Growing Up In Guyana Formerly British Guiana

My purpose was to share some of my life experiences as I grew up in British Guiana and Guyana. My memoir is in no way a complete autobiography of my life, but just a brief synopsis of some of my cherished years.

Step into an extraordinary and fascinating world. Little known, but immensely remarkable and hollering for attention. Formerly British Guiana, now Guyana. Learn about the country's captivating history from before slavery/indenture through to modern times. Learn about some of its outstanding people both within/without the country. Children of Watooka is published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Guyana's independence.

Book Description This book is a compilation of 27 short stories and 17 poems written by Dr. Hanif Gulmahamad who was born in 1945 on Springlands Sugar Estate, Corentyne, Berbice in what was then the colonial territory of British Guiana. The stories in this book are based on real incidences and events that took place in the 1950's and early 1960's while the author was a young lad residing at No. 73 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, Guyana. The characters mentioned in the stories were real people though most of them are probably now deceased. This book was written in 2008 and it is based on the author's best recollections of events which occurred over 45 years ago. Due to the fact that four and a half decades elapsed between the actual occurrence of these events and the time they were written, these stories may not be completely accurate. It is not the intention of the author to portray anyone in these stories in a negative light. Real names were mentioned in the stories in an attempt to be as pragmatic as possible. Great consideration, effort, and time were expended in order to keep these stories as realistic and accurate as possible. The 1950's and 1960's was an idyllic and carefree time for a young lad growing up in a far away village in British Guiana. The country was still under colonial rule at that time and there were laws and rules and there was the rule of law. It was a safe and secure place to grow up as a young boy. Most people in the villages were poor but there were ample opportunities to hunt, fish, farm, and eke out a living. For a lad of my age at the time, every day was an adventure. All you had to do was walk across the road and enter the farmlands and an adventure began. Life was simple and even though people worked hard for a living they were, for the most part, a happy lot. Wealth and material possessions were not necessary ingredients for a happy and fulfilling life. People accepted their lot in life and did not aspire to unachievable ideals and goals. You made do with what you had and you were grateful for what little you had. The stories in this book cover a wide variety of events and situations some of which are humorous. Children in Guyana, particularly those who live away from the cities, will find these stories fascinating. It is the author's hope that children in Guyana, who can most relate to these stories, are afforded an opportunity to read this book. Back in the day when the author was a young boy in Guiana, books were very scarce commodities and anything and everything in print were read with great relish. Books told the author things and took him places he could only imagine at the time. In those days there were only two radio stations in the entire country and there was no television. Two movies theatres were located at Skeldon and the cost of one shilling to attend a movie there was often cost prohibitive to many people. The events in these stories were set in a place and time that is now gone and most probably lost forever. One of the major goals of the author was to record these stories for posterity. The poems in this book cover diverse times, topics, and places. The author currently lives in southern California and works in Los Angeles. Some of these poems reflect great nostalgia and longing for a life, place, and time that is gone. For example, the poems, I am not from here, I still have my memories, and it was supposed to be a temporary thing, convey great yearning for what the author perceives as things that he has lost having left Guyana and migrated to the United States. The contents of this book cast some light on the author's life story which is a remarkable one. Born to functionally illiterate parents on a British sugar plantation in a faraway place in Guyana, the author went on to obtain a PhD degree from the University of California, Riverside. He has written and published over 60 technical and scientific papers including two chapters in books. It is important

The information in the book is intended to enlighten young people about the trials and tribulations in one’s life and how to deal with them by learning from the experiences of others to be successful in life and, when the chips are down, to continue to focus on one’s career goal/s to uplift oneself and keep going until that goal is met. Too many of our young people want too many things too fast in life without putting in the hard work. Corruption is the word of today, and young people have to believe in themselves to go down the straight and narrow road in life but with the help from others and some type of spiritual belief to receive that help. It is for them to understand that the devil is a busy guy and loves to see bad things happen to people, even though such things can turn out to be lucrative but they never last and just make one’s life miserable.

In this expertly crafted, richly detailed guide, Raymond Leslie Williams explores the cultural, political, and historical events that have shaped the Latin American and Caribbean novel since the end of World War II. In addition to works originally composed in English, Williams covers novels written in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and Haitian Creole, and traces the profound influence of modernization, revolution, and democratization on the writing of this era. Beginning in 1945, Williams introduces major trends by region, including the Caribbean and U.S. Latino novel, the Mexican and Central American novel, the Andean novel, the Southern Cone novel, and the novel of Brazil. He discusses the rise of the modernist novel in the 1940s, led by Jorge Luis Borges's reaffirmation of the right of invention, and covers the advent of the postmodern generation of the 1990s in Brazil, the Generation of the "Crack" in Mexico, and the McOndo generation in other parts of Latin America. An alphabetical guide offers biographies of authors, coverage of major topics, and brief introductions to individual novels. It also addresses such areas as women's writing, Afro-Latin American writing, and magic realism. The guide's final section includes an annotated bibliography of introductory studies on the Latin American and Caribbean novel, national literary traditions, and the work of individual authors. From early attempts to synthesize postcolonial concerns with modernist aesthetics to the current focus on urban violence and globalization, The Columbia Guide to the Latin American Novel Since 1945 presents a comprehensive, accessible portrait of a thoroughly diverse and complex branch of world literature.

If you love nonfiction, which reads like a novel, multiple award-winning "PATH to FREEDOM: My Story of Perseverance" is for you. The Smithsonian Institution displays the inspirational memoir in its Anacostia Museum Library. Little about Conrad Taylor's upbringing in a remote mining town in Guyana, South America, prepared him for West Point - at the height of the Vietnam War. An extraordinary opportunity for most, the highly-regimented United States Military Academy was a life-changer for him. Enduring culture shock and surviving rude awakenings hardened the rigorous West Point Experience. And, Third World politics after West Point - because of West Point - tested it severely. The truth-is-stranger-than-fiction memoir has a simple proposition. Fly-or-die!" PATH to FREEDOM: My Story of Perseverance" describes what happened upon Taylor's return to a government turned repressive, anti-American, and paranoid - overnight. The Soviet-leaning, Cold-War-era dictatorship feared regime change. Its power-hungry leaders obsessed about him being a spy for the United States. His was the impossible task of proving that he was not - or else! The historically-accurate, coming-of-age book provides a unique prism through which to see the cultural trauma of emigration, the unique experience that is West Point, the personal side of Cold-War-era geopolitics, and the mayhem of Third World politics. The view will be nostalgic for some, shocking to many, and enlightening for others. Its subtly-threaded love story will enchant - at the very least. The Smithsonian Institution archives PATH to FREEDOM: My Story of Perseverance in its Anacostia Museum Library for the book's reference value. The renowned research complex selected the memoir for its insights about the history and culture of black people in the Western Hemisphere.

Narratives of Storytelling Across Cultures demonstrates how meaning found within interpersonal communication is not universal across all cultures. Miscommunication can occur when the foundations of cultural meaning within stories, as told socially and within media, vary among different cultures. Positioned within the communication and media field, this book connects issues of societal tension and political battles to media portrayals, social communication events, and power dynamics that result when people with different meanings systems attempt to negotiate "truth" among their competing narratives. After establishing the theoretical foundation of the book, contributors provide specific case studies that demonstrate underlying cultural components and complexities that lead to these issues. Tony R. DeMars and Gabriel Tait have assembled contributors with research, experience, and understanding of intercultural communication challenges in different social groups, allowing the book to take on a broader scope of intercultural communication. Scholars of communication, conflict resolution, political science, sociology, and media studies will find this book particularly useful.