The institution at the forefront of Maritime in Guyana and the extraordinary woman behind it

Coleen Abrams: The woman at the helm of MatPal

MatPal Marine Institute Inc. is Guyana’s leading Maritime Training Institute. In many respects, it is the institution leading marine training in Guyana and building integral links between the maritime industry and the new oil and gas industry. Further, having sent out more than 6,000 men and women to sea over the years, the institution is the unsung hero of Guyana’s maritime field, and so is the woman at its helm.

Coleen Abrams is a mother of four, a wife, and the CEO of MatPal Marine Institute Inc. The institution has been around for the past 25 years, ISO 9001-2015 certified, locally content certified and accredited by the Maritime Administration Department of Guyana. The woman who has been the driving force of the institution for more than 19 years was born and raised on the West Bank Demerara. She has always known she wanted to give back, but as a young girl from Bagotsville, she never dreamed she would be in the position she is today.

Talking about her childhood, she shared: “I was a humble little girl, the fourth child to my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Fitz. I was always the kind of person who was a loner. Independent thinker, adventurous, wishing to explore and to be my usual self. So, I grew up quite different from the average young girl… I grew up loving books like Westerns and adventure stories and such like… my formative years of school at St. Gabriel’s Primary, and then I went on to St. Joseph High School.”

Coleen knew within herself she wanted to do something meaningful for Guyana and its people. She ventured into higher education at the University of Guyana, where she completed her Bachelor’s in computer science. At the time, being the last of her family, her parents had very different aspirations for her. But keeping true to herself, she ventured into the networking field, where her capabilities were quickly realised and developed as she rose to the top of her field.

Coleen ventured beyond Guyana’s borders to educate others like herself. She shared: “It was in 2001 that I left Guyana to venture over into St. Lucia to explore other options because I just felt I needed to now give back. I needed to let others know and experience what I would have learned during my years as a computer systems engineer. So, I uprooted the young family at the time and was appointed as a lecturer at a college in St. Lucia. And so I was over there imparting to young Caribbean nationals in networking, in systems maintenance, data communications, and other areas of computer science and computer systems engineering. I was in St. Lucia for five years.”

Returning to pick up the mantle
Coleen described her years in St. Lucia. She described it as happy times when she was giving back in one of the most profound ways possible: educating. In 2005, however, things took a turn with the death of her husband in Guyana. Struck by tragedy, Coleen returned home to continue her husband’s brainchild, MatPal Marine Institute Inc.

Reflecting, she said, “It was one of those fateful days in 2005 – March 23, 2005, that I got some tragic news that he had passed here in Guyana. So you could well imagine, first, the shock, the numbness, the disbelief of knowing that I was there. I felt life was good, everything was ordered, everything was going my way, only to meet with such a tragic experience.”

Coleen returned to Guyana in August of 2005. Initially, she was indecisive about what role she would play in the institution. She was handed a business about which she had no real prior knowledge. Coupled with the fact that it was, and still is, a male-dominated industry, many people thought that Coleen would hand MATPAL over to someone deemed more capable. And for some time, so did she. “There have been times during that period, this period here, when I felt like giving up, giving in, because knowing that we’re dealing with seafarers, we’re dealing with persons, with males mostly, and I’m a female in a mostly male-dominated industry, I had to rise to the occasion. I had to look deep within me and find ways to actually deal with challenges, with issues, and still keep MatPal afloat.”

The role of MatPal
Almost two decades later, MatPal has grown to become Guyana’s go-to maritime training institute. It has given rise to thousands of competent people in the maritime and oil and gas industries. One of the things that makes MatPal particularly unique is its training. The school trains persons from any point. Most of what the institute does is training to teach newcomers and those less equipped to join the field.

“We take persons from tertiary institutions, high schools, even persons who are semi-literate, and we train them up, we certify them according to international standards, so that they are able to take up meaningful positions within Guyana’s maritime, and of course now, our full-fledged oil and gas industry. So those persons are able to work onboard ships as ordinary sailors, as able-bodied seamen, as cadet officers, as shipboard officers, both on the deck side and within the engine room environment.”

In 2016, MatPal introduced its cadet programme, geared towards young people with little to no knowledge in the field but rather those with a genuine passion. As Coleen stated, “So in the years to come, you will see a whole lot more young Guyanese who are taking up leading roles within Guyana’s oil and gas industry because of their exposure and because of their interaction with the training being offered here. And so our vision for the oil and gas industry is to continue to promote local content development, to continue to provide young skilled Guyanese who have the potentials and the competencies to function within the industry.”

As a woman in oil and gas
The maritime and oil and gas industries are deeply intertwined, and both are male-dominated fields. Coleen’s ability to rub shoulders with men in the field and be respected took a whole lot of resilience and business acumen. She reflected on her earlier days, stating that finding her place in the field was just as hard as gaining the respect of the industry. “What I have found, once you earn that respect, then the rest after that doesn’t always become easy because you are still always being tested by newcomers in the industry, by persons who still may feel that, yes, this is something for a male to actually be engaged in. But what I’ve realised and what I’ve come to firmly believe is that there is equity as a woman; there is equity. I have upscaled myself.”

Coleen is an advocate and an example of self-discipline and development. She has worked tirelessly over the years to build her portfolio. Today, her influence is felt throughout the Maritime and oil and gas industries. But nowhere is felt more than by the women in the industry. MatPal prides itself on being one of the biggest players in getting more women into oil and gas. Coleen shared: “But with the advent of oil in 2015-2016, there was an influx of females. And I can say to date we have about 3 percent females who are not only showing an interest but who are actively engaged within the maritime and the oil and gas industry. Whereas before, there was probably not enough exposure, not enough publicity, not enough job opportunities for females because lots of vessels used to take only males for varying reasons.”

With the rise of women aboard vessels, Coleen believes that the industry will benefit from female involvement. She has seen and experienced first-hand the challenges and gifts of women in the field. To date, MatPal continues to see more women join the institution, many of whom are passionate and exceptional. As she stated, “Females are actually finding their place here, and they are realising that they are not only serious about what they do, not only focused but they are goal-oriented and therefore they are holding their own very well among their male peers. In some instances, they are even outshining their male peers. They are exceptional.”