Ameena Gafoor: guiding light for arts in Guyana and studies on indentureship

Dear Editor,
Mrs Ameena Gafoor was a truly extraordinary woman who believed in what she stood for.
She was a woman of immense strength and integrity, self-confidence and self-esteem; a woman of humility and kindness, whose wisdom and experience were guiding lights for culture and the arts, which she supported financially.
She blazed a trail for women in business and in articulating support for culture, and set a very high standard for other business persons (men and women) to follow in supporting the arts.
From early on, she had been a tireless advocate for the arts and humanities, and had contributed significant funds thereto. Guyanese are inspired by her commitment to the arts and to female empowerment. It is a tribute to her that so many (Indian) people feel such a deep sense of loss at her passing.
Her passing is also a serious loss of funding for Indian culture. It is to be hoped that her family would continue to fund the programmes and activities she had supported for most of her life.
The diaspora, in many reflections, mourns and celebrates the extraordinary life of this remarkable woman, who had devoted her life to the arts. Guyanese at home and in the diaspora mourn a woman who had helped Guyana and its diaspora to remember our cultural heritage, as penned in the Art Journal that she founded.
Guyanese celebrate a woman who had epitomized business integrity and decency in living; someone whose life had reflected a heart of kindness and commitment to faith, family, friends and ethnicity.
Ameena, as she had fondly been called, is deserving of accolades (as penned in the media) for her immense contributions to education and literature, published works that inspired and influenced many Guyanese. From art to literature, she left an indelible mark.
Ameena had displayed strong interest in artistic culture, but had been more supportive of a modernistic approach to Indian culture. Not surprisingly, her passing garnered widespread media attention, reaching every corner of the diaspora (UK, North America, Caribbean) and touching the hearts of both young and old.
Ameena’s interest in, and funding of, Indian culture or the arts, and in documenting indentured history stood in stark contrast to other business people, who behave miserly in donating to worthy cultural causes. Her contributions to Indian Guyanese literature and arts are unparalleled in post-independence Guyana. She gave financial support from funds obtained from hard work in businesses that she and her husband had founded. It was old money, earned honestly, and not from corruption.
She is known to have offered much financial support to promote culture and identity, as in the Arts Journal (now defunct) and The Ameena Gafoor Institute of Indentureship Studies (pioneered by the indomitable Dr David Dabydeen) and its new journal of same subject. Her actions and financial support touched many lives and exemplified the qualities of a person who understood the importance of the arts in the journey of a group of people, and of recording their history.
She was deserving of an honorary doctorate by UG; thank you, VC Dr Paloma Mohamed-Martin, for recognizing the work of this outstanding woman. UWI should have followed suit, for Ameena had done more for education and culture than many who have been honoured by that institution.
May the legacy, hard work, kindness, lifestyle and teachings of Ameena Gafoor continue to inspire and guide Guyanese. And may her family, long into the future, continue support for the arts and Journal of Indentureship Studies founded by Dr Dabydeen.

Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram