“From a little boy, I always wanted to be a law enforcement officer—I got that blood in me.”By Leon SuseranPolice work always fascinated Tomar Dwhaj from a very tender age. He says he is ‘built’ for such work,Tomar Dwhajsince he describes himself as “a person who believes in seeing that fellow citizens and their property are protected, and a very brave individual who is never afraid of defending himself at the scene of a crime”.This dedicated father of ten – Haiwatie, Bisham, Dewan,Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping, Maureen, Balwant, Henant, Parmeshwar, Camille, Roopan and Govinda? – has given most of his life to the service of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), not as a uniformed cop, but as what we would refer to as a ‘village police.’But perhaps Dwhaj has won more awards and commendations from the GPF than a lot of uniformed ranks. He was instrumental in fighting crime during the days of the notorious ‘kick-down-door-bandits’ in the 1980’s and recalled how “exciting a time it was” for him, as he led other members of the vigilante group, arresting criminals and ensuring they were dealt with condignly by the law.Over the years, he was influential in the formation of one of Berbice’s most outstanding Community Policing Groups (CPGs), at Palmyra, 41 years ago. The group copped several awards from past Police Commissioners.SELFLESSTomar Dwhaj was selfless. He never attained a high school education, because he wanted to help earn money to send one of his brothers to medical school in India, so he toiled in his father’s farm. He also did the back-breaking work of cutting cane from his teenage years.He grew up in a very poor family; born to Brehaspat and housewife, Madodarie atIn uniform and ready to serve.Palmyra, East Canje. His father, he noted, served 30 years as a Councillor at the Sheet Anchor NDC, and also taught Hindi to Palmyrians at a makeshift school.He recalled that there were bushes, not large expanses of sugar plantations opposite his home like those that exist today. After the sugar company bought the lands, the area was transformed to cane-farming.Dwhaj spent his childhood days tending to cattle and farm in East and West Canje. He attended the Sheet Anchor Anglican School but did not continue his education at the secondary level,Cheap Basketball Jerseys, for reasons mentioned earlier. At 14, he became a cane-cutter. He loved the work,Wholesale Baseball Jerseys 2018, even though he had to leave home at two in the morning sometimes,NFL Jerseys Authentic Cheap, since there were no trucks to transport workers to the fields in those days.He worked for as much as $20 per week, which was “lots of money back then”. During that period he married, at the age of 17, after visiting his 16-year-old sweetheart, at her father’s home at Wash Clothes, Mahaicony.“I went and see the girl, and (I) accepted the offer,” he stated.His wife, he said would get up at 11 o’ clock in the night and cook, so that he could leave early. “We walked to the canals— I left home with my saucepan…”He also continued to work in his father’s rice field.Dwhaj says he had to leave the cane-cutting work after the sugar company made qualifications mandatory for cane-cutting. He took up carpentry and became very skillful in that area, underOur ‘Special Person’ surrounded by his children.the tutelage of Number Two Village carpenter, Ruben Jahoor. Dwhaj earned $2 per week. He later attained his Certificate in Woodworking.He recalled working with some of the very prominent citizens in New Amsterdam and was also thrilled to be involved in the construction of the auditorium of the Berbice High School, a wharf adjacent to the Canje River Bridge, and the Demerara Distillers Limited wharf at Stanleytown.In 1960, Dwhaj ran for election in the local government elections and served as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Sheet Anchor/Cumberland NDC until 1970. He was a founder-member of the Reliance Crematorium in East Canje in 1976. He currently serves as Chairman of that facility. In the 1980’s,Cheap Jerseys USA, he was also a founder-member of the Highbury Immigration Site, the place where the first batch of Indians arrived in British Guiana.In 1974, Dwhaj formed Berbice’s first Vigilante Group at Palmyra under the thenMr. Dwhaj with Headmistress of Berbice Educational Institute Ms. Willa Batson (second from left) after donating several books in 2014. Also in picture is his daughter, Maureen, Region 6 Chairman, Mr. D. Armogan and teacher, Basodeo Utam.Commissioner of Police, Mr. Henry Fraser. He served as Chairman and Vice-chairman on numerous occasions. He was awarded a vehicle, “and from then, I started to work very hard with the police.”‘I COULD HAVE MADE A GOOD SOLDIER”“From a li