The Corriverton project area is situated in Upper Corentyne in Region 6. Although participants in the community consultation conceptualised poverty in different ways (see, for example Figure 1), a picture emerged of clear differences in poverty status amongst the local population, with land ownership, tenure and employment status being key factors. The residents of Little Africa, a 'Squatting area in Corriverton, for example, are vulnerable to the effects of insecurity of tenure. The predominantly Afro-Guyanese residents are reluctant to consolidate and upgrade their housing, or start up businesses in the community because their claims to plots of land might be disputed. The overall characteristics of poverty in Corriverton catchment area included:
Race/ethnicity aspects of poverty related particularly to claims on social networks within and between households, families and villages for welfare provision and access to secure livelihoods. Strong extended family links between Indo-Guyanese households in villages along the coastal strip were evident, maintained through regular culturally orientated gatherings. The extent to which such networks acted as a safety net for the most vulnerable did not emerge clearly through the short period of study. It did appear, however, that Afro-Guyanese households, socially and culturally excluded from these networks, did not have such strong social networks to call upon, either as part of their everyday interactions or in times of particular hardship. There were indications also that such strongly ethnically aligned networks of association influenced opportunities for inclusion in particular livelihoods according to ethnicity and social ties. Amongst the poorer Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese households, lack of access to these socio-cultural networks was perceived by participants to be an important aspect of vulnerability.
The small Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese are on the same level.. They struggle alike. They differ only in religions and culture, if Afro-Guyanese had more opportunities since after slavery, they too would have big business but they are trying. The small people have to work and live together. We all go through the same thing in life but the lndo-Guyanese save more and share more because of our culture, That is Why it seems like we have more than them. We stay together. They go apart. If they should live like we do, things would change for them. (Group of lndo-Guyanese villagers, No 43 village)
Another perspective was given by members of an lndo-Guyanese family in No 47 village. The elderly father said that maybe Afro-Guyanese have to stay poor until their time comes to get rich. His wife said she thinks that they are stupid. They handle money wrong and are quick to give away. They can't bear strain and they do not trust other races. Another member of the family offered this view: "We must have the poor with us because like life is designed that way. The Bible says that. So you have to fight to get away from poverty whether pink, black or blue. You have to run from poverty.'
What emerges is the picture that poverty is defined not only in economic terms (e.g., the ability to earn and/or provide for one's family) or social terms (e.g., the ability to make use of education opportunities) but also in psychological terms (e.g., one's attitude/approach to life).
The importance of the temple, mosque and church to respective communities emerged clearly through social mapping exercises and through discussion of the role of organised religion in the social life of the community. Hinduism appeared to predominate, with a minority of Indo-Guyanese being Muslim and Christian. Religious organisations in the area appeared to play an important charitable role as a safety net for the most vulnerable.
A perceived outcome of poverty - rather than a cause of poverty - was an inability to send children to school. Specific aspects of education mentioned in the context of poverty included not getting into GSS (i.e., "failing" the SSEE) and not being able to afford extra lessons, fees, textbooks or uniforms; some poor parents were unaware that the Department of Education was providing uniforms and other supplies for poor children. In some instances, participants made a clear link between education and improving their children's well-being and life opportunities.
Prema is a 36-year old Indo-Guyanese housewife, with a husband and four children. The family lives in No 68 village, squatting on a piece of land on the public road near the rest of her family of origin. Two of her boys attend Tagore Memorial, the third boy attends No. 68 primary and her daughter is not yet of school age. Her husband is a fisherman, but does not own a vessel and struggles to make ends meet.
Education to Prema is important because her children will not have to do hard jobs such as cane cutting when they leave school. They will be able to get good, easy jobs like teaching. At present it is difficult for her to maintain her children because her husband earns $500 a week when the catch is not good, usually during the dry season. However, she is able to credit goods from the village shops and pay whenever she can afford to. Her son is interested in science but might have to study something else because there is no work for people in that field and she cannot afford to send him to university.
She considers herself poor because she cannot afford to run water to her house, buy food, clothes and most of all donate money or gift items to the temple. All of these things the rich people can do and they can even travel, have their own businesses and send their children to schools far away and to the University. She only has one kerosene lamp for all of them to study; there is no electricity in her area, For every form, she has to buy different textbooks and she cannot afford that, so she buys one set of 3rd form books and expects her other child to use the same books.
