Orphan among scholarship awardees to study overseas

By Devina Samaroo

An orphan is among four new Guyanese students who has won scholarships to study across the world at universities under the United World Colleges (UWC), an international organisation that has launched its second scholarship programme in Guyana.

Masud Lewis
Masud Lewis
Bibi Asseya Mohamed
Bibi Asseya Mohamed

The students are Tyreis Hunte, 16, from St Joseph High School; Bibi Aseeya Mohamed, 16, from Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary; Masud Lewis, 17, from Bishops’ High School; and Nicholas Roberts, 17, from Educational Trust College.
They were chosen by the National Committee of UWC (Guyana) from a shortlist of 16 students.
Hunte will be studying at UWC Changshu (China), Mohamed at UWC Costa Rica, Lewis at UWCSEA (Singapore) and Roberts at – UWC Red Cross Nordic (Norway).

Tyreis Hunte
Tyreis Hunte
Nicholas Roberts
Nicholas Roberts

Lifetime opportunity
It is an opportunity of a lifetime for the four students. According to Hunte, when he received the good news, he was overwhelmed with joy.
“I couldn’t control my emotions. I even woke up the next morning and asked if I was actually selected because it was still unbelievable. Being selected out of so many talented and intelligent young individuals who all have their own vision and plan to improve the future of the country,” he expressed.
Hunte said this experience will grant him the ideal opportunity to showcase the Guyanese culture and traditions to the hundreds of other students from across the globe who will be attending the college.
The other recipient, Mohamed, was incredibly elated when she was informed of her success:
“UWC is a life changing organisation to many teens. As a 16-year-old just finishing high school it is a great opportunity to earn a scholarship from this organisation. The UWC colleges aren’t only about academics…They create a community with students from all different parts of the world. Going to UWC Costa Rica would be a pleasure for me,” she stated, as she urged other students to apply for these life changing scholarships.
Lewis, the other winner, said he always “thirsted for an educational system which not only promotes and facilitates rigid academic goals, but also promotes unlimited and intense extracurricular goals along with the initiative to blend cultures and perspectives, with the aim of creating a better world.”
With this thirst fermenting, he was overjoyed when he won the scholarship to study at UWC.

“I wouldn’t have been able to afford studentship at any of the colleges without assistance and as such, I am eternally grateful to each and every individual who has made this ‘opportunity-in-a-million’ possible,” he said.
Roberts, who spent most of his life at the St John Bosco Orphanage in Plaisance, always thought opportunities like these were out of his league:
“When I was first introduced to the United World College scholarship, I thought for a moment that this was too big for me,” he explained.
Therefore, when he won the scholarship, he was beyond ecstatic:
“In my mind, I would have never seen an orphan going to a foreign country on a scholarship. Anyway the scholarship did not care if you were an orphan, a billionaire, an invalid or anything of that sort, it just cared about how an individual could change the world through education, peace, and fraternity. I am finally a part of something great,” he expressed.
He explained that too often, individuals are defined by their background and only afforded opportunities based on those origins. But Roberts is encouraging everyone out there, regardless of their situations, to break boundaries and strive for greatness.

UWC
UWC Guyana, founded in 2015, is the Guyana branch of UWC, which has the mission “To make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future”.
UWC has existed since 1962 and Nelson Mandela was a former president of the board – his own children were educated at the UWC in Swaziland during apartheid.
UWC has 15 schools and colleges across five continents all with distinctive characters but sharing the same mission, ethos and values.
Last year four students were selected and are now studying at UWC. Kyle Joseph, a former Queen’s College student is in Canada; Merissa Peterson, a former of Diamond Secondary is in the USA; Saif Panday, formerly of St Roses High is in Singapore; and Stephon Roberts, who attended Bishops’ High is in China. (DevinaSamaroo)