Let's leave Georgetown today and go exploring our rich interior. We'll take the Pomeroon River first because of its beauty. Our spirits are soothed by the solitude and the hum of the speedboat engine is the background for thoughts that roam over past years. We indulge in our inexplicable tendency to glorify the past and to speak with all confidence of "the good old days". The "bad" is altogether forgotten.

So let's forget Georgetown which is all of Guyana that most of us know. I'll recommend Bartica as our next trip. Not that I have seen any beauty in Bartica itself, but the incredible beauty of the river bank soaks into you and you can never be quite the same again.

If you are a sociable person, then there are hotels along the left bank and enticing structures on the islands. Alas, they may be privately owned. In any case, we who cherish our own company and unceasing thoughts will never risk the chance of meeting someone even more unsociable than ourselves. So we keep away from them and from those who seek enjoyment in liquor and loud laughter.

But there is a chance of being in company and remaining intact. We could enjoy the company of the youths who are members of the Evergreen Nature Study Club (ENSC) without being jolted by loud music and rhythms that bother us.

The Evergreen Nature Study Club: A Way of Life was founded in September, 1997, by Mr Fitz Ogle, one of those Guyanese who was lucky enough to study abroad, do exceedingly well and then return home to find that they were misfits, unable to enter the profession of their choice and compelled to choose some other career just to earn a living.

Trained for a career as an agronomist, to survive, Mr Ogle found himself teaching at a secondary school. It was the right choice. In a short while he saw the shortcomings in the teaching of natural science in our tropical schools based as the teaching method is on what exists in schools in the temperate zone. "The long `dead' winter of the temperate zones" he says, "connected to a commonly urban environment, has encouraged an indoor approach to the subject based on the study of dead specimens and of books". He concludes that "We who teach in tropics have less need to impose on ourselves that mode of study."

Mr Ogle describes Guyanese teachers of natural science - indeed all teachers who live in the tropics - as being fortunate to work where direct contact with plants and animals in their natural habitats is usually possible at all seasons of the year.

He formulated the plan to invite youths to explore, in a nature study club, the many aspects of nature that were not included in the school curriculum. It was a positive approach. Youths, in particular, are guided to a better appreciation and understanding of our tropical environment and to know the characteristics of our plants, animals, soil and climate. They learn to describe and identify living things, particularly plants. They no longer have to depend on the two words "plant" and "tree". They learn the difference between saplings, shrubs, vines, mushrooms, roots (cassava), tubers (sweet potatoes), corns (eddoe), suckers (banana), bulbs (onion) rhizomes (ginger).

The club caters for youths from the age of 15 upward. One-day visits are paid by a group to some place of interest. Teachers accompany them. The outing begins with advice on do's and don'ts. Recreation and study are intermingled. At Iwokrama members spent five days as guests. A visit to Region 1, North West District, was arranged in order to establish a Chapter there.

To travel by steamer to Region 1, the unlucky visitor has to spend 25 hours at sea under trying conditions. There has been no improvement over the years. It is another case of the chicken and the egg. Do we wait for development before we put in place the conditions that would attract development? This lethargy prevents us from exploring and enjoying the beauties of Guyana. No satisfactory supervision of speedboat operations, no means of communicating with a central body in case of emergency. No development.

This does not deter the members of the Evergreen Nature Study Club. The motto of the Club is "Ever Researching Ever Serving". Meetings are usually held at North Georgetown Secondary School, Woolford Avenue, on alternate Saturdays at 13 hours. There are four categories of membership - Ordinary Members (Students), Honorary Members, Friends, Sponsors. The objective of the Club is "To know Guyana's natural resources and to make good use of them in a holistic manner."

The Club is not restricted to Georgetown. In addition to Region 1, there are Chapters in Region 7 (Bartica) and Region 10 (Linden).. There is no charge for field trips. A valuable certificate is offered upon completion of studies. National Agricultural Research Institute and Iwokrama Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development are signatories on the certificates.

If your child is enterprising, she/he will benefit as a member of the ENSC. You may visit GUYBERNET, 95 Hadfield Street, Werk-en-Rust, or telephone 227-8259 for further details. Website www.sdnp.org.gy/evergreen