Dear Editor,
As you might recall there was significant media coverage on the passing of my father Elvin McDavid last year, who was one of Guyana’s most distinguished public servants during the time of the post-colonial Burnham era. My father passed due to post-operation complications after a long battle fighting many ailments while under the care of my sister and I in Jamaica. He lost the fight but not the race!
I write today because there was significant concern about when his remains would return to Guyana, the land of his birth and the land he so loved and believed in. More importantly it was his dying wish to return to Guyana so that he would rest in complete peace. I am happy to report to well-wishers and the general public that one year to the day of the anniversary of his passing, he was returned and a church service was held on September 24, 2015 at the Brickdam Cathedral.
My father’s wish was that half his ashes be spread around the tombsite of my grandmother, where also lay my grandfather and aunt. The last half of his ashes were to be spread at McDavid Park, Kimbia, named in his honour and which is located at the centre of the old Guyana National Service Outpost, Kimbia. As many would be aware, the Guyana National Service was part of his life’s work and is an institution he was a founder of and loved deeply.
The first part of his request was fulfilled without much difficulty. It involved searching through records, and a small trek through the very overgrown La Repentir Cemetery in the Catholic section where my eldest brother and sister spread his ashes as per request. The last part of the final request was an adventure. While on this part of the journey I felt I was living in a National Geographic journal. I did this part on my own.
I drove 2.5 hours to New Amster-dam over two bridges (if my memory serves me correctly) where I was met by a local contact (Kurt) who put me on a boat heading up the river to Kimbia. After another 2.5 hours by river I arrived at Good Hope at the Boyle Family residence for the night. The next morning I got up bright and early, and my escort from Good Hope to Ebini, roughly another 4 miles up the river, was the Kimbia district’s Toshao.
Upon reaching Ebini we were fortunate to catch a tractor ride somewhere about 6 miles in on a very rough trail. My companions the Toshao (Ashton) and a district guide (Bob) and I walked another estimated 4 miles to the actual site of the National Service Outpost facility. I was previously given a vivid description by former National Service Pioneers (Armogan and Pereira) as to where the facility began and where the location of McDavid Park would be.
You know you have arrived when you see the long pathway of ever tall coconut trees highlighting the way, and you know you have arrived at McDavid Park when you see the coconut trees forming an almost perfect square. During my trek I imagined through my father’s stories how majestic this place must have been before being claimed back by nature.
On the advice of Pioneer Pereira I made a makeshift cross that I carried with me to mark the spot, the final spot. At the centre of McDavid Park nine paces from an awara tree is where I planted it, sprinkled some libation and had a drink with my companions in my father’s honour, said a prayer and my final goodbye. This was faithfully done on the morning of September 29, 2015.
It was a happy, sad and exciting experience all in one! I imagined how proud my father would have been about my “pioneer experience.” He always called my sister and I pioneers from when we were small children, and on the trek I could hear him shouting to us as he always did, “Let’s go pioneer!”
I did not get to go on this journey with him in the physical sense, but certainly made it with him in spirit. My companions and I then hiked back out the full way through the trail and open savanna. It was definitely the journey of a lifetime because of all the symbolism and emotions attached.
My journey on the Berbice River to the Kimbia district was a spiritual one to say the least. While travelling on the river, it overwhelmed me how majestic it was and how beautiful Guyana is. The Berbice River made me think of how it is said in the Bible that on Mount Sinai the Lord dwells, because I certainly feel that the Lord dwells in the majesty that is the Berbice River.
As an overseas based Guyanese growing up most of my life in Jamaica, a place where there is a very strong tourism product, it dawned on me that Guyana’s natural geography and beauty can compete with or beat any destination in Caricom. The people along the Berbice River are so warm and friendly and willing to accept visitors. We must share these and other parts of Guyana with the world.
I have arrived back in Jamaica where the very strong connection I have always had to Guyana (because my father made sure of this) is now ever stronger. The nation is full of hope and possibilities, and I stand ready and committed to rebuilding a better Guyana, where the majesty of the country no longer remains a secret.
I thank all those who made the journey possible.
God bless my father’s soul! God bless Guyana!
Yours faithfully,
Nicholas McDavid
