-recounts some of her teaching experiences

LOUISE Moore-Johnson has given back to her community and by extension the country, through teaching. For many years, she served in different areas as an educator.

As a young teacher, things then were simpler and Guyana was a long way from the development we see today.

From then to now, Moore-Johnson is very pleased with how Guyana is rapidly developing in all sectors, including education and infrastructure.

A Guyanese by birth, she began her teaching career in 1964 at the Number Five Primary School.

At the time she was almost 18 years old.

In 1969, she moved on to the Baramita Primary School. At that time, the school was located deep in the village, nowhere near the airstrip as it is today.

She explained that when she arrived by plane and landed at the airstrip, they had to drive farther in to get to the school compound, which also housed a shop, a house, a health facility and the teachers’ quarters.

Moore-Johnson told the Guyana Chronicle that when they arrived, the only visible clearing was where the primary school stood. The area was isolated and surrounded by dense forest. The school was later relocated to Central Baramita, a more modern development in the hinterland community.

She is from the Number 40 Village, West Coast Berbice and as a young teacher, she was looking for opportunities to gain experience in her field. It was for this reason that she accepted the offer to teach in Baramita, which was very far from her home.

Herself and a female neighbour were excited to embark on their new teaching journey away from home, but her decision did not find favour with her father.

She recalled that she, Parbattie (only name given) and another teacher, George Holder, journeyed to the remote village to teach at the primary school.

Moore-Johnson explained that there wasn’t much there when they arrived, and they had to be transported by tractor. The school was located about five miles from the airstrip, where small planes landed with goods and people.

She said there were three buildings there, the only clearing in what seemed like never-ending bushes and trees.

Moore-Johnson added that Wesley Baird’s house and shop were located in one of the three buildings in the clearing. The school was housed in a small building located nearby.

She explained that the third building housed the teachers’ quarters and a small office where Cecil Mohan administered malaria vaccines to locals.

She tried her best to adjust to her new surroundings. Things were going well until an unfortunate mishap almost prevented them from leaving the area for the July-August vacation break.

According to her recollection, while journeying out of the area, a tree fell blocking their path to the airstrip. They had no choice but to walk several miles to the airstrip.

She said teaching in that remote village left an imprint on her and when she returned in the new school term, she found that the school had been relocated to Central Baramita, much closer to the airstrip. The conditions were also better, she recalled.

The school building sat on a hill overlooking the area. She spent almost five years in the community before illness forced her to leave in January 1974.

Subsequently, she enrolled in the two-year programme at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and graduated in 1976. She also taught at Belladrum Primary School, located approximately four miles from her home and in 1982, she migrated to Antigua and Barbuda where she was employed as a teacher at the Freetown Primary School. She spent 25 years there before moving on to the Sunnyside Primary Private School where she remained for eight years before retiring.

Moore Johnson, a mother of two boys, said when she returned home for a visit, she was pleased with the development she saw.

It was while teaching in Baramita that she met Delano Johnson, who would later become her husband. At the time, the coastlander was working in Region One as a revenue collector attached to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). He subsequently passed away.

Today, the 76-year-old retired teacher is living in Antigua and Barbuda and has three grandchildren. Her last visit to Guyana was in September this year.

“I believe that people who have never served in Guyana’s hinterland areas in any capacity cannot envisage the beauty of this country and its Indigenous population,” Moore Johnson told this publication as the interview concluded.