Dear Editor,
I have served my adopted country for nearly 30 years of my life. For the past two years, I’ve tried unsuccessfully to serve the country of my birth, Guyana, as an unpaid volunteer. But all that continues to happen is the door being slammed in my face. I’m being treated like an outsider/foreigner. I wasn’t welcome or received.
During this time, I’ve been mistaken for a deportee and con-man. Some people think that I have some ulterior motive for returning to Guyana. Most people don’t believe that I just want to serve my people out of the goodness of my heart and not for any financial gain. It is because rarely do Guyanese return to Guyana to work as volunteers. When I tell people I’m here to volunteer and not to be paid, they look at me as if I had told them that I came from another planet.
After spending nearly a year in Guyana, few people wanted my help. Those who did, did it with some suspicion of me. However, most of these people wanted a financial donation from me. They did not wish to hear of any of the wisdom, experience, knowledge, qualifications or credentials that I’ve acquired.
They just want me to give them my money. They don’t want to hear about my foreign ideas or experiences. They said, “This is Guyana, and your ideas will not work here.” They didn’t even take the time to hear my ideas before concluding that it wouldn’t work. I find it strange though that they were willing to accept my money but not my experience.
Who were some of the people who refused my services? They include many churches, businesses, schools and other organisations. None of these people knew me or trusted me because I’m a foreigner, and they didn’t know me.
Moreover, Guyanese who migrated are seen as foreigners because they left the country during difficult times. They avoided many hardships which local Guyanese had to endure. Because of this, many local Guyanese believe that the foreign Guyanese don’t have any right to offer their help. I don’t understand why I am treated in this way for leaving the country. I was still a child when I left. If I didn’t leave, I would not have been in a position to help today.
Furthermore, in Guyana, most people are suspicious of foreign Guyanese. Some local Guyanese believe most foreign Guyanese think poorly of them. Therefore, the local Guyanese don’t like the foreign Guyanese and vice-versa. They act as if Guyanese don’t need any outside help. The fact is though local and foreign Guyanese need each other for Guyana to succeed.
In closing, all I wanted to do was to serve my country by giving back. But in trying to serve my country, I learned some valuable lessons. One lesson is that Guyana is a deeply divided country; the divisions are not just racial and financial, but also can be seen between the locals and the diaspora.
I only hope that this division will end so that Guyana will become a successful country. A second lesson is that even though Guyana is a country that is badly in need of outside help and volunteers, it rejects the very volunteers and the help that is badly needed when it comes from the diaspora.
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
