~honour several Indigenous Leaders

IN celebration of World Indigenous People’s Day, 2020, Iwokrama International Centre (IIC) recognised a few phenomenal stalwarts in the Amerindian community, who have been resilient in their work for development and the fight to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Like many countries, several of Guyana’s indigenous communities have been hit by the pandemic and many have since been putting systems in place to deal with the rapid spread of the virus. Cognizant of such, this year’s theme is “COVID-19 and Indigenous People’s Resilience” which focuses on traditional knowledge and practices to deal with such health pandemics.

Since 1996, Iwokrama and the North Rupununi District Development Board (NRDDB), which comprises leaders of the indigenous communities (currently 20), are linked to the one million acre Iwokrama Forest. The organisations have cemented a firm relationship via a collaborative management agreement which ensures that the communities have a say in how the Iwokrama Protected Areas are managed.

The two organisations have been working together to support as many communities as possible during the outbreak of the virus in the hinterland regions. The organisations have managed to provide information, face masks, sanitation supplies etc. through the kind contributions of the Rotary Club and ExxonMobil.
Current Chair of NRDDB and Toshao of Surama Village, Jacqueline Allicock, shared that the key to a successful containment of the virus includes communities to buy in and support the organisations, education awareness on a house-to-house basis and also honesty and personal responsibility.
Since March, Surama has put systems in place to deal with the pandemic and has also worked with the Ministry of Public Health for advice in installing a community Task Force and Community Policing Group.

Surama Village is a top destination for community tourism and this business has been hard hit. However, Ms. Allicock feels that the relevant authorities must ensure that Guyana is safe before the decision to open up the country’s borders for tourism purposes.
From an NRDDB perspective, Allicock noted that she would like to see stronger support for strategic checkpoints set up and active in Lethem and along the road by Toka Village, Annai and Kurupukari (in Iwokrama).
She added that the NRDDB remains concerned about the porous borders, and, like Iwokrama, feels that, if this is not controlled, it will continue to give access to this disease coming into the region. Nevertheless, she stated that Surama Village’s strict protocols allow it to remain COVID-19 free.

Meanwhile, former Toshao of Annai and former Chair of NRDDB, Michael Williams, who is a radio announcer on Radio Paiwokak noted that the celebration of World Indigenous day this year sees a special representation of the use of a number of indigenous languages as a means of communication to spread the word of COVID-19 guidelines.

Information is provided in Makushi, Patamona, Arecuna, Wapichan languages on Guyana’s first community radio station Radio Paiwomak, located in Annai.
Iwokrama’s Assistant Operations Manager, Bradford Allicock, who is also the former Toshao of Fair View Village, noted that many of the villagers have been making use of their naturally-grown medicines to strengthen their immune systems including a concoction of broad thyme leaf, lemon grass, lime and ginger. He added that there is also a native plant used to deal with ‘mucous build up’.

He noted that, since the outbreak of the virus in the hinterland regions, the village has established a Task Force and Policing Group. The entrance gate of the village is also being monitored by community persons and the Community Health Worker, which makes him proud to say that, to date, Fair View has recorded no cases of COVID-19.

Meanwhile in Toka Village, Iwokrama’s Operations Manager (Forestry) and former Toshao, Michael DeMendonca, indicated that the e-governance wifi set up in the village has been helpful in updating and informing villagers about the virus.
He noted that Toka Village also established a Task Force and implemented, at one point, a 14-day lockdown for the entire village, when it was realised that there might have been access by persons coming from border areas. A quarantine system was also put in place.

DeMendonca said, “What is crucial now is how do we move on from here as it is going into six months dealing with this situation. This pandemic has also impacted our economic ability as one of our key 2020 projects will have to be put on hold and that is the launching of our Toka Eco-Tourism business.”
In sharing a recommendation, he noted that an outreach exercise with key stakeholders and Government is needed to plan the way forward.
Nevertheless, he noted that, despite the challenges and the growing number of cases, Toka Village remains COVID-19 free.

International Day of World Indigenous Peoples is held on August 9 annually. It gives the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our indigenous peoples globally. Comprising six percent of the world’s global population and spaces that occupy a major share of the world’s global biodiversity, Indigenous peoples’ contributions have been immense, especially in areas of conservation, natural resource use, traditional knowledge innovations, local medicines and architecture, rich cultural heritage to name a few.