A clear picture of the spatial location of the poor in the Corriverton project area emerged. The poor were widely perceived to be living either 'in between the average people', in the riverain communities and backdams of the villages away from the coast or in discrete squatting areas, particularly in Corriverton itself. The coastal villages within the catchment area are characterised by racial homogeneity but by socioeconomic heterogeneity. Outside of the racially mixed town of Corriverton the villages along the coastal road tend to be either predominantly Indo-Guyanese or predominantly Afro-Guyanese, with a broad range of well-being within each village. The pervasive view is that predominantly Afro-Guyanese villages and communities are not as wealthy as Indo-Guyanese villages; however, the villages between No 51 and No 53 villages (Union, Eversham) were identified as being populated by well-off Afro-Guyanese.
Up river, the Amerindian villages of Siparuta and Orealla, which lie within the catchment area of the Corriverton general secondary schools, were perceived by participants to be isolated and extremely poor. Due to time constraints, the research team was unable to visit either village. The children at the Amerindian Hostel in Corriverton, however, articulated the extreme income-poverty of their villages, manifested in an inability of Amerindian parents to afford the relatively low fees charged to cover food provision and the salary of the guardian of the hostel (see below).
The major centre of Corriverton itself is racially mixed and socio-economically heterogeneous, with considerable extremes of wealth. A focus group of teenage, IndoGuyanese, male tapir (local minibus taxi) drivers in Corriverton produced a social map of Corriverton. They perceived the areas of Queenstown and Rampoor in Corriverton to be mixed in racial composition, with most people owning their own property but still with a mix of rich and poor people. In Corriverton, they argued "everything mix up," unlike in Georgetown where they perceive residential districts to be more socio-economically and ethnically distinct. The areas of Little India and Little Africa were widely identified as poor areas in Corriverton; their names denote the dominant ethnic composition of the communities. These are very small land spaces, with residents lacking access to social and physical infrastructure and, particularly in Little Africa, experiencing insecurity of tenure. Children from these areas are widely perceived not to be successful in their SSEE and subsequent exams. Little Africa was perceived by the tapir drivers to be a poorer area than Little India. The residents of Little India, although not as well off as those in Queenstown or Rampoor, were more likely to own a vehicle than the Little Africa residents, and were more likely to be contractors or carpenters than cane cutters.
There were indications of racially-based tensions, accentuated at election times, that influence employment opportunities and, in Corriverton, local mutual perceptions of Little Africa residents and residents from elsewhere in the town. Some of the participants from Little Africa argued that Afro-Guyanese people are discriminated against by lndo-Guyanese in the area. In contrast, some Indo-Guyanese participants argued that Little Africa was a dangerous place, particularly at night, and that Little Africa residents tended to steal from others in the community. Racial bias also finds expression in some schools. During a focus group session with members of a church youth group, Afro-Guyanese children stated that teachers refer to them as "Black man," much to their discomfort.
Annie is a 21-year old housewife of mixed race, married to an lndo-Guyanese man in his late twenties and living in Little Africa. Annie left school after primary school and works in a business owned by an lndo-Guyanese. She believes that Indo-Guyanese think Of Afro-Guyanese (Black) people as thieves, and if they do not trust you, then they do not employ you. If they do employ you, she says, they peep at you all the time. Owners talk ill of Afro-Guyanese people openly if there is any problem involving the two races, such as shoplifting.
Residents of Little Africa came from other places, such as Suriname or other Corentyne villages. The place was originally bushy, and people began occupying it about five years ago. People from Little Africa, she says, are afraid to go into other residential areas or villages, especially during election time. One Afro-Guyanese prostitute was murdered by lndo-Guyanese tapir drivers over a deal that went wrong. Long ago, Annie herself was afraid to go into Crabwood Creek (a predominantly lndo-Guyanese village) because she believed that lndo-Guyanese felt that Afro-Guyanese should not be among them and there was no telling what they (the lndo-Guyanese residents) might do.
Charmayne is a 33-year-old Afro-Guyanese woman living in Little Africa. She has a stall in the market and sells a little from home; her husband is a cane cutter. Charmayne was unable to -settle in Little India because the residents of Little India she says, do not want Afro-Guyanese people living there. Any identification mark or foundation placed there by an Afro-Guyanese family is removed by the Indo-Guyanese residents. Charmayne says that unlike the Indo-Guyanese, the Afro-Guyanese are "not racial"; Indo-Guyanese can live in their area and feel comfortable.
A group of Indo-Guyanese tapir drivers perceive Little Africa to be relatively inaccessible to Indo-Guyanese. Indian people, they argue, "do not trespass black places" and certainly people "do not go in there at night". If you wear a nice ring or chain, they say, "they rob you', and they also steal animals. Even the police, they say, do not go into Little Africa at night.
The Corriverton area is one in which gender stereotyping and sexual division of labour are clearly evident. However, poverty has a way of overcoming entrenched attitudes developed through socialisation.
