Pull Quote: “I am so thrilled that those who I would have taught in my career have grown to love and cherish me for my contribution to their education, and I am humbled by the respect I have received in the various communities.”By Rohan SagarLike many persons born in the hinterland of Guyana, Victor Ferreira was not expected toVictor Ferreira MSclimb the ladder of success. His earliest vocations were in the streams of education and music, and as he moved gradually upwards, it was hard for him and others not to believe that it was a gift.Many students have passed through the hands of ‘Sir Vic’ or ‘Teacher Vic’ as is common how persons like him in hinterland communities are addressed. These students have become successful in their own right, and whilst they have consistently thanked him for providing that platform, for ‘Sir Vic’ it was nothing else but his mission to transform young people into valued and productive citizens of their community, and by extension, the world.He desires none of the trappings that are associated with his kind of success. He continues to live on the island of Mathurin, Santa Rosa, Moruca River where he has lived for many years. This is his story.Victor Ferreira was born on March 16, 1949, at the Acquero Maternity Centre in Moruca River. His father Vincent Ferreira was a fisherman and small business owner. His mother Mary Agatha Ferreira had three children before marrying Vincent, and Victor was the second child in this latter union.Victor’s father became ill when the youngster was only seven and died two years later. From then on life became harder for the family, his mother took to work at the Catholic Convent as a launderer, washing the clothes of some 200 children for the princely sum of five dollars per month.The family had a farm about one mile behind Huradiah, a village immediately opposite Cabucalli, where the Ferreiras lived previously. Here the boys would accompany their mother to help prepare, plant and harvest the land before and after school. They would also glean copra from coconuts which they would sell.There would also be the traditional kayaps which would be used to help generate and supplement much needed provisions for the home. Victor describes his father as a disciplinarian and his mother a staunch Catholic, which had instilled within them intrinsic values helping sustain the family even after the death of his father.Perhaps the most enduring memory of his boyhood occurred in the evenings when he along with his brothers would lie on the floor and watch his mother iron the convent children’s clothes,Cheap Jerseys Online, and then they would fall asleep. After all, it was the only bed they knew. Victor, after becoming employed, undertook the role of father-figure, helping his younger brothers and sisters through school (in Georgetown) and at the same time becoming the breadwinner at home in Cabucalli.Later in life, Victor met and married Patricia (also of Santa Rosa) in 1976, and they had seven children, two of whom have passed away.BIRTH OF A TEACHERVictor Ferreira attended Santa Rosa Roman Catholic Primary school, completing his education in Form Two, which was then the furthest he could have gone. He left Santa Rosa to attend the St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Seminary where he studied for two years. After completion of the two years he returned to Santa Rosa. As someone who was then, for his community, better qualified, he applied for aOur ‘Special Person’ performing one of his compositionsteaching post through the Catholic Church (which managed the primary school) and he was accepted, though his first posting was at Santa Cruz, a place he had never heard of before. It was his first time so far away from home and when the boat dropped him off at Santa Cruz, he recalls “crying like a ‘lil child”. He taught at Santa Cruz for a year and a half.Fr. John Britt-Compton, the Catholic priest met young Victor whilst still a teacher at Santa Cruz and told him there was a vacancy at a school in Moruca. The priest convinced him that he was most needed at this school and he accepted. The school was at Kamwatta, another island further upriver from Santa Rosa on the Moruca River. That it was much closer to Santa Rosa was of great comfort to ‘Sir Vic’ and he taught at Kamwatta Primary for seventeen years.He recounted that when some of his students went to work in Berbice they were asked who was responsible for their education – ‘Sir Carl’ Rodrigues and his (Sir Vic’s) name were mentioned and the two were duly recognised with gifts from their employer.Desirous of becoming a graduate teacher, at the ripe young age of 34, Victor entered the Teachers’ Training College and excelled at all the subjects. After graduation as a qualified teacher he applied to teach at Santa Rosa Primary. He did not receive an appointment letter, but was told that in such an instance he could report to the nearest school (which was Santa Rosa Primary). S