Dear Editor,
I never cease to be amazed at the depths to which this government will sink to ensure that only their side of the story is told.
I was invited to a football festival in Kwitata in the north-central Rupununi. This festival was organized by a brilliant young Amerindian man, and included the villages of Yupukari, Fly Hill, Kaikumbay and Kwitata itself, all in the north-central area. There were hundreds of Amerindians present. In fact I was the only non-Amerindian in that gathering. I felt honoured to be there.
I left Lethem on Saturday morning and returned on Monday night. The journey was treacherous since the road is in a nightmarish condition. On my return, there was a truck which had turned turtle as a result of the condition of the road. Luckily, no one was injured.
While in Kwitata, many Amerindians approached me to relate the horrors that are passing for life in that secluded part of our country. Many of the issues have already been mentioned. However some other issues surfaced which include unemployment, the cost of living, unavailability of basic food items, the inadequacy of the solar panels distributed by government, the lack of furniture in the school, transportation, lack of news on what is happening in the rest of Guyana, and the most important one, land demarcation.
These issues are effectively preventing these people from entering the mainstream of Guyanese society. I pity them because it is very hard to fathom that in this day and age they are ignorant of a lot of things that are going on in Guyana, things that will invariably impact on their lives.
What is more is that when the politicians go to these villages, they fill the people’s minds with a lot of nonsense, which at times is very divisive. Imagine the people were told that the LCDS monies will be given to households and that the PNC/R was blocking the monies from being disbursed. And bet you me, it was believed. I had to explain to the people from my limited understanding of the issue that the monies are not for individuals, but for communities, and that these monies will be disbursed when the government puts the required systems in place to ensure that the monies are spent in accordance with laid-down principles. They left, having a clearer understanding as to who was preventing the disbursement of the funds.
While talking to the residents, an old friend of mine invited me to Yupukari, so I went there after about a 20-minute ride on the motorcycle. I sat down with him and caught up on some old talk. This guy then got deadly serious. He told me that the school did exceptionally well this year at the National Grade Six Assessment. He told me that the secret to the village’s success was in a library and a computer lab that were donated by an expatriate lady. He said that it was sad that she was no longer around.
After some prompting, and he looking fearfully over his shoulders, he told me that this lady, Alice Taylor, visited the village with her husband who was doing a project on the black caiman. He said that the woman came to love the village and sympathized with their standard of living, so she decided to assist with the education sector.
She made a proposal which was approved and endorsed by the Regional Democratic Council, and the Village Council. She set up the library and the wireless internet with her own funds. This village benefited in that they were able to keep informed of issues. The children were able to do improved research, which was evident in their results. At this year’s examinations, 20 students were able to gain places in secondary schools. That I think deserves an award from the regional authorities.
The story then took a depressing turn. Ms Taylor’s plan was to extend this facility to the other villages mentioned above, but she made a ‘wrong’ move. She criticized the government’s efforts in the education sector for that part of Guyana. True to form, the government asked her to leave, not the Rupununi, but the country. She was escorted out of the village by the police and was told never to return. According to my friend, she made several attempts at returning but was prevented on each occasion.
The moral here is that we know only what they (PPP/C) teach us.
Yupukari has lost a friend. The country has lost a helper. Some people may want to say that the woman had motives. That I do not know.
May Alice be in our prayers, and hope that one day, when we rid this country of the monstrosity that the PPP/C has become, she will return to the serene village of Yupukari to continue what she started out of the kindness of her heart.
Yours faithfully,
Carl Parker
