Frustration and faith in Guyana..

A man who received a lot of recognition for his charitable work in Guyana said that he was frustrated by Guyana, and Guyanese people. Another man asked me why did I return to Guyana a long time ago and why am I not leaving. Another man on a restless night said he felt angry, that nothing will change, it will be more of the same, abuse of Government powers; reduction of police professionalism, increased crime rates. The Government has said that Guysuco nor no one in Guyana could run the modern sugar factory. Some people are poor, cannot find their way out, and there are many young people who cannot read or write. Another woman's blog is a litany of woes about Guyana and Guyanese society but she does not own those views.


Another man said he lost his wallet, and someone called and returned it to him with everything intact. Other people are making a lot of money hosting lots of big events. There are many students who celebrated their success at exams. Guyana is more than the Government and the political parties. Those of us who have to live here.. some of us make the choice, some of us have no choice; have to find ways of creating Paradise here. On the one hand it might mean a lowering of the standards for what we want for paradise; or to actively work to make that paradise and celebrate any achievement of it without dying.

The activism which is driven by faith does not take its toll in the same way as  the activism which is driven by contempt and anger. Anger is a great motivator and the frustrations which build up should be released and not held inside. While pushing for the large scale changes.. we forget to celebrate the small changes.

This week, an important lesson as the President called the middle finger protesters the 'loony fringe' (Guyana Times Article reposted below). He however was called out to state that the boy should not be charged - agreeing with the loony fringe. One of the unwritten stories of that protest is that there was at least one woman who had been dealing with crap a lot of her life.. and she took the step to go out and stand up with the other 'loonies'. Sometimes, this is how change happens.


From Guyana Times 3 September, 2011

Middle finger’ teen should not be charged – Jagdeo

President Bharrat Jagdeo has said that the teen who alleged ly showed his middle finger to a presidential convoy in a lewd gesture should not be charged.Instead, he said, it is the driver of the vehicle who should be prosecuted for having failed to adhere to the police sirens. Jagdeo made the comments at a news confer ence held at the Office of the President on Friday. He explained that on the day in question, August 8, he was travelling along the East Coast Demerara ( ECD) highway when he realised that both sirens were blaring. At that point, Jagdeo said, he looked away from an article he was reading at the time and instructed his outriders not to use both sirens, as they proved too loud. “… so I heard both blaring, so I looked up way ahead of me, and I saw the outrider using the siren to get the vehicle to pull into the left lane, because … the driver ( had) refused to do so. Eventually, they overtook on the inside lane; and as they were passing this finger emerged, I was way behind, so I had never seen this person. If I see him I won’t know him, so he couldn’t show me the middle finger,” the head of state said. Stressing that 18- yearold Kevin Simon of South Ruimveldt should not be punished, President Jagdeo continued: “ Now, this is probably a misguided youth, and I don’t feel that he should face prosecution because of this. But what I think they should go after is the driver. Because, just imagine you yourselves, if he doesn’t respect a police vehicle with a siren, imagine him trying to overtake and he is in another lane with your family, how he would treat you as an individual. “ I think it is the driver who should face the consequences for disobeying the police order, not this youngster [ who] maybe is just misguided. He didn’t show me the middle finger. I was way behind the outrider of the vehicle.” The president said the hullabaloo over the issue is nothing but an overreaction by a fringe group comprising loonies “ running around looking for a cause.” “ But that ( incident) suddenly becomes a big issue, a cause for protest. This fringe lunatic group needs something to keep them going from time to time, and so I guess we have to oblige them to give them a chance to protest around the place. “ They are portraying this slightly differently. I think it’s the driver, the driver – I actually thought it was the driver; it was the driver who refused to obey the police outrider,” remarked Jagdeo. Simon, a porter on a water delivery truck, has since been to court and was remanded to prison for allegedly showing his middle finger to the president’s con voy. Initially, the teenager was charged for breaching the peace. He pleaded not guilty to the offence and was remanded to prison for one week; but when he returned to court on August 16, he was again remanded to Camp Street Prison for another week. He was granted bail in the sum of $ 5000. Kevin Simon is being represented by Attorney Nigel Hughes. Since his incarceration, several concerned groups, including the Alliance For Change ( AFC) and A Partnership for National Unity ( APNU), have expressed concern over the manner in which the lad was treated.