Students learn from Guyanans that traditions matter

By Wendy Elliott

The Advertiser/NovaNewsNow.com

A group of Acadia University students have learned from Arawak villagers in northwest Guyana that their traditions matter.

The recreation management team of six senior students and Dr. Alan Warner and his wife, Ginny Point, recently returned from the rainforests of the Pomeroon region with amazing stories, pictures and experiences to share.

Warner says the project was a tremendous success in terms of working with elders to document traditional lifestyle activities in three communities. The booklets the students compiled will be used in village schools.

Student Denna Harper noted that schools in Guyana have very few books and the books they created are the first to provide images of the culture and lifestyle.

Warner added that the team was commended by the Minister of Amerindian Affairs for Guyana.

While two of the team members had been to Third World countries previously, Mike Koza said, nothing could have prepared them for the opportunity to live, learn and work with indigenous peoples in a remote region. They experienced a non-tourist area and the heat of jungle.

Koza said the development of local pride was another by-product.

The students spent five weeks in pairs with families. They worked with village councils and elders, who helped them document canoe making, pottery, hammock making and cassava processing for the first time.

Robin Campbell said that indigenous knowledge is being lost as elders pass away and young people focus on North American lifestyles and on finding jobs outside of their communities. Unfortunately, too often their youthful dreams end in poverty due to a lack of opportunities, skills, education and self-respect.

It was the trip of a lifetime for the students, Jennifer Ford and Elizabeth Beesley said, and they see the world in a very different way as the result. By learning about another culture and becoming family members in a household, even for a short time, they developed very personal relationships and an appreciation for the warmth and generosity of their new family and friends.

“We also became acutely aware of their daily struggles relative to North American lifestyles and appreciated the challenges of community development in the developing world,” noted Morgandy Burkett. In venturing out, the team said, they ventured in and learned the more about who they are and the privileged roles they inhabit.

The Guyana Roots Initiative will continue next winter with a new team of senior students developing the work further, Warner said.