KOKO OWNER Denisha Victor DIES

Popular ‘natural hair’ stylist and entrepreneur Denisha Victor has died at the age of 31. The cause of death is unknown, a nurse at the Georgetown Public Hospital told Village Voice on Saturday. Victor was rushed at the Georgetown Hospital by relatives Saturday morning.

In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle Victor had spoken about how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting the lives of all and also took the time to promote her popular social media #dontrush challenge. She had launched the natural hair competition to celebrate her customers and promote a new line of hair care products. “The don’t rush challenge was created as an opportunity for us to celebrate our followers during the pandemic and to promote the Suave natural hair line distributed by Desinco Trading. We had a total of 48 contestants with five being selected as the top picks based on their accumulative total [likes] on both Facebook and Instagram,” she was quoted in the Guyana Chronicle as saying.

Victor is an award-winning entrepreneur, community worker, and teacher. She is also employed in international service as a Fraud Investigator. Denisha – the entrepreneur – is the proud owner of Koko, a natural hair store that provides a platform for other local female entrepreneurs to retail their products. She is also the co-founder of CurlFete Guyana – the successful annual natural hair expo that promotes a nurturing environment for women (and men) to embrace their natural tresses and to boost entrepreneurship.

Denisha is passionate about community service. She has served as the president of the Rotaract Club of Georgetown Central in 2015-16. During her tenure, the club executed a literacy project called R.E.A.D, which consisted of a discussion on dyslexia and a 6-week reading program for the children at the Ruimveldt Children Home. Denisha also created the club’s signature fundraiser called Wine and Art, which has raised over $3 million dollars for community development in Guyana. Denisha is still actively involved in Rotaract, she recently co-chaired a Rotaract conference for over 200 delegates from around the Caribbean where they partnered with various organizations to build and furnish a home for a single mother in the village of Haruni on the Linden Soesdyke Highway.

Denisha previously taught Personnel Administration at Nations University (Georgetown, Guyana). In a first for the institution, two of her students were awarded the top paper for the examination worldwide. In October 2017, Denisha Victor won the Scotiabank Vision Achievers Live Pitch Business competition. Denisha holds a diploma in Banking and Finance, and a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Guyana. She also graduated from the University of the West Indies with a master’s in business administration, specializing in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Social media reacts
Meanwhile, Social Media reacted with sadness at Victor’s sudden passing, Lloyda Garret a natural hair fan wrote on her Facebook wall: “Beyond all her accomplishments, which were not few, I remember her for her kindness to me, her easy smile, and her genuineness of nature. I don’t profess to be one of her closest friends but through all our interactions in theatre and poetry night, Curlfette, her store Koko and her waving excitedly from behind the glass when I went to apply for my visa them at the US embassy, I will remember how she was always kind.”
Garrett said: “But my main reason for making this post is because over the last two months Denisha Victor used her voice to publicly and fearlessly call out people like Gerry Gouveia, Guyanese Critic, and Samuel Barakat, among others for their racist posts and comments related to the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States and the situation in Guyana. She removed her support and friendship where it existed from them and she demanded the same of her friends and loved ones. She is a person of integrity, who accomplished much. Those who love her are grieving, and many more are feeling this loss so deeply. I am sad and I hurt for her family and friends. I choose to honour her life by ensuring that I continue to be just as fearless in my principles as her and I call on all of you to take a look at her FB page, read her words and see it as a call to action.

My heart hurts so much Denisha. I wish I had told you how much your kindness meant to me especially at a time when I needed it most. Our country has lost a wonderful daughter.”