Dying rivers, butterflies, judging cassava grating competition - Iwokrama coming to me

Dying rivers and butterflies
Nice air conditioned room in Bel Air, Georgetown.  Power point and projector in use.

Discussions about the forest.

Far away from the forest.

Nice for a town boy like me who don't really like outdoors and who like to watch pictures and films of the forest without actually taking time to go there unless well, there is some 'work' to do.

Iwokrama. Guyana's gift to the world.  An environmental activist and citizen who veers between despair and hope about Guyana tells me more than once that it is a shame that we don't remember how Iwokrama was started by Desmond Hoyte of the PNC and then brought to fruition by the PPP.

One of the few things the PNC and PPP worked on together. 30 years ago.

Iwokrama could refer to the forest, and the river, and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development.

It was remote from those of us on the coast working on other things. In 2000, I took up an assignment as co-ordinator of the SDNP-Guyana project. The project aimed to increase online content related to sustainable development. The Iwokrama Centre was one of the early content providers. I was more interested that the technology worked, and that the content was available , rather than in the content itself.

In 2003, Home loving town boy decided to go to Lethem overland. 2003. Big bus working.  In 2003, I am in a big bus going through the forest. Trees, plenty trees and dust. At some point, there are a lot of butterflies. Not sure why.   I see the sign saying Iwokrama and think arite, I am passing through the Iwokrama forest.. but is more trees and so on.

The Iwokrama Centre organised a series of Friends Nights events. Lectures to the public on the work of Iwokrama.
Forestry, biodiversity and those things are not my field. But there is something about knowledge sharing, and sometime stepping out of your field to learn about other things.

In the  air conditioned room in Bel Air, the former army man in his presentation shows the pictures of the dying rivers. And the loss of forest.

There is a different kind of army intelligence here., and defence of the country means something else,, not about defending from Venezuelans and Surinamese, but from the activities like mining and forestry.

I would not have known about the dying rivers and the effects of mining and forestry in other ways.

 And the man talks about the country in ways I can't talk about my bottom house or back yard, with insights born of years of observation.  Another lesson beyond reciting national pledge and singing parts of the national anthem in how you could love a place.

Another Friends Night, a presentation on butterfly research. I did not get to ask about butterflies.

For some reason, the Friends Nights stopped. Venue or funding  - but I wanted to tell them it is okay, don't worry with the refreshments , just do the talks and discussions and people will eat when they go home or before they come or bring their own food.


Those talks brought the forest to us, and brought to life some of the things which go on in the forest.




Judging cassava grating competition



The Iwokrama Centre has to connect with local communities. The Rupununi Wildlife Festival was one of the activities.


The organisers of the festival included discussions about social issues. I was fortunate to be a part of a team going to talk about domestic violence. The organisers also asked us to judge some of the activities, like the cassava grating, and the art competition and the cotton spinning and so.

Town boy was distracted from the cassava grating sometimes, by the wide expanse of savannah.

I am glad I got a chance to go to the festival a second time.

Both times at the festival, moonlight .

I never stayed in Iwokrama, or went caiman spotting or go look for wildlife or any of the Iwokrama things.

Thanks to the idea of Iwokrama though, this town boy was able to enjoy the moonlight on the savannah.  And maybe to breathe some fresh air and other things which might be so easy to see.