We in the West live in world in which everyone seems to be elbowing forward, begging for attention, and whether you’re interested or not somebody or other is constantly screaming “look at ME!” (At the time of writing it’s not even so much somebody, more a body part that’s doing the screaming.)
As far as I can recall it wasn’t like that when I was growing up back in Guyana; people were humbler, simpler, and perhaps that’s why I’ve always had an eye for those quiet heroes who do great things without much ado. They don’t care if the world sees or not. They don’t care if the world applauds or not. They don’t care if they get rich or not. They just do it: because they love to do it, because it’s right.
That’s the reason why I’d like to introduce a couple of such unsung heroes: in this case, the men and women who care for this not-so-little spot of earth “behind God’s back”. People who’ve made changes in society; people who protect its earth, its animals, its rivers and its trees. I'll call them Earth Heroes.
I’ll start with a few I already personally know. A week from today I’ll be going there myself, and I’ll discover a few more. In the meantime, to begin with, here’s Salvador:
I’ve known Salvador since my teens. He was my best friend Margaret’s boyfriend, a sweet-natured, rather shy, long-haired young man from a well-to-do Portuguese-Guyanese family. When he and I were 19 and Margaret was 20 the three of us, thoroughly bored with life-as-we-knew-it, decided to take off. For over a year we backpacked around the South American continent: up the Brazilian Amazon, into the Peruvian jungle, over the Andes to Peru, up to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu and finally up the Pacific coast to Ecuador and Colombia, where we parted company.
Margaret and Salvador went back to Guyana, for Margaret was pregnant. They fulfilled a long-time dream of Salvador: they leased some land in the North-West District and created a working farm in the jungle from nothing. I stayed with them for a while, and believe me, it was tough. I soon fled, but they continued.
Later they moved to the USA; they raised a family in Brooklyn; they moved to New Jersey, where Salvador had his own gardening business. They divorced.
Years passed; I kept in touch with Margaret, lost touch with Salvador.
Until recently.
With his second wife, Andrea, Salvador has finally found his “place” in life; it wasn’t Brooklyn, it wasn’t New Jersey: it was Guyana. It had always been Guyana. Salvador is one of those people who simply belong in their native land, whose roots are so firmly planted in its earth they always must go back. They’re homing pigeons.
Back home, Salvador found his own particular acre of land up in Savannahs of the Rupununi District, where he helps run the Karanambu Lodge alongside Diane McTurk—who, of course, is already a hero in her own right for her work with Guyana's Giant River Otters (and whom I hope to meet very soon, and present in these pages as well).
And now I’ll stop. If you want to know why Salvador is an Earth Hero of Guyana—and Andrea as well—just read their blog over there in the right: The Adventures of Andrea and Salvador. Doesn’t it make you long to join them? It certainly does me. And soon enough, I will.
I can't wait to meet Salvador again, after almost 30 years, and meet his wife, Andrea.
As far as I can recall it wasn’t like that when I was growing up back in Guyana; people were humbler, simpler, and perhaps that’s why I’ve always had an eye for those quiet heroes who do great things without much ado. They don’t care if the world sees or not. They don’t care if the world applauds or not. They don’t care if they get rich or not. They just do it: because they love to do it, because it’s right.
That’s the reason why I’d like to introduce a couple of such unsung heroes: in this case, the men and women who care for this not-so-little spot of earth “behind God’s back”. People who’ve made changes in society; people who protect its earth, its animals, its rivers and its trees. I'll call them Earth Heroes.
I’ll start with a few I already personally know. A week from today I’ll be going there myself, and I’ll discover a few more. In the meantime, to begin with, here’s Salvador:
 |
| Salvador |
Margaret and Salvador went back to Guyana, for Margaret was pregnant. They fulfilled a long-time dream of Salvador: they leased some land in the North-West District and created a working farm in the jungle from nothing. I stayed with them for a while, and believe me, it was tough. I soon fled, but they continued.
Later they moved to the USA; they raised a family in Brooklyn; they moved to New Jersey, where Salvador had his own gardening business. They divorced.
Years passed; I kept in touch with Margaret, lost touch with Salvador.
Until recently.
 |
| Diane McTurk |
With his second wife, Andrea, Salvador has finally found his “place” in life; it wasn’t Brooklyn, it wasn’t New Jersey: it was Guyana. It had always been Guyana. Salvador is one of those people who simply belong in their native land, whose roots are so firmly planted in its earth they always must go back. They’re homing pigeons.
Back home, Salvador found his own particular acre of land up in Savannahs of the Rupununi District, where he helps run the Karanambu Lodge alongside Diane McTurk—who, of course, is already a hero in her own right for her work with Guyana's Giant River Otters (and whom I hope to meet very soon, and present in these pages as well).
And now I’ll stop. If you want to know why Salvador is an Earth Hero of Guyana—and Andrea as well—just read their blog over there in the right: The Adventures of Andrea and Salvador. Doesn’t it make you long to join them? It certainly does me. And soon enough, I will.
I can't wait to meet Salvador again, after almost 30 years, and meet his wife, Andrea.
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