Her mother, of White Scottish and Afro-Caribbean heritage died when she was around two years old and her father sent Gema and her younger sister to live with her maiden aunt, Ada Arindell, in Newtown, Port of Spain.

[7][8] The group participated in campaigns for women’s right to education, public office, and divorce,[7] but also provided community assistance to those in need, such as establishing homes for the blind and school feeding programs.

[8] Ramkeesoon was in favor of regional cooperation and was a proponent of the development of the Federation of Social Welfare Workers in 1950, proposed to unite women across the British West Indies in their projects to improve their communities.

The five audio cassettes of the interview conducted by Maureen Cain are held in the Alma Jordan Library, on the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies.

[17] In 2013, she was honored by the University of the West Indies at its 20th Anniversary Conference on Gender Transformations in the Caribbean as one of the pioneers of feminism and human rights activism in the region.