http://voiceofguyana.com/2007/06/08/guyanese-literature-jeremy-poynting-peepal-tree-press-feature/ One Nation. One Station. One Voice! Tue, 03 Aug 2010 02:44:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://voiceofguyana.com/2007/06/08/guyanese-literature-jeremy-poynting-peepal-tree-press-feature/comment-page-1/#comment-18737 Jacquelyn McCammon-Junor Mon, 11 May 2009 19:32:18 +0000 http://voiceofguyana.com/2007/06/08/guyanese-literature-jeremy-poynting-peepal-tree-press-feature/#comment-18737 I have just finished a book that I was writing about "Small Days " in Guyana called: A “BIOGRAPHYCAL REFLECTIVE PICTORIAL DISCUSSION” OF CHILDHOOD DAYS… PAST CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES. Your article has sharpened some of my strong points. Thank you. A PEEK... Boys would often swim in the canal on my block. This was the cleanest section since there were no weeds or small plants growing in there. I used to stand on my bridge and watched the boys dive, somersaulted, swam and frolicked in the water. Many boys learnt how to swim on the section on my block. The canal looked like a private lake, especially after a heavy rainfall. It was also away from the commercial. Trash and debris of all kinds got thrown into the other sections, even the carcasses of people’s dead pets. All sections were however cleaned out on a daily basis by the City and Town Council. It was funny for both adults and children watching, to see the boys suddenly jumped out of the water, snatched their clothing and ran off naked whenever the police showed up. Since the canal was deep, and it opened and closed at scheduled times, the police made regular checks knowing that boys tend to swim there. No impure thoughts were in the minds of the boys as they swam naked together or their on- lookers. Boys usually had "no shame" at that innocent time. No one noticed these boys. These city boys did so only when swimming in the canal on the way home from school. We were only focused on the "prowess" of some of the good swimmers. Some boys, who were too slow to get out of the canal, were caught by the police. The others, who were lucky for that particular time, ran off with their clothing just in front of their private parts, into their homes, or by climbing a neighbor's fence in order to do so. The others were allowed to dress and taken home to their parents as a group, walking besides the policemen's bicycles and dropped off at their homes with explanations of the occurrence. Some of the boys cried along the way because their parents would punish them after they got home. I have just finished a book that I was writing about “Small Days ” in Guyana called: A “BIOGRAPHYCAL REFLECTIVE PICTORIAL DISCUSSION” OF CHILDHOOD DAYS…
PAST CUSTOMS AND PRACTICES.
Your article has sharpened some of my strong points. Thank you.

A PEEK…

Boys would often swim in the canal on my block. This was the cleanest section since there were no weeds or small plants growing in there. I used to stand on my bridge and watched the boys dive, somersaulted, swam and frolicked in the water. Many boys learnt how to swim on the section on my block. The canal looked like a private lake, especially after a heavy rainfall. It was also away from the commercial. Trash and debris of all kinds got thrown into the other sections, even the carcasses of people’s dead pets. All sections were however cleaned out on a daily basis by the City and Town Council.
It was funny for both adults and children watching, to see the boys suddenly jumped out of the water, snatched their clothing and ran off naked whenever the police showed up. Since the canal was deep, and it opened and closed at scheduled times, the police made regular checks knowing that boys tend to swim there.
No impure thoughts were in the minds of the boys as they swam naked together or their on- lookers. Boys usually had “no shame” at that innocent time. No one noticed these boys. These city boys did so only when swimming in the canal on the way home from school. We were only focused on the “prowess” of some of the good swimmers. Some boys, who were too slow to get out of the canal, were caught by the police. The others, who were lucky for that particular time, ran off with their clothing just in front of their private parts, into their homes, or by climbing a neighbor’s fence in order to do so. The others were allowed to dress and taken home to their parents as a group, walking besides the policemen’s bicycles and dropped off at their homes with explanations of the occurrence. Some of the boys cried along the way because their parents would punish them after they got home.