Dear Editor,
Twenty-five years in one place is an incredible achievement. A quarter of a century of sterling leadership and distinguished servanthood stand as a magnificent monument all by itself. No one has to say a word; perhaps daring to tamper with the illustrious is the work of a heretic. But then again, such are not strangers to some of us. And thus, we try. Sister Opal Marie Harper, OSU, in the 25 years that she gave to the Marian Academy and to the children of this country, makes all those accolades in the preceding paragraph pale into the tepid. Oh, she reigned with an iron hand, but there could also be just the right touch of velvet, when the circumstances so demanded. Feelings smoothed, tempers cooled.
I saw that up close hand during my close to eight-year stint as a volunteer presence on the Marian Academy campus. My status as a volunteer gave me special insights into an extraordinary person. A head teacher, a counselor, an arranger and conductor, an orchestrator and a deliverer. In each area of activity on that school campus, as identified, with so many more left out, there was the hallmark of excellence that graced time and occasion, people and proceedings. I was there, so I can attest with conviction. Many were the long conversations shared on issues related to the school and those in the wider domestic arena. I have observed her with parents, with teachers, with children, and with those who cause the fire to flare in her eyes, and the smoke to be noticeable from her nostrils.
The members of staff who had been there with her from the very first day in the cow shed to spanking new building would speak of ‘the Jamaican coming out of Sister, today.’ I used to find that funny, but was smart enough to keep my humour to myself. A graduation under the guiding hand of Sister Marie was an exercise in the sublime, a symphony of movement impeccably rendered by each participant. Every little snippet thought of, every tiny step accounted for and manned accordingly. It was spick and span. It was all hands-on deck, and please nobody shake and break the China. How can one not have the finest appreciation for what were unfolding works of art that went off with flawless immaculacy. Marie Harper was all that and ten some more.
Oh, we had our differences a time or two, but it just as quickly flew. But there was also a special relationship that most of the world does not know about. When I got married again, Opal Marie Harper was the one who signed for me, a grown man whose ‘hair is grey, but not with years, nor grew it white in a single night.’ That has to be good as it gets: a Jamaican giving away an American man to a Guyanese woman. I have been near to the toughness of Sister Marie, and I have watched the tenderness and the kindness. The toughness can have all the chilliness of tempered steel; but, oh, the kindness had a transcendence all of its own.
Twenty-five years in service to the children and parents of Guyana is one tall order, one of inestimable value. But Sister Marie did it. She did it with strength and determination; built from nothing and created an institution that is a special something in Guyana. Along the way, Sister Opal Marie Harper left some indelible footprints for the rest of us to walk, and that piercing gaze that make some soar and some wither. On behalf of the citizens of Guyana that passed through the portals of the Marian Academy-from cow shed to a castle of the contemplation and cogency-a great, big, warm thank you. We are all better for it. I am. God bless Sister Opal Marie Harper, OSU.
Sincerely,
GHK Lall
