Dear Editor,
Recently, two incidents brought home forcibly to me the mistaken attitudes adopted by certain people, that nothing good has come out of Albouystown, or, in contradiction, that those from this community who have made good are likely to be ashamed of their roots. One incident involved someone making a derogatory remark about a politician – “No good can be expected of him, after all, he is from Albouystown.” Of course, it is immaterial whether he came from Albouystown or not, because, in fact the person making the statement erred, and while the politician had some association with the district, he was in fact from a nearby ward. The other incident involved a close Jamaican friend of mine, who, upon meeting for the first time a very well known and colourful Guyanese politician, enquired whether the politician knew me. The answer was: “Yes, he is from Barr Street, Albouystown, but he would probably claim that he was from Kitty.” While the story was relayed to me by my friend who had never been to Guyana, the message was quite evident to my friend, who knew me well enough to conclude that it was more a reflection on the politician than on me. The politician and I are of the same vintage.
I admit that I have been absent from Guyana since 1971, although visiting home from time to time, and am therefore completely out of touch with any developments leading to a hardening of prejudice towards those who live or lived in Albouystown. However, in both incidents, the purveyors of this form of snobbery ought to know better. I was born in Barr Street, Albouystown, one of seven brothers and sisters. It was a good street to live on, but then so too was Hunter, Albouys and the others. The late Dr Walter Chin lived on Barr Street. He and I were contemporaries at Queen’s College.
He went on to do medicine at UWI, and I, to do agriculture at McGill University in Canada. I left Barr Street for university, and it was to Barr Street that I returned. Of the seven offspring of my parents, four of us have university degrees. Barr Street has also produced the Gobin family, of which I hear that one of the boys is a medical doctor and another an educationist.
Dr Smart also lived in Barr Street before becoming a veterinarian. Somehow I remember seeing Steve Narine on our street, and think that he lived towards the Punt Trench. Growing up in Barr Street was no different from growing up in Charlestown, just beyond Sussex Street. But I recall that there was a number of us from Albuoystown who every school day went off to Queen’s, most of whose names elude me at the moment, but of those that I can recall, there were Harold Wilkinson from Hunter Street, Egbert from Bel Air Street, Narayan from James Street and Clive Thomas, the well-known Professor of Economics, from either Hill or Hogg Street. A few girls attended Bishops’ and St Joseph’s. An outstanding family that lived for quite a while in James Street was the Lonckes of music and education fame.
The Loncke girls attended either of these well known girls’ schools. One would think that the period of which I speak (more than fifty years ago) would have thrown up the sort of prejudice leading to the exclusion of the sons and daughters of Albouystown from such prestigious institutions as they then were. There was no such practice! Many of us made full use of all avenues that were open to Guyanese of all sorts of backgrounds.
I started my schooling at Mrs Cambridge’s preparatory school on the same Barr Street, and, naturally was one of the founding members of the Albouystown YMCA started by Mrs Cambridge. My compatriots in the YMCA were a mixed bag, and was representative of any Georgetown community.
They became professionals, civil servants, clerks, policemen and tradesmen. Oh, I must not forget the large number of boxers who emerged from the club. Its members came from La Penitence (across the Punt Trench, which in those days was very rural, and lacked the city amenities of Albouystown) and Charlestown. I remember playing table tennis with Rex McKay of judicial fame (I think that he was from La Penitence). Initially, the Burnham brothers, Charwin and Igris, lived on Sussex Street opposite the YMCA, in Charlestown, and later moved to Bel Air Street in Albouystown.
They, too, spent their formative years as members of the YMCA. We played inter-club cricket, football, table tennis, and also launched into a noteworthy rivalry in boxing with Clubland and CYO. I recall fondly our club’s choir (of which I was a member) led by the late noted baritone, George Harding. A notable choir member was Fred Talbot, who went off to the USA and became a bishop in the AME Zion Church. He eventually returned to Guyana for a period during which he and his wife were both active in public affairs. Apart from entertaining the folks in our immediate vicinity, the choir performed in other locations at the invitation of clubs and associations. I owe a lot to the YMCA, not only for its recreational activities, but for its adherence to the principles of its founder, George Williams, of fostering development of the body, mind and spirit.
I re-emphasize: life in Albouystown was no different from anywhere else in Georgetown, a city, which, I later came to realize, in those days did not express as many social disparities as were manifested in some of the other West Indian territories. My upbringing and education stood me in good stead overseas as a student and as an international civil servant, and I think that I did Guyana proud in my own way. Albuoystown is where it all started, so that in all of my travels, whenever I encounter a fellow Guyanese or someone who lived in Guyana, and am asked, “Where are you from?” I never hesitate to say that I was born and grew up in Albouystown. Perhaps, I can be accused of being naïve, and should not be so forthright, but until someone tells me what is it that I should be ashamed of, then I will continue to proclaim my place of birth, as I am proud to be a Guyanese, and proud to be from Albouystown that meant so much in my life.
Yours faithfully,
Donald Drayton
