After years with UN, Guyanese is back as businesswoman, mentor

Cheryl Noel

Carjacked in a foreign country, an experience that saw a gun placed at the head of her three-year-old daughter; raped by a colleague and having her father falsely accused and prevented from leaving Guyana for nine years are just some of the terrible experiences Cheryl Noel has had in her life, but instead of becoming bitter she is on a mission to help the younger generation.

Noel should have been someone who hated her country, after all, this is where her father dedicated most of his working life at the end of which he was almost destroyed when he was falsely accused in what she now describes as a “political scandal.” She should also hate deceased president Forbes Burnham, who was head of state at the time when Frank Noel was charged and prevented from leaving Guyana for nine years. Instead, she loves Guyana and while she feels passionate about what her father was forced to endure, she still believes that Burnham did some good for the country.

After years of working at the United Nations in various positions, which has seen her living and working in several countries, Noel has returned to Guyana and opened a business with a friend which she calls the ‘Green Space,’ but more importantly she has started working with teenagers and younger children.