Dear Editor,
Wow! Wow! It is amazing how life can get interesting for a person and a people. I have been having my street debates which I have come to enjoy, this time the topic was on ‘what do we do as a people with all of these challenges facing us?’ Guyana/Venezuela border controversy, now Suriname’s renewed claim to the New River Triangle, challenges with our foreign exports –rice and sugar, falling gold prices, a slowing down economy and spiraling crime rate; the answer is, we focus! What do we do, we focus! We cannot become distracted at this point, we are going through a process of change and surely many of us did not expect the change to impact on some areas in the way it did, but change is a good thing. We can either see our circumstances as a mere challenge or as an excellent opportunity for us to chart a whole new course for Guyana.
Nelson Mandela once said that life is not in black and white and I will add to that, there are many shades of gray between the black and the white in the Guyana scenario. Let’s keep our focus people!
If there is one point I would make to the Government, however, it would be to give us a single target that we can focus on achieving, A ball to keep our eyes on, something that we can work towards achieving irrespective of what is happening around us, not necessarily a short term aim but more a long term goal.
Nevertheless, one thing I can say about Guyanese people is that, we have tremendous mental strength and that is critical in times like these. In times like these we hold hands, grit our heels in the sand, fasten our seat belts, remain resolute and remember the Preamble of our Constitution which says ‘WE THE GUYANESE PEOPLE, Proud heirs of the indomitable will of our forebears, in a spirit of reconciliation and cooperation, proclaim this Constitution in order to: Safeguard and build on the rich heritage, won through tireless struggle, bequeathed us by our forebears; Affirm our sovereignty, our independence and our indissolubility.’
‘…As citizens of Guyana…inspired by our collective quest for a perfect nation, whose characteristics include the commitments, concepts and the principles proclaimed in this preamble.
May God protect our people.’
Yours faithfully,
Audreyanna Thomas
