By Leonard GildarieWhile attending primary school at Grove, East Bank Demerara, in the late 1980s,Discount Adidas Shoes Australia, my Common Entrance teacher, June Appiah, during the months leading up to the exams, was intent on ensuring we were well aware who the President and his ministers were. She was short in stature but was a giant with her “wild cane”.Sir Shridath RamphalBeing one of the smallest, too, in terms of size, in the class, I was in constant terror because of the cane… Not that I fell victim too often. I avoided it at all cost. But somehow I still managed to always mix up the names of the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). That was when I first heard the name of Shridath Ramphal.Known as ‘Sonny’ to those close to him, Sir Shridath? is perhaps this country’s and region’s most remarkable and revered diplomat, rubbing shoulders over the years with powerful world leaders, including the likes of former US President Jimmy Carter, Germany’s Willy Brandt, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, India’s Indira Gandhi and Britain’s ‘Iron Lady’ Margaret Thatcher.In his years as a Minister under former President Forbes Burnham and at the Commonwealth Secretariat as the chief executive,NFL Jerseys Cheap, he has doggedly used diplomacy, political canny and outward thinking to blaze a path for the cause of developing countries.He was a key figure in the fight to free Mandela from jail and to end apartheid in South Africa. A writer, a diplomat,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, a lawyer, statesman, international public servant and a go-to man for advice, his efforts to build integration in the Caribbean region and to smooth tensions around the globe have made him a legend.MARITIME RULINGBest known for his stint as Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations between 1975 and 1990, Sir Shridath was also the lead lawyer for Guyana in the maritime dispute between this country and neighbouring Suriname, in which an historic ruling was handed down in 2007.Sir Shridath played a critical role in pressing the South African government to free Nelson MandelaIn favour of Guyana, the award was delivered on the eve of Ramphal’s 79th birthday. He hailed it as victory for the rule of law. The ruling paved the way for CGX to restart drilling after being ejected from its exploration site in Guyana territorial waters near the Suriname border.Now almost 85, Sir Shridath received the Commonwealth Life Time Achievement Award in London last June.? It is one of many such awards that he has received over the years.? I counted over 20 international awards, including two Knighthoods and the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development. He has also published over 25 works,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, receiving several honorary degrees along the way from prestigious Universities such as Oxford in Britain and Yale in the US, among others.To mark his 80th Birthday, several international diplomats and scholars produced a 206-page book on his work, his achievements and his contribution to global peace and development.? Impressive and daunting, I thought. There is no other person I know of who has a book of their life’s work specially compiled for them on their 80th birthday. I was taken aback somewhat as well. How does one, in a few hundred words, describe the life of such an accomplished person? His extraordinary list of achievements and awards coupled with the admiration in which he is held, is almost impossible to capture in a few pages.Statesman‘Sonny’ was born on October 3, 1928, in New Amsterdam, Berbice. He was the eldest of James and Grace Ramphal’s five children. His father, and grandfather, Daniel, were both teachers, with the former running one of the most prestigious private secondary schools in Georgetown.He attended that school which was founded by his father. He was also educated at the Modern Educational Institute, which also was run by his dad.A Queen’s College boy, Shridath left Georgetown in 1947 to study law and was called to the bar from Gray’s Inn in 1951, earning his Master’s Degree at King’s College, London, in 1952.During the course of his duties at the Commonwealth, Sir Shridath was comfortable rubbing shoulders with world leaders, including Queen Elizabeth IIHe returned to Guyana later in 1953, and at the age of just 25, was appointed Crown Counsel and Assistant Attorney-General.? He was appointed as Solicitor General in 1959. Ramphal liked the idea of Caribbean integration. He was a proponent of the Federation of the West Indies, serving as its Assistant Attorney-General between 1961 and 1962. However, the Federation, designed to bring together Caribbean countries, crumbled after Jamaica rejected it in a referendum, and the government of Trinidad and Tobago deci