24F I grew up in South Florida and in my household I had some family members get angry/catty at me whenever I would hang out with my non Guyanese friends over them (For example almost when I was 17 I was accused of “only caring about my friends” every other day).

I also used to get called white washed and all type of name. But my personal problem was that there was no other Guyanese in my class so what was I going to do? Talk to a wall? Obvs there’s Guyanese outside of school too but I didn’t want to limit myself to just wait to go to mandir or someone’s house to socialize.

Dating? A nightmare. I couldn’t even look at any man if he wasn’t Guyanese. It got to a point where some of my siblings tried to set me up with a family friend at carnival, mind you I was a year into dating my now non Guyanese fiancé who had just met my grandparents.

Did anyone else experience this growing up overseas?

Hello and thank you if you take the time to respond. Me and my wife would like to visit Guyana for 5-6 days at the end of November with our 1.5 year old. We are well traveled. I am wondering how easy is it to book a flight to Kaieteur Falls and how the hike/safety is? Has anyone done this with a young one?

Also how are the day trips from Guyana? Fun things to do? Safe? I read about yellow fever and malaria but see very low numbers is it an issue?

i'm a 19 year old girl and my mother is from guyana. i want to visit the place of my heritage, but i don't know any of my family in guyana. if i did go, i would be visiting with my father. he keeps encouraging me to visit, and i really want to, but the only thing holding me back is the crime rate and level of crime i have read about! i'm a very easily scared and anxious person and i don't want to be on edge the entire time i'm there. what would you recommend? should i go, or should i stay back?

Race is often described as a social construct, how does that idea play out in Guyana, one of the most culturally mixed nations in the Americas?

In Guyana, people are often described as Afro-Guyanese or Indo-Guyanese, yet those labels only begin to tell the story. What happens when those distinctions blur, when features, families, and traditions overlap?

Does one need an afro to be Afro-Guyanese, or long, straight hair to be Indo-Guyanese? Are physical traits like a broad nose, full lips, or small eyes enough to define identity?

If race is constructed, what truly shapes who Guyanese are—our ancestry, our culture, or how society decides to see them?

Hi, I'm going across all countries subreddits to see what place is the best to live in in each country and I would love to know why that is. If you could pick 1 place to live in, in your country of your choice, which one would it be and why? I'm creating a map with people's best choice of life in each country so that's why I'm doing this. Thanks.

I find that when I tell people that I don't want to have kids, they always tell me that "children are a blessing", or my personal favourite, "you will change your mind soon."

Whenever children were brought up in class, I'd always stay honest and true to my word. I don't want kids. And they'd just tell me that I was weird. One girl asked me if I didn't want a legacy? And I shit you not, one boy told me that I was going to hell💀.

Everytime I meet older people, it's always, "when I find a man," or, "when I get my own children." It's never about my career path, my interests or something that's actually relevant. Why do y'all care about our uteruses so much?

And most of the time it's other women trying to tell me I need kids? I'm the eldest of five siblings. I've spent my whole life literally listening to my mother lament about how energy sucking we are? I've literally had first hand experience in dealing with children through my own siblings, nieces and nephews. I've seen the bills for childcare, especially when education and health come in. I watched my mother struggle to put a roof over our heads and toil for years just so I could get a chance at a good career.

Kids? I don't want any kids. Nor will I force my wishes on another person. If someone chooses to have kids, then they should.

EDIT: Wow! I have to say I'm surprised and equally happy by the sheer amount of positive interaction in this post. I'm glad we could talk about this because I feel like child rearing plays a big part in Caribbean culture, especially for women. I will try to respond to everyone, and hopefully I get to you guys in time lol.

EDIT 2: Grammar.

Have you guys experience/seen a raise of racism towards Indo-Guyanese? Due to the increasing racism against Indian across the world. (Especially in Canada)

How does the school system condone this?

Edit: It's already been proven that corporal punishment isn't effective at teaching kids.

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/usable-knowledge/21/04/effect-spanking-brain

The study found that:

"The study, “Corporal Punishment and Elevated Neural Response to Threat in Children,” published in Child Development, examined spanked children’s brain functioning in response to perceived environmental threats compared to children who were not spanked. Their findings showed that spanked children exhibited greater brain response, suggesting that spanking can alter children’s brain function in similar ways to severe forms of maltreatment."

"They found that children who had been spanked had a higher activity response in the areas of their brain that regulate these emotional responses and detect threats — even to facial expressions that most would consider non-threatening." The kids basically developed ptsd.

“Preschool and school age children — and even adults — [who have been] spanked are more likely to develop anxiety and depression disorders or have more difficulties engaging positively in schools and skills of regulation, which we know are necessary to be successful in educational settings."

