A new cultural doorway has been opened for Guyana’s children as the Guyana Marine Conservation Society (GMCS) in collaboration with its partners, launched the Warrau Booklet “A Glimpse of Warrau Culture”, giving fresh insight into the heritage of the Warrau people while strengthening ties between tradition and modern education in Guyana. This has been made possible following a collaboration between the Education Ministry and the GMCS. This is the fourth booklet in a series produced under the Education and Awareness Project on the Barima-Mora Passage. The booklet, which targets primary and secondary school students, is supported by SBM Offshore Guyana and aims to promote, increase, and encourage the sustainable use and management of the Barima-Mora Passage in Region One. It provides a window through which younger generations and future scholars may look, learn, and come to know, appreciate, and celebrate the heritage of the Warrau people. Speaking at the launching ceremony on Monday, Director of National Centre of Educational Resources Development (NCERD), Omwattie Ramdin, noted that the booklet is designed to showcase the richness of Warrau culture. “Unless we read somewhere, perhaps an old outdated booklet, we would not know of the Warrau people. And so, for me, this is huge, because a lot of our cultural identity gets lost in the daily mundane talks of society. Sometimes, the exciting things are the things that we give life to, and they take precedence over the important things. That is the importance of launching this booklet,” she emphasised.
In the pages of this beautifully written book, readers will find reflections of language, ritual legends, agricultural practices, craftsmanship, and the spiritual world—the warp and weft of Warrau cultural expressions. You will read myths, like the origin of the Sky People, a story that speaks of people, spirits, and the night sky.
“It is a bridge between Warrau communities and the broader Guyanese society, a tool for education, recognition, and respect. May this work be taken into classrooms. May the launch be only the beginning. Very often, we launch something, but it is not sustained. While a launch is important, it is even more important for our children to be using the book, and for it not to become another resource that gets stuck on a shelf acquiring dust.”
She urged that the lessons of the booklet should not remain only on its pages.
In fact, she called for field trips, encouraging children to step outside the classroom, live the stories, and make real the knowledge passed down through the book.
