Esther Marslowe grabs cha spread of Indigenous l
Region One’s (Barima-Waini) Esther Marslowe strutted off with the Miss Indigenous Heritage title and crown two Saturdays ago after stiff competition from contestants representing the other nine regions. The other top positions in the pageant went to first runner-up Sauna Fredericks of Region Two (PomeroonSupenaam), second runner-up Luana Allicock of Region Nine (Upper TakutuUpper Essequibo), third runner-up Varshanie Herman of Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and fourth runner-up Jeline Da Silva of Region Seven (CuyuniMazaruni).
A pageant veteran with a deep love for the Indigenous community, Esther was in her element while shining a spotlight on issues affecting her people. Esther has won four pageants before this one, though this was the highest level of competition for her. Among the pageants she won are: Miss Moruca Expo, Miss Region One (Port Kaituma), Miss Region One (Mabaruma), and Miss Indigenous Heritage 2019.
Born at Suddie on the Essequibo Coast, Esther lived for some time in Santa Cruz, Moruca. Her schooling saw her attending Bethany Nursery in Essequibo, St Agnes Nursery in Georgetown, Bethany Primary and Santa Rosa Primary. With her mother being a teacher at the Santa Rosa Secondary School, the pressure was on for her to do well at the National Grade Six Assessment. According to Esther, she was hoping to get Santa Rosa Secondary because it was considered a good school but when her results arrived, she learnt she got St Rose’s High; she was not too excited at the time having never heard of the school. This quickly changed when a letter arrived addressed to her. This, the young woman said, made her feel important and it turned out that she was one of five pupils receiving a scholarship to pursue secondary education at schools in Georgetown.
She soon settled down to dorm life where she stayed throughout her five years at St Rose’s, while she was a sixth former at St Stanislaus College and where she remains even today as she pursues a degree in Environmental Studies at the University of Guyana.
Sharing about her time at St Rose’s High and how it impacted her life, Esther said, “When I was in Region One, I was quite a popular person and I felt pressured. Since then I felt that this popularity thing was not for me and when I came out to attend school, I had promised myself that I’d try as much as I can to not be in the spotlight.
“For the early part of my years at high school I was very reserved; I was an introvert. I would not talk to anybody. I would put my head into my backpack and eat my lunch. A lot of persons, noticing how much of an introvert I was, took this as an opportunity to bully me. It began affecting me and I started eating less, sometimes not at all. Things changed one day when another student called me ‘Buck’ and angered something in me that made me retaliate and hit her.
“At this point, I realized I needed to take advantage of the situation and not let what people think of me or tell me bother me. All these years I was making things harder for myself by not standing up for myself. Today, when someone tries to insult me that way, I am not bothered by it.
“As much as I tried to avoid popularity, I still ended up in the spotlight and became the champion distance runner for St Rose’s High.
“Bullying is an issue I would like tackle during my two-year reign as queen. During my years at the dorms, I’ve observed other younger Indigenous friends face the same situations I did. It’s hard for them to really embrace who they are out here. A lot of us are pressured to adapting to this town life instead of being able to share our culture and talents openly. I know of students at the dorms who arrived in Georgetown knowing their dialects but because of peer pressure, by third form, they stop using the dialects. I would want to use my reign for that purpose also, to encourage them to embrace our dialects and culture.”
Her platform points to the use of the Indigenous languages by coastlanders. And she has already begun making plans to set up clubs in schools where students who know the Amerindian dialects can teach other students. Part of the planning is coming up with fun activities that will make it interesting for persons who do not know the languages. For now, it is a small start Esther said, but noted that it is her dream to someday see all Guyanese afforded the same opportunity.
“I’m given this opportunity to help educate young people and spread awareness about my platform, bring light to certain issues and to be a voice of change,” Esther said.
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