Gita is a school-aged girl who lives with her parents and little brother. Her mother is sick so her father does everything around the home and still goes to work, Her grandparents help to care for her mother. Gita helps by fetching water. She wants to be a nurse be does not get to go to school sometimes. She forgets what to write but her teacher helps her and shows her what to write. Her parents are not so rich. They had a chicken farm but her father had to give it up. He cries because his wife is very sick.
The employment landscape in Corriverton is extremely confined. It was particularly distorted during the 1980s when an active contraband trade developed due to the ban on consumer and other items imposed by the government. Primarily an agricultural area, the majority of residents were and continue to be restricted in such a pursuit as a result of the nature of land tenure in the community.
Participants in the community consultation process identified a wide range of occupational opportunities within the Corriverton project area, with significant race and gender associations. Self-employment, already identified as extremely important within the Corriverton area economy (see project submission document), is particularly important to the Indo-Guyanese population. A group of Indo-Guyanese market traders when listing occupational opportunities in the area, identified farming -- of rice, ground provisions and citrus - as important livelihoods for Indo-Guyanese men. Indo-Guyanese men also predominated in the tapir (local mini-bus taxi) business, while Afro-Guyanese men were more likely to work as employees on the sugar estates, labourers on farms or as self-employed electricians or mechanics. Both lndo- and AfroGuyanese men were involved in fishing, another important livelihood in the area; however, difference in attitude and approach to life prevail.
An Afro-Guyanese man and an Indo-Guyanese each bought an engine and a fishing boat to do illegal runnings. After one trip, both engines were seized but the Indo-Guyanese credited another engine, borrowed a boat and continued his operation. Three times after that his engines were taken away but he persisted. Eventually, he was able to accumulate enough money to pay his debts and buy his own boat and engine. On the other hand, the Afro-Guyanese man stopped the operation because he was afraid of the police and the possibility of going to jail. He ended up working at the rice factory.
Smuggling is done mostly by people who own fishing boats, with the majority being Indo-Guyanese. They are the ones who have millions of dollars.
(50-year-old indo-Guyanese woman married to an Afro-Guyanese man)
A group of nursery school teachers, all women who had attended a GSS, identified occupations in the community. They also identified work in a sawmill as another possibility for men. In fact, the sawmill and agricultural fields were identified as employing children by a male security guard. He also noted that young women hold most available office jobs. The nursery school teachers also identified cake decoration and craft as other areas in which women are economically engaged.
As discussed above, participants associated different livelihoods with a range of income and wealth levels. The focus group of Indo-Guyanese market traders perceived farming activities to be potentially very lucrative, as well as the tapir business. A focus group of tapir drivers themselves confirmed that the tapir business was well-remunerated, but singled out businessmen involved in exports (e.g., of fish) and imports (e.g., of used engines) and those in the grocery business as being particularly wealthy. In contrast the least well paid occupations, and those generally associated with the poor in the area, were cane cutting, bar tending and general labouring. Teaching, although carrying social status, was perceived by most participants to be a poorly paid profession. One participant was a University of Guyana-qualified teacher, currently working as a taxi driver because of the poor salary in teaching. If salaries increased, he would love to return to teaching.
The influence of gender on occupational opportunities was strong. The focus group of market traders identified men's and women's employment opportunities in specific segments of the local labour market. They perceived opportunities for women in service sector domestic work, in market trading or in the manufacturing of fishing nets. Women would only work as conductors on tapirs, and only then if their family owned the tapir. For those women with qualifications, opportunities arose in the banking/insurance sector.
Light was thrown on the relationship between ethnicity and women's occupational opportunities by a focus group of Indo-Guyanese female high school students. In analysing the progression of a cohort of 1 1 -year old girls they identified a limited range of occupational opportunities open to women in the Corriverton area. For those young women passing 5 or more CXCS, opportunities were largely confined to clerical positions in local banks or at the sugar estate office, in teaching or in the family business. For those with fewer than 5 CXCS, opportunities were further restricted to sales work, nursery or primary teaching or giving private lessons. Alternatively these young women might enter commercial school to learn clerical skills or take a test to enter a government technical institute. For those women who came out of school before taking CXCs or who failed their SSPE Part 1, income-earning opportunities were few, with the majority of women getting married or staying at home and helping with housework. A minority of those failing SSPE Part 1 might, like those young women gaining fewer than 5 CXCS, enter commercial school or a government technical institute. Women's options were additionally constrained by the limits placed on their physical mobility. The opposition voiced by parents in Indo-Guyanese households to women migrating to find work was emphasised strongly by this focus group.