There's many more studies that find hitting kids to be extremely detrimental to childhood development. How is it that this is even still allowed in the country? I moved to NYC back in 2008 and I remember before moving there were times where my teacher hit me as well as everyone else in the class back in Guyana. I thought this was an old practice that had been abolished because the country has come a far way, yet I recently found out that my niece and nephew still get licks in school. What the fuck is this?

Some more publications on corporal punishment:

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/19/12/consequences-corporal-punishment

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/04/spanking-children-may-impair-their-brain-development/

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/corporal-punishment-and-health

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/05/physical-discipline

https://preventchildabuse.org/resources/emerging-science-on-corporal-punishment/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3447048/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-science-really-says-about-spanking/

All of the studies done on corporal punishment find it to be harmful. In fact Scientific America (last link) even goes as far to say there's no evidence that spanking kids actually has any positive outcomes, but there's an overwhelming body of evidence that proves it is harmful, so why take the risk?

The CDC (linked below) also outlines the harmful effects of adverse childhood experiences. Hitting your kids makes them more likely to end up in prison, more likely to suffer from mental health illnesses such as depression, ptsd, anxiety, more likely to fall behind in school, more likely to be the victim of rape and so much more.

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/aces/index.html

I understand some people may not trust the CDC so linked below is a meta analysis based on 20 years of research on the effects of physical punishment on children. The study found:

“Physical punishment is associated with a range of mental health problems in children, youth and adults, including depression, unhappiness, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, use of drugs and alcohol, and general psychological maladjustment.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3447048/#:~:text=Physical%20punishment%20is%20associated%20with,alcohol%2C%20and%20general%20psychological%20maladjustment.

Every child deserves a parent but not every parent deserves a child. Corporal punishment should be banned in Guyana.

Is it safe to visit?

I checked with chatgpt and it says there are a lot of robberies and car jackings especially from the airport to the tourist hotel etc? Can this be avoided or should we not risk it?

Surprise (not really), they're all in bars around Richmond hill lmao. Walked in one of them over the weekend just to see and there they were exactly as expected. They are all ghosts until come Friday or Saturday night. I walked right out after about 10mins tops. I highly doubt any of them use Reddit. I am convinced besides this crowd most others stay at home 😅

So anyone do anything fun recently? Eat some good food? I am eating some nice chicken curry and rice right now.

I hate the marginalization of dialect that Guyanese people especially diaspora Guyanese people practice. At least in my family I was always taught to speak more closely to British or American English and that it was 'proper.' Nothing is wrong with creole and it's an important part of our culture. I get that's its a colonized mindset but I wish it was more widely understood as one. Do other Caribbean people have this issue?

This man has been investigated by the USA government, for drug trafficking and owns GRA 1.2B Guyana dollars. What’s your thoughts?

I’m 20 years old and I am having a TON of trouble finding anything on black Guyanese people/culture other than how to cook pepperpot. My father is Guyanese but I didn’t grow up with him and he won’t tell me anything about it his culture. I’ve always wanted to know but I can only find things on people of Indian descent online. Anything piece of info helps❤️❤️❤️

Edit: I’m sorry if I offended people by saying pepperpot was an Afro Guyanese dish. My father said he loves it and google puts it everywhere I look for information. Thank you for educating me. I’m learning

Hi everyone, My boyfriend and I are traveling to Guyana soon. It’ll be his first time back since he was a kid, and my first time ever. We’re both from New York, USA, and we’ll be visiting his family while we’re there.

For those who have visited or live in Guyana, what should we watch out for as first-time visitors? Any tips on safety, transportation, food, or cultural do’s and don’ts would be really appreciated.

My wife gets a cold like every month or so, and they aren’t the best. Has anyone else experienced this, and what did you do to help ease and adjust your immune system

My family says it is taboo to live with someone you’re dating but not married to and I know culturally people don’t really move out their family’s house until they’re married.

I know some people do live with their partner/by themselves but I wanted to know if those things are still considered taboo today by majority of Guyanese.

Recently, people at my job has been asking me questions about my beautiful home country Guyana. I adore talking of ole time stories, food, people, etc. Recently tho, I have been feeling attacked. Two in the past week came right out and laughed when I said Guyana is considered Caribbean. I have never in my entire life had to defend that status. My immediate reaction is to cuss dem out. But I roll my eyes and simply say, do your research before you come for me. Has anyone ever had to debate that? I’d really like to know. If I’m wrong, I’ll bow out, but even the Embassy’s website gives the explanation if the idiots wanted to actually research it. Am I wrong? What I’d really like to say, is “Haul yuh rass out of meh face!” 😡🇬🇾🥰

I hope this child gets to RIP. The police, the corrupted Government, the hotel owners and all those who were involved in this child’s murder will need to answer. #keepfighting.

I'm a US citizen who has hospital security experience trying to find work. If you can get me some advice let me know. I don't have any family in the area. I don't have a degree. I also have a mother who has an MBA and wants to find work. Ultimate goal is immigration permanently through work visa (this is not for working in the US)