Dear Editor,

For this month of January 2012, three persons I knew very well who contributed in their own way to make society a better one, died.

First there was Dr Motilall, a medical doctor, a politician and a patriot who unlike so many other graduates of his time did not become an economic machine; he served the Guyanese people in the medical field and in the political arena. Whenever I went to see him about my recurring medical problem and I inquired how much I had to pay he would say: “Lef wan lil dachna.“ And than he would add as I left, “Wendell stick to you exercise!“ Yes Motilall served Guyanese people well.

Then there was Teresa Forte McAndrew who contributed to the struggle for the return of democracy to Guyana, Terry, as she was known, gave a lot of her time and energy to the Democratic Labour Movement (DLM) in the late eighties and early nineties. She will be remembered by her most pleasant smile.

Then there was Cyril Shaw, a promoter of sports and culture. I knew Cyril Shaw for a very long time and whenever we met at the Rosebud Cafe he would call me ‘Ali,’ I would explain that even though I knew why he took me for an Ali, I was not an Ali.

Shaw told me he promoted Dewan Singh‘s (Guyanese boxer of the fifties) first professional fight. Shaw promoted the Mighty Sparrow and other local and Caribbean calypsonians, and he assisted Dr Jagan in the early day of the PPP. No doubt about it, all those who knew Cyril Shaw can only speak good of him.

To the relatives of all the persons mentioned in this letter I say, be happy, because while in this world, he/she gave his/her best to make this land a better place.

Yours faithfully,
W P George