be going in February and will then develop a robotics programme for primary and secondary children at “Nations.”
Other exchange visits are now planned for Gambia, West Africa, where “Nations” has a partnership with the visionary NGO, Starfish, and another partnership with schools in Ningbo and Lanzhou in China.
The Sixth Form Student Council is in the process of raising funds to bring two students each from Afghanistan and The Gambia to study at “Nations.”
STRONG SUPPORT
“The growth of “Nations” over the years was only possible because of the support, guidance, hard work and skills of a special group of administrators at “Nations,” including Orin Ross, Mischka White, Pam Daniels, Wazir Khan, Mark Boodie, Cheryl Semple, Taslikiyha Stewart, Ms Bacchus, Kalesh Ramsaroop, Ranie Kellawan, Akasha Persaud, Malessia Daniels, Felicia Mohamed, and Marcia Trotman,” said Dr. O’Toole.
The school has also gathered a very gifted cadre of teachers from Trinidad and Guyana, who manage the myriad courses on offer at “Nations.” The teachers include Kamla da Silva, Corrie Shepherd, Ravi Boodoo from Trinidad and Terrence Jaskarran, Ashme Singh, Hodiyah Stewart and Archie Chinatambi from Guyana.
“Nations” recently recruited Dr Dexter Phillips and his wife Simone, after 15 years of working in international schools in China and Philippines, to take on the role of chief executive officer at “Nations.” They have already made their mark.
Twenty years ago, “Nations” was just an idea and it was the support of the Oditts, McDonalds, Fernandes and others, who saw ‘the end in the beginning’ and entrusted them with their children and now grandchildren.
“None of the above, of course, would have been possible without the support, creativity, perseverance and sheer force of personality of Mrs Pamela O’Toole. She would be the last to acknowledge such attributes, but whatever “Nations” has achieved is very much hers,” said Dr. O’Toole.
The fellow Directors at “Nations,” their sons, Liam and Cairan, have provided invaluable support and guidance in so many areas. Under their stewardship, Brian and Pamela know that “Nations” will be in very good hands.
