Dr Ivor Crandon: Poverty is no barrier to achievement
This year, Emancipation celebrations at Liverpool, Corentyne were even more spectacular than last year kicking off on July 24 with a pageant, fitness walk, essay competition, soiree and a $100,000 metem-gee competition.
Tacianna Sharpe of Limlair Village beat seven other contestants and was crowned Miss Emancipation at the pageant held on July 24. The next day villagers participated in a fitness walk starting from Alness Village and ending at the Liverpool Community Centre. On July 26, over 40 children between the ages of nine and 17 years participated in an essay competition, turning up at the Liverpool centre to put pen to paper. Annelia Halley of Manchester Village emerged victorious in the nine to 12 years group. Halley wrote about the lives of three persons in her community who have contributed greatly to its development. Troy Munroe of Liverpool Village was the winner of the 13-17 years category. All prizes were given out on Emancipation day. The remainder of the week was spent cleaning the community and making preparations for the soiree.
A capacity crowd packed the Liverpool centre preceded by a dramatic candlelight parade. As villagers entered the ground the electric lights were turned off to heighten the drama, accompanied by the sound of African drums. To start off the festivities a church service officiated by Pastor Raul Campbell was held. A breakfast of salt fish and bake with bush tea was then served. The celebrants then took to the road for the usual road march from Adventure to Liverpool.
Meanwhile, at the Centre five chefs with their assistants were busy preparing for the metem-gee competition which boasted a grand prize of $100,000, a second prize of $50,000 and a third prize of $25,000. One of the rules of the contest was that the meal must be prepared for a family of about 15 persons as most African families were large. Grand prize winner Elma Leitch of Liverpool Village said she did not use any artificial flavours in her pot as aji and cubes were not available back then. She then lit “floating wicks” and served the meal to the judges in calabashes.
By 1 pm a cultural programme chaired by Charles Ceres had started. Ceres’s company Ground Structures Engineering aided many of the activities. The chairman said next year he hopes to see more children from the community enrolled in university and gaining places at the nation’s top schools. Ceres said his company intends to host after-school programmes to make this a reality.
Dr Ivor Crandon, a neurosurgeon born in Fyrish Village and residing in Jamaica, in his address questioned whether “we are really free” 176 years after Emancipation. He declared slavery as “the most wicked system ever placed upon mankind….don’t forget that. Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.” He said too Guyana started as Berbice, as it is here the slaves were brought, beaten, branded and put to work. Cuffy, he said, was of the Akon tribe in Ghana, from where the anansi stories originate.
Dr Crandon then recalled the events that led to Accara committing suicide and warned participants that “if we fight against each other the enemy will continue to rule us.” He encouraged land owners to cultivate their lands rather than sell them. He also told the audience that he came from humble beginnings but his parents gave him knowledge, guidance and education. He said he once worked at the William Fogarty Store in his younger days, wrapping parcels; saving that money to secure fees for his education. “People use to laugh at me but I knew I had to get out of my slump, so I continued. I won a scholarship and started my studies in Canada. I never did science in school, but at university I decided I wanted to be a doctor. I had a very hard time getting that transfer but in the end I got it. You too can attain those heights,” he told the audience, emphasising his point to the school-aged children. “You can beg it, borrow it, steal it, or you can earn it. You can achieve what you want to… but when you earn it no one can take it from you,” he said.
According to Dr Crandon he keeps abreast of the news in Guyana and was disturbed to learn that “one out of every six primary school children drops out of school.” He does not blame the government, he said, “I blame the parents.” He said he is aware that government has invested huge sums in education and that when parents are given subsidies they sometimes spend it “on anything other than education…parents need to attend PTA to know what your kids are doing in school.”
Dr Crandon also lamented that there are absentee fathers in many homes. “But it does not mean that the child cannot do well. It is no excuse. It will be harder, yes,” he said.
He also encouraged parents to be wise when spending money and decide whether an item is an asset or liability. “Education, land, and properties are assets, he said,” adding that “a CD can be an asset or a liability. If the CD is a compact disc, then it’s a liability, if it’s a certificate of deposit, then it’s an asset.” He also urged men to assume their responsibilities as fathers. In closing, Dr Crandon told the gathering that poverty does not prevent a person from achieving.
