Dear Editor,
In keeping with the president’s call for social cohesion, I want to share with you an unfortunate and unforgettable experience l had while leaving Guyana, which brought about social cohesion among passengers.
Following the cancellation of our flight from Guyana to Miami where over 100 passengers were left stranded at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), after enduring two days of delayed flights that left us frustrated, the passengers became united and built social cohesion.
Although some (passengers) were Guyanese, Americans, male, female, Indian, African, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, young and old, we had one common goal, one common destiny, and one common destination, which was to make it to the United States.
Unfortunately our trip was interrupted by several unexpected events.
As passengers, we spent many hours together, most of those hours were spent at the CJIA and at a hotel.
Although we were hungry, thirsty, angry, tired, lonely, and exhausted, we were determined to make it to our destination. We were united across economics, race, religion, ethnicity, culture, gender and age. We became closer and united as a result of our adversity. The adversity helped us to turn to each other for support and comfort.
Together, we laughed, cried, complained, grumbled and celebrated. We had an experience that started out as a tragedy, but at the end it became a triumph.
Our adversity united us, our unity prevented us from looking at the outer exterior of the person. We didn’t focus on ethnicity, social or economic background. Rather, we were focused on fighting together to make it to Miami. As a result, we put aside for a moment our economic, political, social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
As we fought together to make it to our destination, we realized that we will never forget this experience. Even though it was a bad experience in a way because a lot of people lost a lot of money due to missing their connecting flights, buses and trains, it still helped us to make new friends, relationships and help foster social cohesion among us.
I am sure for most of us, (passengers) this experience will last a lifetime in our memories. What I was disappointed with about the experience was that no one from the Government of Guyana visited these stranded passengers. As one blogger wrote, “When we speak about promoting Social Cohesion, it’s not only about Racial Harmony, …but a bit of empathy as well.”
Yours faithfully,
Anthony Pantlitz
