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Reply to "Belvedere Inn, Berbice, Guyana"

Stormy,  I don't have the patience to go back and find what I wrote about David Latchana, so here goes from the start.

Its been over 40 years since we saw each other and we might connect in person this summer. I met his two sons  at York University in 1988 at the Indo-Caribbean conference , with Jagan, Sawh, Panday and historians  about the indenture  labourers program to Guyana and  Caribbean Islands.   

David Latchana [Toronto] of Albion Front and Harold Appadoo [I believe Buffalo NY] from Port Mourant were our teachers during our last forms at Albion school. They prepared us for our final exams  and David took  the entire class to his home in the evenings for extra lessons, at no cost to us.

I am very fond  of the book and movie 'Mutiny on the Bounty', that we studied for the exams. Decades later our son David did a book report on that book for a school project. We net Harold in Toronto  and David gave him a copy of the report, with his  comment that 'you did better than your Dad'.

The romance in the book was enhanced when two teachers at the school  were attracted to each other and as teenagers, this made our minds wild for the South Sea Island. That I eventually visited [Tahiti] when I worked on ships as radio officer. My final part of that journey is to visit Pitcairn's Island.     

David comes from a long family line of educators. As you might know, the Latchana family at Fyrish village  were well known for their compassion and kind heartiness. I knew Jack Latchana well who operated their rice mill at Hampshire, near our home at Belvedere. He has since passed on, but people still talk about his kindness.

It would  seem all the Latchana children [one whom I worked with at Albion estate office] were the quality of their parents kindness to others, whom  our parents knew and often talked about their generosity.

During my last visit to Guyana I was sad to see the demolition of the late Jack Latchana rice mil at Hampshire. It was a memorable place for local rice farmers  and I could remember the days when Jack sat with us under a tree, while the rice was drying on the concrete surface.

It does not surprise me that David Latchana assisted you with  your exams,  because that is what the Latchanas do for anyone.  

Tola
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