Walking in My Mother’s Footsteps

Joycelin Massiah tells of the impact of her mother on her life and work

“My mother had the knack of balancing her professional life with her community life with her domestic life. And she managed it without the negative connotations that obtain today. Her husband always remained at the centre of her life and her children did not become delinquent “because she worked outside the home”. Her style was not aggressive in any sense. She was in the vanguard of activities addressing women’s social concerns and she was always encouraging other women. I grew up knowing her doing just that and I don’t know how to do anything else!

“She was a very good example of a woman who found ways to develop a career. Opportunities were extremely limited for women of that generation. They could go into medicine or law, if their families could provide financially. But most women professionals went into nursing, social work, or as she did, teaching. And because she was a phenomenal teacher, she rose through the ranks of the profession to become headmistress.

“She was entirely self-trained. I have memories of her up late at night, sitting on the floor surrounded by endless papers and books, making notes, writing and writing.

“Having got her certification, she turned her attention to the situation of women teachers in the service. She became the first female president of the Guyana Teachers Union. In her Acceptance address (in 1968) she said, “Gentlemen, we women have now gained a toe-hold and we are determined in the process of time to push the door wide open”. I believe she e boosted the self-esteem of women in the profession and things began to change as the years went by.

“She got into women’s organizing though her involvement with CASWIG (Conference on the Affairs and Status of Women in Guyana) and WRSM (Women’s Revolutionary Socialist Movement) working with other women on childcare and promotion of appropriate technologies.

“She was a founder of the first CARIWA (Caribbean Women’s Association). After a hiatus of a few years the second CARIWA, an umbrella of women’s organizations, emerged. It was as part of that second formation, which included Nesta Patrick, Audrey Jeffers and Gema Ramkeesoon (of Trinidad and Tobago), Lady Grace Adams (Barbados), Phylllis Shand Allfrey (Dominica), Ann Liburd (St Kitts ), and Hyacynth Lightbourne (Jamaica) that she saw the need for what today we call “gender mainstreaming”

“They recognized that they could build on their experience at national level and work together to influence regional level developments. They succeeded in getting their interests into the content of the Chaguaramas Treaty. These are reflected in one little phrase, “Women’s Rights” under an item on Functional Cooperation. That CARIWA group was also instrumental in lobbying to get the CARICOM Women’s Desk and WAND (Women and Development Unit of UWI) established.

“After she retired form teaching she got involved in family planning. IN those days in Guyana, it was not politically correct to speak of these matters. In fact Guyana had no official population policy to control its’ birth rate.

“She was the person who found a way through that political morass to establish the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association with a mandate to engage in public education about responsible parenthood but not to access or disperse contraceptive supplies. She accomplished this by establishing links with the IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation) and after some years, finally succeeded in securing permission for GRPA to receive and dispense supplies provided by that organization.

“While doing that she was watching the clientele coming into the Association. The average age was very young. Some girls, because of that first birth, weren’t able to complete their schooling. She started a program to provide those girls with some of the basic education they had lost out on. The program continues today under the name: Olga Byrne Youth Center.

“By then I had already left Guyana. I wasn’t around to pay close attention to what she was doing or have discussions with her about the way these things were going.

“One fascinating thing is how our lives have worked in reverse. She ended where I began – with population and family planning. Along the way we both developed a concern about the lives of women, we both worked in the teaching and nurturing of young people , and we both managed our professional and personal lives in a particular way.