Oluatoyin Alleyne

“It changed my life forever, because of what he did to me.

“When I get back the results and I tell me mother, right away she give me a bowl, a cup and a spoon and tell me to keep it and I must use that all de time and nobody else must use it.

The sudden death of her husband pushed new mother Yonelle Drakes to cope with the grief by immersing herself in the art of baking.

“People look at you and they believe that life is just perfect that you don’t have no worries.

At 29, Renee Reynolds is not where she wants to be, but she is satisfied that she has accomplished part of her goal and is an architect.

“I just need answers, I need closure. My son is dead, and we don’t know what happened,” 72-year-old Martha Persaud said.

A true stalwart of human rights died on May 31. Her name was simply Andaiye.

More needs to be done to ensure that young people fully understand sexual and reproductive health, according to Executive Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) Renata Chuck-A-Sang who also said that the country’s young need to be challenged more, educated more and provided with more options as there is more to life than what they are exposed to.

At 34 years old Michelle (not her real name) is a broken woman and she believes that the ‘system’ which should have helped her has failed her miserably.

For four years, First Lady Sandra Granger has been quietly working with Guyana’s youth, especially those who are vulnerable.

“I feel empty, lost, angry, but I have hope,” Natasha Ann Lesprance said, close to tears that never came.

Ten years ago, already a mother of six children – three boys and three girls – Jocelyn Williams decided to become a foster parent; the experiences have not all been good, but it is a decision she does not regret and she plans to continue fostering for as long as she is allowed.

“I don’t know what Mother’s Day would be like for me this year because it is hard to see my daughter actually like fighting for her life.

Threatened with being pulled out of school and placed to work on his parents’ cash crop farm, a young Rajendra Persaud finally buckled down with his studies and today is a major contributor to the country’s science and research in the area of rice production.

“Girl right now I so stressed and I not sure what to do,” she said to me, her facial expression exhibiting just how stressed she was.

Growing up, the home of young Maxine Parris in Buxton was always filled as her parents’ benevolence stretched far and wide.

“University of Guyana (had a guy on a motorcycle follow me at night from all the way… [from]  by Bursary to the parking lot shining a light on my ass and commenting on the things he’d do if he had access to my ass), had cases of walking on the road and had guys following me for almost my entire journey.

She started her journey in the education field as a trainee teacher at the tender age of 15 and for 40 years was methodical and committed to improving the sector that prepares the leaders of tomorrow.

“I was so angry I had to stop, turn back and address that man.

Born in the small village of Haraculi (Good Hope) Kimbia in the Berbice River, William Andrew Boyle has come a far way and his commitment and perseverance over the years have seen him establishing Eureka Medical Laboratory, one of the best known in the country.