Lenin Thomas, 30, is a member of a unique Amerindian tribe living in a part of Guyana’s rainforests so remote it is accessible only by airplane. He is also a final year theology student at the University of Southern Caribbean (USC) in Maracas Valley, a fairly normal achievement for many but a significant accomplishment for him.
Thomas has survived major environmental, social, financial, personal battles which threatened his very existence to make it to university. He comes from the Akawaio tribe of the Mazaruni region on the border between Guyana and Venezuela. There, eagles fly overhead, jaguars roam the forests and anacondas swim in the rivers and anger and violence is censored among the tribe. However, the love for gold and diamonds, which is abundant in Mazaruni, is threatening the complete obliteration of Thomas’ village.
Thomas, son of an Akawaio schoolteacher and education officer, was one of the more fortunate children in his tribe, although like them he grew up without basic amenities like pipe borne water and electricity.
As a young man, he battled alcohol and suicide after his mother died and his common-law wife left him with their two children, all in one month. When he survived that personal war and decided to enrol at USC in Trinidad, Thomas did not have a single cent.
Now, he is on his way to successfully completing his degree and already confidently planning to do his Masters. “I don’t know how,” he said. Thomas’ mission is to take the knowledge he gained to his village and share it with Akawaio’s youth in particular, many of whom are bright but don’t know how to move forward.
Recounting his journey, he said the Akawaio has had “some modernisation” with a government station, schools and regular air contact between the mining village and Georgetown, Digicel cell phones and Internet. Traditional thatched-roofed Akawaio houses are being replaced by concrete ones and villagers own motorbikes and all terrain vehicles.
But Akawaio women still wash clothes by the river and the men fish with bows and arrows, as the tribe has been doing for generations. Thomas said some villagers are now pumping water from wells using solar energy and almost everyone has a generator for electricity. He said a special time in the village for him is when all generators are off at night and he sits on the bare earth gazing at millions of stars in the dark sky.
“It’s cold and silent and really beautiful. When you wake up in the morning, it’s all misty.” Thomas’ tribe and others nearby protested the building of a hydraulic dam to provide energy for miners that would have completely inundated their village. That matter is in court. Mining has brought daily flights between Georgetown and Mazaruni but the Akawaio still remain largely isolated.
“The flight costs about $700 one way. Because of this, the majority of villagers don’t get to come out,” he said.
The Akawaio are nearly self sufficient, Thomas revealed: “We plant red beans, black-eyed peas, onions, peanuts, cassava, plantains and hunt and fish. The only thing we bring in from the city (Georgetown) is flour, rice, oil, salt.”
Women make cotton. Up until seven or eight years ago they wore traditional beaded skirts and the men wore aprons. Akawaio young men, like Alvern Austin who got 11 passes in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC), rarely leave the village to further their education.
“It’s really difficult to get out. Many have no relatives outside and nowhere to stay if they want to further their education,” Thomas said.
Thomas nearly didn’t get out.
“When my mother died and my common-law wife left me with our children, I became depressed and suicidal. I was drinking a lot,” he said.
He was teaching biology at the Akawaio’s secondary school on a teacher’s training certificate, at the time. But Thomas met missionaries and he got baptised and went to Georgetown and taught for five years. He set his heart on doing theology but it was not being offered at Georgetown’s university.
“A friend told me about USC and I came to Trinidad and enrolled. I did not have money to pay for tuition but USC allowed me study for a whole semester without paying, stay in the dorm and have two meals a day. God has been good to me.”
Thomas eventually got a loan and, with part time work, was able to pay for his education. When he’s done with education, Thomas plans to go back to his Akawaio village.
“The air is cleaner up there,” he said.