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Showing posts from February, 2013

Breeze on the banks of the Corentyne River in the hot sun

It is 3pm on a Sunday afternoon. The Corentyne River is high and the breeze is blowing. We find a kind of plank fitted as a bench under the shade of some coconut trees to sit down. Two girls in front of us , and another girl..seated a way away on planks closer to the river. All of them long long hair blowing in the breeze in front of us. The water is good.. the sound of it.. and the breeze is amazing. It is cool, even though the sun is hot and I have on a thick tee shirt, I start to feel cold.. but nice cold. My companion is a young man talking about study and work plans.  I listening with one ear, the other ear listening to the breeze. I am blessed.. the moon is full again and my mind has the fog of uncertainty and doubt and fatigue. The body is being affected, as the surya namaskar takes longer to do in the morning and somehow the stretches do not seem to reach.. the hands do not reach the ground as they are supposed to. There is anxiety about two workshops.. and about work i

Morning after the one billion rising ..

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The bus was full of people from school - teachers, students.. mostly women. The music was clear.. the singer saying 'Girls bend ovah ' and 'back onto de man' and so on. I am on the way to Guyana's 1 Billion Rising event in the Promenade Gardens , organised by the S4 Foundation . Eve Ensler's brainchild gained momentum around the world and involved many organisations and celebrities. In Guyana, the Facebook mobilisation was fascinating as many people, especially young people, seemed to read and engage even if fleetingly with the idea of 'doing something'. The event featured presentations about the different kinds of violence. The presentations from Ms Broomes from the Guyana Women Miners' Association and Dr Raquel Thomas-Caesar on the rage at rape were the most striking. I missed the speech from First Lady Deolatchmie Ramotaur. In her presentation, according to Guyana Times , " Addressing the many women and girls who were

Smoking weed outside a rum shop

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A nice hot breezy afternoon. 2pm. Market. I stop at a cart to buy some onions, potatoes, garlic. Once banned in Guyana. Two young guys running the cart. I smell ganja smoke. I ask them.. 'Man wheh de smoke coming from'. One laughed and pointed to the other.. 'we got one. Yuh wan' two pull'? This is blog post number 300. I have been thinking about something that would be significant and ground breaking and inspiring. But then 300 is just a number. The Critical Thinking Circle was formed in January 2013. I did the first presentation which was along the lines of 'Decriminalisation of Marijuana is good for Guyana"  This is the gist of my presentation. Note: I do not smoke nor have I ever used ganja in any form. I do not advocate its usage. I am also against the consumption of alcohol. I have advocated that it is better to use ganja than alcohol since anecdotal evidence and medical and social research seem to indicate that alcohol has caused greater