Dear Editor,
Today, like many other days, I sit alone contemplating the situation that is Guyana. As I pan through the news my fears mingle with the desperation I feel for every parent who outlives a child fallen to the ignorance of crime. I am only consoled by hope, a vision, and a prayer.
My hope is in the revival of interest in our youth. My hope is in programmes that seek to keep our youths out of harms way; teaching them the virtues of protecting and serving each other and our country.
I will not romanticize the issues that plagued the Guyana National Service (GNS), the only such programme to date. However, it was a way to cultivate that mindset of responsibility, respect, pride and nationalism missing in some of our youths today. Necessary life and nation-building skills were taught. Recruits were taught the important correlations that exist between self, community and cooperation. Sadly, the government of the day in an act lacking foresight and rife with hatred for all things not of themselves decided that Guyanese youths who gravitated to the GNS (mostly those from less than wealthy households) were undeserving of these basic lessons. Our youths were left out to wonder around our society without an alternative. To those who rejoiced at the dismantling of the GNS, take a look around and see the worst case scenario of a bad decision unfolding. The GNS may not have been the absolute best, but what have we now?
By the same token, the dismantling of mass games left a void in our nation’s cooperative spirit. In awe-inspiring unity, young children from all across Guyana learnt to build teams and display national pride while enjoying the competition and camaraderie that was the games.
How the adults complained! Their children were starved; the sun was too hot; the practices were too long; the venue was too far away; their children were missing school etc, etc. Then those very parents marvelled at the spectacle of the production and the coordination and discipline the children exercised. Again the government of the day with their usual lack of foresight (and again that ever present condemnation) completely scrapped the games instead of re-engineering it and seeking to assess its true value to our children and its uniqueness to our little corner of the world. Further, they did not consider that in our racially diverse society the element of unity through cooperation, so crucial to the development of Guyana, would be abandoned. We like our government, failed our children. We did not invest in our youth and now it has all come home to roost.
My hope is that Guyanese people awaken from their slumber of selfishness and instant gratification and see that once again we can be more than individuals. My hope is that we will take into consideration our long-term survival as a nation. My hope is that we will take our children and our youths beyond the boundaries of the classroom and encourage them to exercise the ideas of team dynamics, decision-making, leadership and nationhood. My hope is that Guyanese return to the idea of shared responsibility in raising upright and conscientious citizens. We cannot throw our children to the wolves and expect them to grow up like lambs. We need out children! We need our youth! They are our future!
As a people, we must admit that Forbes Burnham, though considered a tyrant by many, in many arenas had a vision for the youth of Guyana: A vision of grooming our children to be independent thinkers and leaders unafraid of effecting positive change even in the face of oppression. That vision has lain mostly dormant while our youths have languished in the malaise of missed or unavailable opportunities.
My challenge to Guyanese is to seize that vision as our lives depend on it.
I pray that Guyanese will abandon the killing fields. I pray that Guyanese (especially those in positions of leadership) will exercise foresight and recognize that in their old age the youth if left neglected will neglect them in turn. I pray that Guyanese will set aside forced differences, stereotypes and false pride and take stock and hold of our youth. This is the answer to a great many of our ills.
Only by the survival of our youth will our country survive. Save the youth and we shall save ourselves!
Yours faithfully,
H Cato
I share your pain and urgency about our youths in Guyana. The system of education must change if we are to save our youths. The product of our education system is what we see on our streets in Guyana. Until we redress the balance and the importance of knowing every child potential and talented ability, our society will fragment and we would have failed our children. We need a commission that look at the way we teach our children and we want it now. Our children has got creative qualities and well as academic knowledge, so we must strive to recognise the talent in our children
No! no! no! We don’t need any more studies, commissions established or anything of that sort. We’ve had enough, in all sectors and they are ALL gathering dust on some shelf.
What we need are programmes like what H. Cato highlighted.
Yes, education is partly the key, but not in the traditional way that you might be suggesting. All individuals are not created equal so no amount of academics will make them model citizens.
We need more, well-functioning trade schools, small business development initiatives (what ever happened to IPED?); sports facilities in the urban and rural communities.
At the school/community level, whatever happened to Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and the Brownies, Range Rovers?
And yes, Mass Games and National Service were excellent initiatives despite some inherent weaknesses in terms of planning methodologies.
The Government doesn’t have to be involved or spearhead all these social/economic programmes geared towards our youths, civil society has a role too.
Parents as well have a role, too. It’s up to ALL of us if we wish to continue the slippery slope we’re now on.
Well said Cato, the only sad thing is that the Jagdeo is not listenning and do not care for young people.
Are all youths fallen prey as criminals? What about those who are and were brought up in poor homes, villages, communities, and single parents homes as their counterparts, without the aid of the GNS, and are not criminals?
I certainly think parents must be that initiator to child(ren)’s development. Parents must take the responsibility to teach their child(ren) right from wrong. And as they go through the stages of infancy to adulthood, with the love, care and guidance of the parents, when they come of age, that child must exercise that God giving right of which he has given to every man. That’s the power of “self-will”. That power bestowed upon him is to reason for himself, think for himself, choose for himself and conceive with himself right from wrong. It is at this stage that that child is responsibility for his/her own actions.
Regardless of where we live,U.S.A.,U.K.,France,Guyana,Youth crime increases daily.We the parents,Village leaders,Sports Associations,and the Government,have a responsibility to mould the youths,and make them better citizens.It starts in our homes.Criminal behaviour is like a curse,Lets come together,and fight this cancer in Society.We make too many excuses.Lets be more positive in our approach.Hard times do not turn one into a criminal.It builds character.Devil always finds work for idle hands.
I totally agree wth the writer that the adults are failing the youths. Wonder how much more “fineman” and “skinny” we are producing. A scary situation.
Stand up GT ppl!!!!!!!!!!!
Run things, dont let things run you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God Bless Guyana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everything Cato is sugesting existed in Guyana at one time or another with some degree of success. However, the leaders, the decision-makers see most things only from a political perspective and not as national development.
Guyanese have become too political for their own good. Everything appears to be about politics.
Therefore, if an idea is not politically feasible at the time, then nobody sees value in pursuing the same. And I’m not necessary talking about the public sector only because this way of thinking exists in the private sector too.
National Service cannot solve Guyana’s problems today. Guyana needs people with sound academic education and the skills to survive in our changing world. The things that the youth can learn from a programme like National Service, except the military training, can be provided through other areas. We don’t need more “sojas” (men with military training) running around.
Rgds,
Red Lion
ns was one of Burnham’s many failure.these youth men are listenin to the wrong people who call them freedom fighters.they live by the sword thou shall die by the sword.its not just skinny and fineman there are lots more.remember there are over 450 young men who took army trainin and wen awol.what about those?
ns was one of burnham’s many failures
In the US there are programs such as Job Corp, ROTC etc which are very much like the GNS. As you correctly stated the GNS wasn’t just about military training. It was about producing a well rounded, self sufficient citizen. To date, there have been no national skills training programs that address that bracket of young men and women abandoned by the GNS.
We hear a lot of fluff from the administration yet nothing is being done until the really bad eggs show themselves. The government has the tools to restart such programs that strategically target these folks. These tools do not include the GPF and GDF targeting them with bullets.
Reform ist needed from a grassroots level.