Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Junction Bus drops me off at the junction. Agreement was for me to wait here.  Previous time which was my first time, I had to rush to get a car to move in  different direction. Kind of like life sometimes at cross roads when you just have to move. This time though, I can wait. There is no space really to wait. Heat and dust. Gas station. Minibus. Food place. Chinese stores.. the huge Chinese store with the smaller Chinese shops. Man sitting near a deep blue cart, coloured cloth covering some things. I think it must be food.  Move closer to him as there is nowhere else to go.  See the man hand moving steadily . Shaving ice.  I think to hell with sugar warnings and ask him for a small one. He points to the two customers waiting, one of them speaking in Spanish to the other. Both descended from Indian immigrants like me.  Hand moving quickly, smooth strokes over the block of ice nestled in a plastic bag.  Watch him open the shaver, put the trapezoid shap...

> Micah 6:8  Sun cooling down, 430pm.. traffic heavy on the road, people going home. Car stops and window comes down and big smile from a woman from mandir.. she laughs when I tell her I am going to the protest.. "I thought so"..  I take my time, not sure of this gathering. A young man tells me to take a placard, or write my own. I pick up one.. Edghill Must Go. I recognise another man who encourages me to stand on some wider parapet. I hear that one of th e placards at the protest is part of Micah 6:8 in the Bible.   Mind moving all over the place when  I realise that I am in the protest with some of the Christian citizens who like the venomous beast-bitten Minister (is the venom still inside him?)  had protested against LGBTQI+ equality over the years..  Micah 6:8 (NIV version) says  "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.     And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy     and to walk humbly...

Kàzaklak melu, Kato, Region 8 (part of pic from Rhea Loo)   Anna Iles (1960 - 2026) was a very kind woman who generously supported people in their work. She had praised my blogs many times, especially those around mental health. Anna is in my mind as I write this . Indigenous lives  Reporter asked me why I was supporting the Amerindian Peoples Association -organised protest. I mumbled nonsense because I could not find the words which would say that the lives lost in the MV Barima, -  in the Mahdia Dorm Fires of 2023, in the suicides, mining violence, other violence, other injustices to the Indigenous communities used to be distant from mine until I re-learned they are connected to mine.  Learning  Burnham's 1980s social studies curriculum taught me that there were six races.  Orlando De Jesus from the 'hinterland' in my class at Bishops' High School died of malaria. I never got more details of his life as an Indigenous student in a Georgetown school....

Pride   "Nah, dem gun be talking about antiman and lesbian and dem ting" the young man said as I was passing after a woman asked him if he was not going to the gender-based violence workshop.  I told him to come and find out what we will be planning to talk about. He laughed.  Another young man in the workshop was concerned about only two genders. He said homosexuality is a mental illness. Hands across chest , defending his masculinity and maleness and his normalness. Another woman in the workshop said something different - everybody is human, June is Pride month.  Workshop has an uneasy consensus that while we might not agree with everyone's way of being human, everyone deserves a right to a life free from violence. Conversation in my head driving me to the Guyana screening of the Queer Cinema for Palestine No Pride in Genocide Walk into the yard and see all the Pride flags decorating the place. Sijan tree provides shade.. Moringa used by many for various hea...

Dear Reuters Your article about how the US-Israeli killing of Iranian children could be a bonanza to Tiny Guyana came out on a day when many yards and streets and houses were flooded after rainfall which should not be unexpected for any country which is developing in  harmony with a turbulent climate and which uses historical experiences, evidence and data to guide interventions. Your  article comes at a time when the stench of stagnant water  reminds us that this 'growth' seems to be 'decay', the stench arising out of insecure egos of politicians who abuse their  power who push bizarre decisions or not make decisions instead of investing in competent expertise guided by global experience.  After all, we are not the first country to be cursed with oil and to learn how to deal with the curse of oil.  Your article about how the US Killing of Iranian children could be a bonanza to Tiny Guyana (or as you framed it "the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran" does talk ...

Time Friday afternoon after I say right, let me pretend that I am in a modern progressive city and walk to relieve the stress from the difficult workshop which had to deal with geopolitics, gender-based violence and the powerlessness felt by Guyanese when dealing with 'outside' forces and local politicians. Lamaha Street with the fancy courtyard where the train station once stood, but no real pavement as these things go.  School children coming down laughing as they do, jostling each other. Some with umbrella to protect from sun.  Group comes up near me and I prepare for what I think is normal to allow them to get into single file and pass. The youths , the leaders of tomorrow like the leaders of today don't make room though.. determined not to break up their formation and collaboration and their unity,  they push me aside.. one girl shouts 'Uncle.. dis is nah time fuh you deh pon de road.. "  I manage to step out of their way and hope that no vehicle would als...