Pull Quote: “I don’t say you have to. I don’t say I have the power to change anybody’s life. But I am here as an encouragement… to show people the options, to make the referrals, and with that kind of enlightenment, I hope I can make a difference in somebody’s life.”By Leon SuseranWomen are very active forces at work in our society today. Compared with the past, they are refreshinglyYetrawatee Katryanin the forefront in almost every sphere of life in Guyana. The Guyanese woman is creating an indelible mark with her contributions to society.Our ‘Special Person’ this week is one such woman. She is a well- known figure on the Corentyne Coast. She has joined other prominent women in the Berbice area and has been using her life for the betterment of others. She understands the vulnerability of women and the relative shaky ground on which we stand today.Like other ‘Special Persons’ featured in this publication, Mrs Yetrawatee ‘Nalin’ Katryan of Skeldon, Corriverton, an outstanding role model for Guyanese women, had her own unique story to tell.Born on June 24,Cheap NHL Adidas Jerseys, 1952, at Skeldon, Yetrawatee grew up at Line Path ‘D’. Her mother was Flora and her father, Beck, was employed with the sugar industry, before he was laid off and was forced to open a little shop from which the family garnered finances.Yetrawatee attended Skeldon Primary School, which was then called ‘Skeldon Scots School’, and Line Path Secondary. She subsequently entered teaching and tutored at Skeldon Scots in 1969 for just over a year – later moving on to Skeldon High as a Spanish Teacher in 1971.She met her husband, Almond, a Baptist Pastor, when he came to Line Path ‘D’ as a young missionary.”I didn’t know him before, until he came into the area, and I met him in the mission field as he was inviting people to church.”Almond rented a house not too far from where young Yetrawatee lived. And guess what? She was a staunch Hindu and her parents hailed from a strong Hindu background. So, what happens when a pastor falls in love with the Hindu girl?“That was challenging because my father has always been a strong Hindu, the president of his mandir, and he didn’t like the idea (of her getting married to a pastor),” she reflected. But her father respected his daughter’s decision since “he knew when I said this is the man IMrs Katryan and her husband, Pastor Almond, in 2000.love— he knew I was serious (at age 19). He knew my mind was made up and made up it was. ”The two got married on September 19,Wholesale China Jerseys, 1971, shortly after she became “saved” and became a Baptist. The marriage produced their only child, Mitchell Katryan, who works with the Louisiana Sugar Company in the USA.Yetrawatee entered the Teachers’ Training College in September 1976. Being a teacher in those days meant fulfilling the need for teachers “and people were encouraging you to get into the teaching profession since it was the ‘reputable profession’”.While attending the college, she taught Spanish and English at Berbice High. Upon completing Training College, she returned to the Corentyne in 1978 where she taught at Skeldon High, “and I worked there until 1991 when I resigned from the teaching profession”.Then after 22 years as a teacher, she wanted to call it quits. She was not getting the satisfaction she desired as a teacher.Having left that profession, her work with children did not end. She assisted children on one afternoon per week “those who were doing the CXC levels”.? Then the societal problems which women were facing began to take centre stage in Katryan’s life.“So many women were out there, who were going through a lot of abuse, they didn’t have a skill, they were not functionally literate, they didn’t know where to turn to, so I decided I am out of teaching, why not get involved in helping women, and that is how we ended up doing what we’re doing here [at the Roadside Baptist Centre]”, she noted.Women were coming to her with a lot of problems with their husbands, and she began to work with them. She acquired her Justice of the Peace licence as well.Based on needs assessment, Yetrawatee began to focus on home-making skills with the women, initially those from the church.“Women from the church also have problems, they are not exempted [from those outside of the church], and they need assistance,” she noted.“We decided to put in a skills training centre and started a library so that they [they women] could come and have a place to sit, talk, have some counseling, read a book and totally relax.”The Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) in Berbice needed a coordinator and since she was at home, Katryan volunteered for the part- time position in 1993 where she worked for a number of years, but eventually left that as well, since she wanted to move on to the next chapter of her life, which was to be the most important.S