For dedicating his life for more than three decades to the veterinary field, Elvan Hamilton is a ‘Special Person’

Oct 29, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, Special Person, Waterfalls Magazine

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Waterfalls Magazine – When Elvan Hamilton was in his late teenage years, he decided to follow a path of agriculture, one which he always had a liking for, since he grew up within an environment in the Rupununi where animals were some of his best friends.

Hamilton, who is 59, told the Waterfalls that he has been working in the field of animal husbandry as a veterinary assistant since 1990. He said it is a career which he cherishes, since his care for animals has led to him making many timely interventions at livestock farms within the Rupununi on multiple occasions.

Hamilton, who is attached to the Guyana Livestock and Development Authority (GLDA), said he was born at the Aranaputa Valley at Annai, a community in the North Rupununi at the Annai sub-district where Coastlanders settled decades ago and pursued large scale agriculture projects such as cash-crop farming, peanut cultivation and rearing of livestock and poultry.

“This is something I was born into,” Hamilton said, noting that his father, who is from Berbice, travelled to the area to start his adult life. “My father came here to farm; a lot of coastlanders came here at the time. It is what we call the valley,” he said of Aranaputa.

Journey in veterinary field

Hamilton said at age 19, he enrolled at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) and travelled to Georgetown to undertake his studies. “That was in the 1980s,” he said. Two years later, he successfully completed the programme, noting that his focus was on the animal health and veterinary aspect of the programme.

He would then return to the Rupununi to work in the field of agriculture. He later applied for and secured a job at the Ministry of Agriculture within the animal husbandry department, which is today the GLDA. He said since 1990 he has been employed by the ministry within the animal husbandry department.

“I would travel to areas here such as South Central, Central and of course North Rupununi where I am from on farm visits,” Hamilton said.

He noted that during the 1990s, his career was boosted as he was afforded numerous training stints related to his field of work. “I would travel out to Georgetown to undergo training in programmes at REPAHA {the Regional Educational Programme for Animal Health Assistants} at Mon Repos,” he said.

Education of farmers

Hamilton said that as part of his duties he travels around the region and educate farmers about animal care during farm visits and he would often gain much knowledge from the farmers during their interactions. “I would educate them on what to do, you know like how to care for their herd so that they would know how to look after the animals, with using medication and so,” he said.

He also provides care to domesticated animals such as dogs and he is often called upon to attend to those animals.

Hamilton has trained to provide artificial insemination or AI services in the region. It is a process in which sperm cells from a male animal is collected and manually deposited into the reproductive tract of a female animal. Hamilton can be described as a pioneer of AI within the Rupununi and he noted that it is the one task among his duties which he has managed to educate farmers of over the years.

Along with other GLDA staff, including personnel from the unit’s genetics department, he would undertake outreach activities to conduct AI on animals within the region.

Within the North Rupununi, livestock rearing is a major source of income for families and as such, Hamilton would be called upon to carry out his duties at numerous farms in the area. At the moment there are over 1000 heads of cattle within the North Rupununi, Hamilton said, adding that one farmer has close to 600 cattle at his farm. “Some villages here has dozens of cattle, so I ensure those farmers at taught how to medically attend to the animals” he said.

Farming and other forms of income

Hamilton said he also operates his own heard at Aranaputa Valley. He has more than a 100 heads of cattle, several sheep and other animals. In addition, he said that since he grew up in a family where farming is a “must,” he also cultivates cash-crops at his farm in the foothills of Aranaputa. “I think it is the soil in this area that is rich, so we would get good crops especially close to the mountain areas,” he said.

Hamilton is also into peanut farming, an activity which is synonymous with that area of the Rupununi.  Over the years, the Aranaputa Processers Friendly Society has been relying on farmers from the area for peanuts and Hamilton said that peanuts are always in demand since the factory depends on farmers for the nuts.  “A lot of families here into peanut farming, it is a main economic activity here,” he added.

He said too that is also involved in the field of logging, adding that he is always trying to find a way to supplement his income.

As he nears retirement, Hamilton said he is dedicating much of his energies towards farming and caring for animals. He reiterated too, that he will continue to educate farmers in the area of good veterinary and animal husbandry practices.

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• Aranaputa Valley, Elvan Hamilton, Guyana Livestock and Development Authority (GLDA), Special Person, Veterinary

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