Articles

It was Good to be Home

After almost six years I visited the land of my birth – Guyana and what an experience it was. Guyana has changed so much. Everyone knows the bad news but like everywhere else not enough of the good things that are happening is known. Many of my friends are yet to visit Guyana, as I travel around the Caribbean so few persons with whom I come into contact have experienced the wonders of Guyana.

Guyana has so much going for it. It is a shopping destination and much more. I was amazed at the many positive stories that were brought to my attention as I networked with the various players in the private sector. My visits to business enterprises revealed that rapid expansion of the various businesses in spite of the indiscipline in the country. Crime continues to be high but life goes on, even in Iraq.

The social life is very much alive, house parties, nightclubs, shows, restaurants, bars are swinging. The good times are rolling. Guyana is not asleep, as many will have us believe. The almost one million inhabitants have varied life styles but if you are in for a good time, go visit Guyana. The opportunities for inland Eco Tours are many – let yourself go on the wild side in the jungle.

During my discussions with friends and businesspersons I felt as though I missed a lot of the development process by not returning home on a regular basis over the past six years.
I so much wanted to be a part of all that is going on. However, with the assistance of my daughter I had a real good time. We even visited the burial place of my relatives, something I have not done in a long, long time. Somehow the short trip of five days was filled with excitement and some moments of deep reflection as well.

Guyana has always been a country with great potentials but much is needed to be done to accelerate the realization of those potentials. Time is not on the side of Guyana, poverty is real and as a result many young lives are being cut short and in most cases end in frustration.

I attended a show at the National Cultural Centre in Georgetown, entitled Awe Society 14. This show sited the frustrations of many less fortunate and the compromises they have to make to survive. The task ahead for the leaders of the nation especially the politicians is daunting but not without its opportunities.

A first step will be for the two major political parties to get together bringing along in the process the other fringe parties. As a result, the door will be opened to full participation by the people at all levels. They will then feel that they have a stake in moving the country forward. United we stand, divided we fall.

I will never stay away this long for the rest of my active life and when I die my request is that my ashes be laid to rest the village of my birth, Beterverwagting on the East Coast in the county of Demerara.

There is no place like the place of your birth, though you may grow to appreciate and adopt another land as your home, you continue to have the desire to be where you truly belong, the place of your birth.

Keep the Faith!