The village of Capoey began with just a few families who had just a few children in the early years. Today the village has over 600 people and sees visitors from all around Guyana.

The community’s children are of particular interest, as many of them have to attend secondary schools outside of the village, in places like Cotton Field, Aurora and Anna Regina. Schooling for the children here is not always the easiest, especially with the travel and the young children who are taken around the village by speedboat. But as hard as the children’s challenges may be, the teachers of Capoey’s school can sympathize, as they face their own challenges along with the children they teach.

Young teachers Thea Roberts and Thalia Allicock are teachers at Capoey’s nursery level. Both women have strong ties in the community. The 24-year-old Thalia Roberts was born in Capoey, and although she has moved around a few times, she believes that this time around, she will stay in Lake Capoey. ” I was born and raised in Capoey. But I moved around a lot. I used to live in Georgetown and I came back. But I am staying in Capoey. I’m not going anywhere anytime soon,” she said.

Similarly, her colleague and friend, Thea, came to know the village of Capoey through her mother, who is a native of the village. She says that although the move from her home in the Pomeroon to Capoey was difficult. “[Lake Capoey] is peaceful and it is quiet,” she said. Thalia says she became a teacher simply because it was what she’s always wanted to do. As he states, “I like teaching and I like children. So that’s why I joined the profession.”

Similarly for Thalia, she has always had an admiration for careers like teaching and nursing. And when the opportunity presented itself, she became a teacher to help the children of her community. She stated that she enjoyed her job, and even though it is not always easy, the happy moments spent with her students make it all worthwhile.

One of the challenges facing the pair is the arduous task of getting from the village of Capoey to the teacher’s training college in Anna Regina. Although she is slated to begin teacher’s college in the next upcoming months, Thea says that travelling is a bit of an issue, stating, “I come to the junction and wait to see if I get something to come through the dam. And some teachers still have come over her with the boat.”

Thalia, who has already begun teachers’ college, share similar sentiments and experiences with her colleague. Thalia expressed that, “For me, it’s just me and just me alone. And it overs at around five of six o clock, and by the time I’m at the junction, it’s nighttime. So I have to take a taxi from the centre to come down, and I still have to get a boat. So, it’s a bit challenging and expensive.”

Both Thea and Thalia teach year two children and Thea says if there is one thing that is needed when working with young ones, it is patience. As she stated, “It requires a lot of patience. Because they don’t listen or do things right away.” Thalia agrees but expressed that for all the moments of repeating herself, there are moments when her students make her smile. As he said, “It is fun sometimes. They make me laugh. But sometimes it is challenging.”

The village of Capoey is working to educate its children to be ready for the new fields and professions Guyana is experiencing. But there isn’t much the teacher can do if the children aren’t being sent to school. Attendance is a big issue in Capoey’s school system. As Thea stated, ” I think once a student comes to school every day, they can catch up. But there are students who don’t come every day and those are the ones who don’t get it because they don’t come every day.”

Both teachers are working with parents to get them to see the importance of schooling at the nursery level. As Thea explained, many parents may think that nursery school is just something that is not needed. But as she stated, nursery is where the foundation of learning begins, saying that, “This is an important time. This is where they lay their foundation for learning before going to primary. So, they need a strong foundation at this stage.”

Thalia sees education and its availability as a generational advantage. Both Thalia and Thea believe, as part of the younger generation themselves, that education and knowledge are unbelievable and undoubtedly important. As Thalia correctly emphasized, “Education is important and not because they, the parents, dropped out of school doesn’t mean that their children can’t go and become somebody.”