Like many Guyanese, I prefer to live in Guyana. This is home and no matter where in the world one travels there will never be a place like home. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to live in Guyana. Our failures are glaring and the fact that for decades we have sat, and accepted mediocrity as the standard is telling about how we value ourselves as a nation.
This is a stressful place to be. One where corruption is blatant and one where many people are barely surviving because they are being kept in poverty with nothing being done to empower or enrich them. The stress affects our quality of life. I would imagine that the number of Guyanese affected by illnesses like hypertension is growing. According to a report from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in 2015 the prevalence of high blood pressure in people ages 18 and over was 23.1%. I would imagine that that figure is higher now because of the stressful environment in which we exist, the poor diet of many Guyanese, alcohol, drug abuse and other issues crippling many of our people.