Young Berbicians seeking to make their mark on the world via YouTube

Arun Sugrim
Arun Sugrim

By Bebi Oosman

Two young and talented Berbicians have joined the ever-growing platform YouTube, which, while it may seem to be just fun, has a stream of influencers across the world who have ‘made it’ after having built up millions of subscribers.

Grace Alisa Etwaru, 17, of Shieldstown Village, West Coast Berbice, joined the platform in 2017. In an interview with this publication, she recalled that in December 2017 she was asked to sing at a Christmas concert in her church. “I gathered up a few friends and we practiced a song, after that we sang and one of my friend’s father videoed it I got the footage from him… it was a Saturday afternoon that I decided to upload the video to YouTube,” Grace said.

She still cannot understand what made her upload a video on a public platform, where millions of people were able to view it. However, she added. “After a couple of days, I saw that the views growing and even the artist of the song commented on it. I was surprised and happy at the same time.”

Grace Etwaru

After noticing that her simple video was gathering more attention, which led to her subscriber count increasing, she decided to create another video and then two more. “I was looking at another channel on YouTube when it hit me, I should start vlogging and it was a perfect opportunity because our school was hosting the annual choir competitions,” she recalled.

She was shy at first when it was time to speak on camera. Vlogging is essentially videoing your daily routine and editing it to an amount of time suitable to yourself.

“I had no knowledge of what to use to edit and even how to edit the raw footage, but I got hold of this app called iMovie and started working with it,” she said. “I eventually got good at editing after three vlogs. It was hard at first because I saw other YouTubers and how professional their videos were, but people started knowing me and my subscribers count grew.”

According to the young woman, her parents were very supportive of her having a YouTube channel, “Once I kept my content clean and not indecent, they were okay about it.”

Further, she said, her friends were also thrilled about her vlogs. “They were my biggest supporters whenever I uploaded a new video. Some of them were shy but the rest of them were very enthusiastic when I was filming because they wanted to be in it too.”

Grace explained that she put her channel on pause while she was preparing for CXC and after the break she did not feel the zest to restart. “I didn’t want to start again due to the pressure of filming and editing in just one day, but a lot of events were popping up, cookouts at school, sports day, trips to Georgetown, so I decided to continue…”

She said that once she kept putting out content, her channel grew from just 100 subscribers to 565. “Five of my videos reached over 1,000 views. My motivation grew to upload more after seeing this,” she stated.

At present, her goal is to reach 1000 subscribers. “I also want to do a few collaborations with Youtubers from Berbice and make some epic videos, whether to educate or entertain my audience.”

Grace said her teachers at the Rosignol Secondary School allowed her the opportunity to vlog and supported her videos. She plans to start CAT classes at Jannat College of Accountancy in Shieldstown once she receives her results and also to “definitely make time to do videos and upload quality content to my audience. I pray that my channel grows from subscriber to subscriber.”

She also said, “I must say a big thank you to God Almighty for bringing me through, also appreciation to every single one of my viewers and subscribers for the constant support and helping to share my videos through social media, and telling their friends to subscribe to my channel. I hope my channel goes big, at least in the country or the Caribbean. I’ve got major plans in collaborating with other local YouTubers and I can’t wait.”

Meanwhile, Uditnarine Sugrim also known as ‘Arun’, 18, who described himself as introvert and is a former student at the New Amsterdam Secondary School, where he scored passes in five subjects at CXC, also has a channel on YouTube.

Arun recently started working as a clerk at a printery. He has been a member of the Golden Om Dharmic Youth Organization Youth Group for quite a few years. “They host classes all year round and also mega concerts, youth conventions, camps and many different activities throughout the year,” he told this publication.

He said it was being part of this organisation that helped him to overcome his shyness and “showcase my talents. Due to time I became more social with people and was able to confront persons and be part of conversations.”

He said, “For many years, I’ve been a dispirited child and during my spare time you would’ve found me watching many different comedic videos and films on YouTube.”

However, he recalled, “A few years back I was scrolling my YouTube feed and came across a YouTuber by the name of IISuperwomanll (Lilly Singh). I watched one of her videos and found myself rolling with laughter. I went through her channel and followed her journey from when she started YouTube; more and more I related to her life story and I see that now, she has become a successful businesswoman because of what she did on YouTube. I am really proud to say that she was one of the inspirations for my channel.”

He said he started his YouTube Channel back in 2015 but first posted in 2018. “I posted my first vlog with my friends having dinner and I received positive comments. My friends told me to continue posting content to grow my channel bigger,” he added.

The channel is not just about “someone behind a camera,” Arun said. “I love to help people especially those who suffer from social issues, something that our youth group does. One day I thought to myself how can I help people on a larger scale and then I got an idea, I invited persons who are affected or have experienced such issues to make a snippet video of their encounters and how they coped with it and I created a short film about it.”

The video, which is now posted on his YouTube channel, is called #StopBullying. “My last project was a collaboration with my youth group and youths from different places; a 12-minute video that shares a great message.”

Arun, without giving away too much, said that he is currently working on another project which is scheduled to come out in a few weeks’ time. “I have so much more hope for my YouTube channel in the future. I love to film, produce and edit and maybe someday I’d be able to start my own little production.”

He noted that YouTube is a great instrument for people to showcase what they can do and tell their stories, to do fun things and just be themselves. He also stressed, that he would encourage persons to follow the right influencers. “Don’t be manipulated by what they’re showing you, half of them don’t live the life they post about,” he warned.

There are other Guyanese on YouTube. Popular ad creator, former news presenter and overall influencer Ashley John has a channel called “I am Ashley John” which mostly focuses on living a healthy lifestyle and self-care. Her subscriber count is at 2,043 persons. 

Another channel which features different parts of Guyana, food and markets called “Its Our Life- ARD” sits at 2041 subscribers.

Another popular Guyanese channel is “The Bruce Family”, which currently has 1,052 subscribers.

Furthermore, Guyanese living outside of their native land also have channels and thousands of followers.

YouTubers around the world have earned millions of dollars from their videos through ad revenues and sponsorships. Some have gone into acting, opened their own businesses, developed their own fashion or makeup lines, hosted talk shows and written books.

In 2018, Forbes listed Ryan Toys Review, a channel with then 17.3 million subscribers, where Ryan, a seven-year-old, reviews toys online, at an estimated $22 million per year. Now that channel sits on the brink of gaining 20 million subscribers.