Dear Editor,
Congratulations to the government and people of Guyana! Despite the social, political and economic challenges that Guyana presently faces, it is good to see that we have not succumbed altogether to the depressing and inauspicious imagery that threatens our hope for a more cohesive and comfortable society. Sometimes, there is a need for us to create a moment for ourselves: a moment to pluck the courage to pull ourselves out of moods that can trap us in prolonged negativity as we seek brighter horizons that can take us to another level in our fight to achieve that spirit of progress and accomplishment which so often seems to evade us.
The return of the Caribbean Festival of the Arts (Carifesta) after thirty-six years to the country of its birth is an occasion for praise, thanks and celebration. This festival which was born and developed in Guyana, its cultural incubator, has now become a celebration of pride that highlights the cultural landscape of our Caribbean region. After years of travelling around the region and being shaped, strengthened and positioned further on its pilgrimage, that of uniting all Caribbean cultures in an expression of one Caribbean culture, may we touch it again with the freshness of that creative, innovative and progressive vision with which it was conceived and birthed on the shores of our dear land, in 1972.
Guyana needs this moment of celebration among its Caribbean and other international peers. Let this be a moment that will bring us a refreshed spirit and a heightened sense of resolve to work for a united Caribbean, even as we work together in our own domestic situation, for unity among our six peoples, peace in our nation and a better Guyana for all of us to enjoy.
Congratulations on our achievement in hosting and celebrating Carifesta X!
As we celebrate let us take pride in remembering that Trinidad gave birth to pan and calypso. Jamaica gave birth to reggae. Guyana gave birth to Carifesta, and culturally there is a lot more in our cultural womb.
Yours faithfully,
Pastor Kwesi Oginga
