By Brigette Lewis
“Never Curse the bridge you cross.
Know God and see where it takes you.
God is phenomenal beyond description.”

Were the words echoed by Mrs. Ingrid Waithe Peters:
Who is Ingrid Waithe Peters? A widow, a mother of two sons and a grandmother of two. She describes herself as humble, one who loves people, a helpful person, one whose word is her bond, who is very out-going, and one who loves the Lord.

I was gathering information for my second book, honouring women with disabilities who have gone above and beyond, against all odds when I met her. She attended a church service at the Charlotte Street Wesleyan Church to mark the commemoration of Blindness Awareness Month. Ingrid rocked the congregation and enhanced the church service with her rendition of ‘Only a Prayer Away’ and ‘Try a Little Kindness’.

Ingrid Waithe Peters was born in Guyana to Grenville Tony a Vincentian and Ida Watson, Guyanese.

At birth she was diagnosed with a defective vision because of congenital cataracts. Her parents were advised that if she was operated on she would become permanently blind very early and that it was better to let her enjoy what little vision she had. Ingrid eventually became blind at the age of sixteen. However, she is thankful to God because today she still sees shadows.

A special boarding school for the blind in Santa-Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago, paved the way for children like Ingrid in the Caribbean and Guyana to be taught, and that was the only way the visually impaired children, who were kept at home, could have been educated. The idea was for Guyana to be able to set up its own schools when the students returned. Ingrid was one of the students fortunate to attend that school and the ‘last in the jar’ to make Guyana proud. She returned to Guyana in the late seventies and was able to introduce the system of integration which opened the way for the blind to study alongside the sighted in public schools and the University.

Ingrid was the third person to attend the University of Guyana and the only person to challenge the Fine Arts. She was the first visually impaired person to attend the Cyril Potter’s College of Education, and also the first person to receive a Diploma in music from the Royal School of Music in London. She taught Braille to the blind children at the David Rose School for the handicapped and music in the public schools.

One of her favourite pastimes is singing. She sings calypso, gospel and other songs at concerts, and has continued to study throughout her career. She retired in 2013 and is presently on contract as a part-time Braile teacher with the Ministry of Education’s Unit for the blind in Albert Street, Georgetown.

Speaking about life in general, she recognises that she has a likeable personality and that wherever she goes people are helpful and kind. She is very independent and even her sisters, her mother-in-law and her granddaughter marvel at her independence. However, there were times when a taxi driver, realising that she is blind, would drive past. Nevertheless, Ingrid reiterates she is enjoying a very contented life, against all odds.

It is very significant to note that Mrs. Ingrid Waithe Peters was the first person to challenge the Fine Arts at the University of Guyana 16 years ago, having achieved a Degree. She was among the visually impaired persons who attended Special School in Trinidad and Tobago. She was one who came back to Guyana and introduced the concept of integration which now enables blind to sit in class rooms with the sighted writing the CXC examinations.
Ingrid expresses thanks to all those who have contributed to her success – Daphney Franklyn, William Langevine and Valarie Goorsammy, among others.