UK-based Guyanese health food crusader Mahalia Arjoon wins award after rising above misfortune

Adjudged the winner in the Best Caribbean Street Food Trader 2024 category in the United Kingdom’s Caribbean Annual Food Awards, Mahalia Arjoon, 52, wants women to know they can rise above unfortunate circumstances as she has done.

“This award is not only for me. It is for my business, my family and for my country Guyana. It is for women who have been knocked down, disappointed in life, who feel they have no voice and who feel that their dreams have been shattered. I know that feeling because I’d fit into that box,” Arjoon, a daughter of Kumaka, Mabaruma, told Stabroek Weekend from her adopted homeland in Frome, Somerset, England.

Arjoon, who attended the awards on Monday, 9th December, said she never expected to win because her name was at the bottom of the list with three other finalists. Just being nominated was good enough for her.