not me, something wrong??

I remember Tola, the photographic expert. I was wondering about him lately too. Hope all is well at his end, health wise.

 somebody here his name and shoot him now they looking for the person that name him

What?

Hi Amral,

Could you please post the following  in response to IGH request about me.

Hello IGH and all on GNI, its been a while and time is so short for the things I want to do in my lifetime, including visiting Pitcairn’s Island to meet the Bounty’s ancestors. 

IGH, your name always reminds me of the grocery store chain, where I can get fresh fruits and veggys.  That is a compliment, because you always seems so spunky and bright.  Thank you for asking about me, I am doing well.   We go way back and I saw James a while ago, he recovered, but still weak.

Chameli, thanks for your mail.

I was asked  by a financial institution to produce a series of photograph  to show boosting of the Guyana’s economy  with some humour,  as the attached photo show.   Gil, it was a no-brainer, because I produced works in India that earn me  five figures fees. One was  a photograph of  a woman with a gold trim sari and nose ring held up with some strands of her hair, looking thru the lens of my new pro  camcorder.  With the approval of her release , she also earned a handsome fee. .  The photograph was used to advertise  the camera in Asia.

Amral, please title photograph  BOOSTING GUYANA’S  ECONOMY.

Warrior, your posts are unique and it reminds me of a Guyana story.  A sales person  shows up at a residence in Topoo, Albion and said to a lil bai ‘ Are your parents home’? The boy replied, ‘ They is not at home’. The  person  noticing the grammatical error asked , ‘don't you go to school boy, where is your grammar’, he replied’ She  are  not at home either’.

You mean well Warrior and this is not to put you down, but to show the uniqueness of your writings, which I feel brings life to discussions.

Regarding my name Tola. Nuff, a guy whom I believe was the only person on GNI to reach 100,000 posts visited Tortola, BVI   at the time when I was also there.  The people in  Tortola are called Tolans and Nuff would  kid me about about the name, until I took it as my nick.

I first went to Tortola in 1969 when the first batch of Guyanese arrived there to build  a new  road and bridge to  Beef Island where the airport is located. This was  after the British company, Pauling and Company,  finished building Black Bush Polder and Tapacuma rice cultivation schemes and took most employees to Tortola. Some stayed  there and others moved to the US and Canada.

In the early  days when GNI discussion forum was called other names, we were a strong team of close friends.  I found out a lot about my past on the sugar plantation by knowing one poster name  Queenie  and Dove helped us a lot with our Guyana foundation reports, that was used for fundraising.  Many of us did not meet each other,  but the friendship was very strong.  I long for those days to return, but as we age  we are facing many health challenges, right Gil. 

Gil, I am very sorry to hear of your illness.  Your challenges, Mara’s, a disabled friend in Minnesota and another in Toronto  has motivated me to attend  gym  and aquatic  aerobics three times a week, with  a healthy diet.  A lady with a stroke needs to do aerobics from a chair  and I see the difficulty  she faces.  I also find looking at sweaty bodies of  senior women another motivation.

While in Guyana I tend to walk for miles, which  is unusual for others.  Recently  while walking a distance about four miles along  the public road, I noticed  the number of taxi trying to pick me up. I counted 17 going in the same direction and six going in the opposite direction, who would turn around for one short-drop passenger.  Guyana  seems to become a lazy place and we face many challenges to implement our domestic violence and suicide prevention programs.

After our last SN report that Mara posted on GNI a few years ago, we extended our  efforts to include some interior and Essequibo  projects for women.  We were at Paramakatoi, that has a high school  for the nearby villages and completed the concrete floor of  a school in Upper Mazaruni, when the contractor ran out of cement, but wrote the school off as completed. With the help of some friends in GT we shipped 100 sacks of cement and hired a person to do the work.  We also finished the village community hall, that doubled as school feeding kitchen.

The rain water tanks were mounted lower than the inside toilets and the contractor resolved the problem  by building out-houses in the bushes, most times with poisonous snakes around.

In Essequibo we  provided funding for computer training and worked with another group who received  GY$2M from Canada Fund.

The political climate in Berbice seems to be changing. One huge setback for our foundation  was when a 22 year old married ex-youth group  member died during child birth at Fort Wellington Hospital, due to inexperience staff, according to her mother. She left behind a two year old daughter that her  aged single parent mother now has to look after, with the support of a kitchen garden  The  present youth are disheartened because they feel  the public healthcare system care little for them.  This has caused huge setback to our programs.

The latest episode was when we tried to purchase a property for phone-line and walk in counselling,  the lawyer bought the place for himself and due to the political climate,  we had no choice for recourse. In Guyana if  a person make waves against a political supporter, things can go from  bad to worst very quickly. 

Bandit gangs are operating in places we thought were safe and  as an overseas Guyanese, we become easy targets.  But we are at the stage of passing  the foundation efforts to resident Guyanese. Due to the corrupt nature of the place,   we are not sure how long this might last.  Unless something is done about crime, especially bandit attacks,  other NGOs might not want to remain in Guyana.

Other than some challenges regarding my eyes, the doctor said my body  is  like a teenager  and might live to be 100, but when I have a healthy dinner our son  feels I cancel it with the second beer.  Gil, any suggestion regarding  this dilemma ?

  BOOSTING GUYANA’S  ECONOMY

HA HA HA HA

Nice work! Very creative.

Tola ought to be encouraged to post here again.

Rev

Glad to know all is well with you, Tola-Tortola.

Regarding your eyesight, I can only recommend the obvious orange-coloured things like carrots, pumpkin, mangoes, etc. Stay well.

Nice to know my GNI buddy is fine & still doing what he loves best - PHOTOGRAPHY & helping others in need.

Tola, I know you alwyas teased me about the IGH... and I always smile... When I have to initial ..., I smile remembering your teasing...

So glad for the update on JAMES...say hello to him for me... I an visulazing him coming tomy desk to look over the apps... beofre submission.

Rev, you have my vote... TOLA please return to our first home on the internet- GNI...

Still have that book you sent me, TOLA.

Stay Well my friend...