The Department of Education is responsible for the supervision of teachers at the nursery, primary and secondary levels of the school system. Like all Regions of the country, it has found it difficult to retain the services of trained and/or graduate teachers as well as to attract highly qualified persons into the profession. As a consequence, many schools have on staff a large proportion of young teachers, persons who have recently completed secondary school themselves.
Teaching receives much competition from other opportunities in people's lives. For many, it is only a temporary occupation or one to be avoided at all cost. Some of the realities which work against a profession in teaching as shared by participants, are given below.
Teaching, although essential, is undervalued as a full-time occupation. One of the alternatives to teaching in the formal system is the provision of lessons on a private basis. One young woman who resides in Corriverton but attended secondary school in New Amsterdam and who now tutors privately is an example. She noted that it was not worth her while to work in a school since she earns much more managing her own operation.
Livelihoods are heavily dependent on individual initiative and family networks. In fact, many of the businesses are family-owned and operated. Small scale vending is also pursued particularly by women who could be seen selling snack foods outside schools as well in within their communities. Since a high rate of migration has been a feature of this part of the country for over a decade, many families benefit from remittances provided by relatives abroad.
Of note is the fact that the Guyana-Suriname Ferry is slated to be operational in the near future. It is feasible that this new service will have a positive impact on the economy of Corriverton and its environs. As far as could be discerned, little thought has been given to the consequences of this venture in terms of skills and services required. The mission heard of only one businessman was appeared to be cognizant of the potential impact and is preparing for the eventuality by commencing the construction of a hotel.
The following constraints on access to education emerged during the community consultation in the Corriverton project area:
The Amerindian hostel in Corriverton is operated by the Orealia Village Council. It has four rooms upstairs, occupied by 10 students, 6 girls and 4 boys. These students attend GSS, Skeldon Line Path and Skeldon High. Rooms are shared and some children sleep on mattresses in the passageway. The bottom flat in the hostel is used by visiting adults from Amerindian communities. A kitchen was added upstairs for use by students, enabling separation of the two groups. Recent renovation to the hostel was government funded and a telephone is promised.
Some 22 children in Orealla and 3 children in Siparuta sat the most recent SSEE; 19 children in Orealia passed and all 3 children in Siparuta passed. Of the former group, about 8 came to GSS; 8 additional children wanted to be accommodated at the Hostel but could not be. More children would attend GSS if accommodation and other financial support were available for them.
Jane Edwards, the hostel supervisor, said that parents find it difficult to meet children's needs, so much so that Jane subsides the facility as much as she can out of her Own pocket. B ds were provided by Food for the Poor but Were not handled properly and are now failing apart. Material support is given by government agencies to Orealla but none is passed on to the Hostel. There is nothing to give children when they come home from school.
Jane argued that boys should be housed in a separate building to the girls in order to help her monitor behaviour. The children want to stay out late and do their own thing, and Jane told the Council that rules need to be drawn up and enforced, She also observed that more than one person is needed to manage the Hostel effectively.
Several factors relating to perceptions of quality of education emerged during the Corriverton catchment area PRA:
"They (the teachers) don't teach the children. Some can't read good so they can't know the work to help the children. Is waste a time going to school to get papers and you can't get anything from it. It would be good if them bring people to teach you home in your house to do thing so you can do things with you hands and get money. If me father never use to teach we at home, we won't of know anything proper and we do read and teach we self only to get the opportunity to write the exam that's why we went to school." (3 sisters, No 48 village)
A male stall holder in the market who is in his late 20s said that he is shocked at the attitude of school personnel, both teachers and students. He feels that teachers have started the whole, damn rotten behaviour in school and they should be distressed if they are the ones in control of younger people's lives. How can the students rule them. They want more than they can chew. If they cannot have their way with the students, they treat them bad and students stand up for th eir rights. They say they are bad and refuse to teach them. Some don't know anything themselves because they crammed to pass their exams so now they cannot remember to do the work so they jump around. They are perpetrators. Government needs to pay more interest to this part of the country to save the young people here.
Seeta, single parent who is involved in small business activities, lives with her mother and two children. Her 13-year-old son, who refused to adhere to her advice, goes to school how he likes, when he pleases and in what is called rude-boy style. Not only does he have the appropriate hair cut, but he wears earrings and big pants and carries his book rolled up in his hands. Seeta said that boys who dress like that are anti-men. When the son is corrected by adults, he gives rudeness and would not go to school. Seeta and her male relatives feel that teachers should be stricter on children. She is disturbed and feels that her son will drop out of school. He cannot say what he wants in life.
The following issues concerning the perceived relevance of the existing education system emerged during the Corriverton project area community consultation: