Blog

the bird with the pale-butter underbelly and dark wide wings that flies overhead, dipping and soaring above my home freshly roasted peanuts, still warm and ready to be shelled, that remind me of my father and our ritual on Saturday afternoons, the empty coffee jar waiting to be filled for my mother’s delight the opportunity… Read more

All That You Have Is Your Soul Song by Tracy Chapman  1989 Oh my mama told me ‘Cause she say she learned the hard way Say she want to spare the children She say don’t give or sell your soul away ‘Cause all that you have is your soul  Don’t be tempted by the shiny apple Don’t you eat of a… Read more

The photograph, above, was taken early this morning, outside my home in the Luxembourg Ardennes. It’s a peaceful place. It is also a refuge for families of migrants from Syria, Ethiopia, the DRC, the Philippines and other places of struggle and conflict. It is the home to a some French, German and Belgians whose countries… Read more

At the end of this first month of 2025, I was overwhelmed by sadness, not by the inauguration of a president, that was a given, but by how this event in the USA, took the news in a direction away from all that needs to have focus. Where the spotlight needs to shine, and where… Read more

Source: Photograph of a card sent by the author’s mother in 2001 I’ve never been a fan of November. Too many unremembered, forgotten or never acknowledged moments. Then, in the northern hemisphere, the longer nights give way to seemingly longer days further south. Even when I would rather not believe in the arbitrariness of the… Read more

Photo credit – the author: A bridge, one of many, on campus at Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA It all began in conversation with a graduate of Waterford Kamhlaba, United World College of Southern Africa, who talked with me about his experiences through school to his acceptance of a fully paid scholarship to study at a university… Read more

Emails, notes, academic reading texts, memorandums from various Ministries of Education, teacher appraisals, job descriptions, CVs, strategic plans, school accreditation documents, the odd poem from my desk, a light novel, the occasional can’t-be-put-down paperback, photography – gardening – recipes – interior decoration – art catalogues were the bread and butter of much of my reading… Read more

Photo credit: Author – December 2023 The space between being born and dying. That time in between when we have the opportunity to do something that is respectful of self and others. Toni Morrison reminds us that; “We are already born. We are going to die. So, you have to do something interesting, that you… Read more

Author’s letters to her mother (Ela Muñoz collage) How long ago is it since you wrote or received a hand-written letter? One that was sealed in an envelope, or written on an aerogramme, taken to the post office for stamps and finally dropped through the box?  I recently came across a bunch of letters I… Read more

Shelter in the Fields: author’s image captured 29 April just outside Wahl, Luxembourg Have you ever questioned yourself? Doubted yourself? Wondered if you were clever enough, brave enough, generous enough and all the other ‘enoughs’ out there? If you haven’t then just swipe across to something else that maybe enough or more. But if you… Read more

I found myself in the air I breathed from the moment I walked onto the tarmac from the plane. I found myself along the dusty road from Timehri Airport to Georgetown. I found myself in every street and around every corner, in and out of Stabroek and Bourda markets, by the sea wall, walking on… Read more

I have to admit that it has been very difficult for me to be hopeful this February. I have looked on at a world in chaos and turmoil where it seems that our world leaders have gone mad and insanity has overtaken.  I turn to the land, which is quiet now in the northern hemisphere,… Read more

Photo Credit: Patricia Angoy There are countries you pass through, countries on your bucket list to visit, countries so far away that you cannot reach them during your lifetime and others that don’t allow you to visit. There are countries that are an easy train ride away and others that require crossing several time zones… Read more

Credit: The San People of Southern Africa, 4000 years ago This penultimate month of 2023 marks the end of schooling for many in the southern hemisphere. Graduation ceremonies evoke a plethora of emotions from students, their parents, teachers, and other members of staff that keep a school functioning and growing.  As young people finish their… Read more

Credit: Pinterest It is over 50 years since Marvin Gaye released this album and signature song, What’s Going On. It seems that the answer is the same as it was half a century ago; racism, police brutality, drug abuse, environmental degradation, poverty and war.  However, I think it would be a mistake to think we have learnt… Read more

Photo Credit: author’s own photograph (with edges and shadows) Image left: personal gift from the Bailey family, see more @ https://baha.co.za. Image right: African Beauty by Phindile Mamba, see more @ https://yeboartgallery.com This month of September has given me the opportunity to read around what I can source, so far, of my own heritage and that of black Guyanese.… Read more

It was 9:30am on Monday morning when the doorbell rang. I opened it to my neighbour carrying an old tin basin filled with freshly picked green beans. He asked me if I knew how to cook them. He then invited me to take what I wanted.  A simple gesture that conveyed so much. He trusted… Read more

Photo credit: author I am learning to look at what I can see in the images I have taken in the places I have lived.  From time to time, many of you will look at printed photographs you may have in old shoe boxes, as I do. Some of you may even be fortunate to… Read more