Thoughts of a minibus traveller

It was time to clean up the computer, to organise some files and arrange things and free up some space. I do not want a bigger disk drive, I need to store less junk. So I was quarrelling and then I go and I type the command 'rm -fr' on the Desktop folder. Linux commands are nice like that. But no confirmation here. And I stop cussing up when I realse that all the folders are gone and the Desktop is nice and clean. Ironically, I know I lost some work stuff which I might have to do back. But I cannot remember what else was on the Desktop. There is some life lesson here I think. Perhaps there is junk around which needs one massive sweep and then start back again or not bother to find back the stuff which is not needed. Life goes on. New files will be created. The desktop will be cluttered again very soon.

There is something about the trees waving against that kind of warm blue at the end of the day.. something about the coconut tree which dances in the wind at sunset. Wellness is a journey . There is a desperate temptation to succumb to the desire to lie down and try to sleep.. but there is nothing more futile than trying to close your eyes and sleep when you are not sleepy even though you are fatigued. The cane juice man is an excuse to go out in the sun and a cold cane juice from a lotha washed in a bucket of water with other lothas is a kind of reminder of a connection to the Universe which is not often seen. I succumb to the sugar temptation.. the danger of having disposable income is that cane juice is followed by cold dark and dark and crunchy ice cream on the stick. Saying no is not one of the options now for coping. This time around though as the mind whirls with dreams of things to do, and memories of things which have not been done and things which have not worked ou...

This book is dedicated to the blameless vulva. Alice Walker aint easy. This book is about women, the clitoris, the vulva and about a traditional practice in parts of the world where the clitoris is cut out and the vagina is sown up. Some say female circumcision - others say female genital mutilation. Some say honourable tradition, other say misogyny (often a part of tradition too). We do not hear much about FGM in Guyana.. male circumcision is supposed to be a good thing these days for cleanliness and now to harden the glans so that the HIV virus does not pass through. As Tashi rejects Jesus and Christianity..(taking off her gingham mamma hubbard dress and leaving her breasts bare, she goes to do her operation as a connection to her ancestors and heritage. The operation had killed her sister. Sex and birth are painful.  The trauma of the operation has left Tashi with mental health issues so a lot of the book is dealing with the recovery. I read the book while over nighting in...

Wood slave on the computer screen completely ignoring me The young man said that people could talk all they want in the fora and workshops, but there a lot of people are frightened to speak out and that is why so much stuff happens. I am supposed to teach them advocacy skills soon and I am afraid of the difficulty because they do not really want to be advocates and you cannot teach courage really. The last few months, weeks, days I have been dealing with fear without dealing with it and as multiple layers of things start happening I realise that even with a big mouth and fingers quick to type.. so many things I am in fear of and I did not realise how much stress is brought about the anticipation of a frightening incident and the stress of also trying to say 'get that out of your mind.. no self-fulfilling prophecy'. I fear that I will not be able to find work as I have not been able to develop 'marketable' skills due to unplanned circumstances.   I fear that I ...

 The man at the back raised the opening lines "There comes a time when we heed a certain call When the world must come together as one There are people dying And its time to lend a hand to life.." and forty people joined in singing We are the World. Murder and violence The murder of Dwayne Jacobs and others in Jamaica, the murder of Delon Melville in Guyana who had received threats because of his perceived homosexuality, the attacks on others , mobilised by mobs and often with impunity was the background to a C all to Action : Everyone has the right to be! initiated by the CatchAFyah Feminist Network.  In a Caribbean in which no convictions have been made laid, and where the Churches muttering that their version of love means no one should be attacked but tempering that with 'homosexuality is an abomination'  apparently worse than the sin of righteous murder. Galtung's triangle of violence Guybow, the LBT Women's Network of Guyana and friends d...

(These questions were posed by a journalist who wanted to know more about gay rights in the Caribbean after reading the report : Dangerous Liaisons - The American Religious Right & Criminalisation of Homosexuality in Belize ) 1) What is your age, current job title and responsibilities? I am 42 years old. I work as an independent contractor . I have been involved in the work against gender based violence and child abuse, since 2002 in LGBT activism  I am involved in different activities , including the co-ordination of the Caribbean International Resources Network .  One of the recent projects is the Theorizing Homophobia in the Caribbean collection which contains several activist reports and other items. 2)   How did you get involved in LGBT activism? What’s your personal goal? In 2001, Guyana was going through a constitutional reform process. There was an amendment which would include 'sexual orientation' as one of the grounds for non-discriminatio...

A man came out and asked me if I was on one of the committees dealing with women. He wanted to know why I never took up the Alesie advertisement in which Joel Gansham mocks a woman for her size. He said that it was sickening that one of "them "would mock a real woman. I asked him whether he had done anything about it and he said no. The room at Akwaba was packed the Sunday morning. I missed part of the first panel presentation. The Ghana Day Committee had organised a one day conference on Sunday 4 August, 2013 about "The State of the Black African in Guyana" . It seems the Guyana had always had a Ghana Day celebration but it had wavered over the years.. Ghana being the first African country to gain independence. I went because I was curious.. and because I also wish that there could be a conversation about the status of the coolie in Guyana right now.. given all the ideas that coolies are doing well. The last time there was a public coolie conversation was wh...