Tricia La Rose: an Indigenous woman of inspiration

Tricia La Rose-Persaud is a special person. Born and raised in Moruca, Region One (Barima-Waini), this young mother of Arawak descent is a pilot by profession, as well as a FAA (Federal Aviation Association) advance instructor in the US. She is also a MBA graduate and businesswoman who invested in the aviation sector in both Guyana and North America.
Tricia owes her success to what she describes as her “go-getter” spirit as well as the inspiration she drew from her husband later on. Coming from a single-parent home and one of four children, she recalls her father being absent while her mother was mentally unstable. As a result, she was brought up by her grandmother who she describes as having been resourceful and extremely hard-working, raising her grandchildren in Indigenous traditions.
Growing up with limited resources, life was not easy, said Tricia, who remembers her grandmother loosening the stitches on her school uniforms to be able to turn them over so that she could use them again another year. And because they couldn’t afford new school uniforms, they would walk everyday a mile to school and back bare-feet. Most days she and her siblings would not go home for lunch because “there wasn’t any”. Instead they would join the line at school to benefit from the school-feeding programme.
But rather than becoming a victim of her circumstances, Tricia refused to place limits to her abilities and believed in “reaching for the sky”. Sports and cultural activities enabled her to find an escape from the hardships she endured as a child. From the age of five, she would get up at 05:30h every morning to swim with her class. She later became involved in school athletics, as well as dancing in Mashramani costume competitions, and playing the flute in church (Catholic). At the age of 10, she was already representing her region in athletics. By then she would have won medals for swimming and running. At 11 she represented her region in the Mashramani under-13 costume dance competition. Dressed as a Kanaima, she secured the 3rd place.
After her grandmother died, Tricia was forced to migrate to the Essequibo Coast to attend secondary school. However, the foster family she lived with couldn’t afford to provide for her school needs and as a result she dropped out of school and began working as a domestic cleaner, saving every dollar she earned. At age 14, she left for Georgetown in search of better opportunities. There, she took care of a younger cousin in exchange for boarding. She later secured her first real job as a cashier before investing her earnings in Information Technology (IT) courses and obtaining her Caribbean Examinations Council Certificate. During this period, she was also integrated into a girls rugby club where she later became the Vice President for her team.
At age 21 she became a store manager and later a department manager for a Courts Inc branch. With encouragement and support from the man who would later become her husband, she invested in a small trading venture in Moruca. She describes her husband as being one of the greatest inspirations who would motivate her to become a pilot.
Today, Tricia has become a success story for her family and continues to maintain and exert a positive influence for those in her entourage. After elevating herself, she was able to take care of her mother as well as reunite with her three other siblings. Though the youngest, she has become the backbone of the family, providing advice and support to her older brother and sisters.
When asked what advice she could give to young Indigenous women, this is what Tricia had to say:
“I crept before I walked and it was not an easy road for me but I like to give every challenge my best shot. My advice to young women in general is to never think different about yourself. Never diminish yourselves as Amerindians. Never give up in your dreams but always push yourself to achieve them. Always be humble, but never let anyone make you feel little because you’re Amerindian. Regardless of your race, everything is possible, it just depends on your ability to turn that possibility into reality. Anything a man can do professionally, a woman can do. As a pilot, I’m a living proof of that!”
Tricia hopes one day to give back to young people in her community who are socially and economically disadvantaged.