Dear Editor,
Recently The Caribbean Voice contacted Ms Akola Thompson after learning of her website facilitating Guyanese to report abuse confidentially (reportabusegy.com) and we requested her permission to link to her website from our website (www.caribvoice.org). Subsequently, we invited her to talk about the site at our press conference on January 19th.
In a letter in the Kaieteur News of January 22 captioned ‘I am not a member of The Caribbean Voice’, responding to an article of January 21st in that same newspaper, Ms Thompson stated, “I am not working with the Caribbean Voice, nor have I worked with them at any point. I really do not want my name associated as a member.” The underlined sentence seems to attribute negative implications to membership of The Caribbean Voice.
The Caribbean Voice has never invited Ms Thompson to become a member nor have we ever stated/implied that she is. Our reaching out to her was in keeping with one of the pillars of our anti-violence campaign – Building Stakeholders’ Collaboration for Social Activism. And we have worked very hard to stay above the fray and build bridges across all divides, as reflected in both our membership and our work.
We are and continue to remain a truly professional entity operating on the basis of ethics and principles and displaying the most profound dedication and commitment to saving lives and empowering people. And our interactions and relationships with stakeholders and the wider community have and will continue to be positive and affirming.
Meanwhile The Caribbean Voice extends an open invitation to Ms Akola Thompson to continue to collaborate as we strive to positively impact the social landscape. Her activism is a valuable part of this process.
Yours faithfully,
Annan Boodram
The Caribbean Voice
