Dear Editor,
In 1971 I remember a poster with the slogan, ‘Feed, Clothe and House’ that found its way to Yupukari. In my narrow little world then (8 years), it did not make much sense, mainly because my villagers (including us the children) were already practising those three areas. Every family had/has a home; they tilled their land and hunted/fished to feed their families; and worked for balata companies – the late Mr Tiny McTurk of Karanambo and at Apoteri, which gave them the opportunity to purchase clothing.
Many of us, as children, from Katoka (10 miles from Yupukari) began to be responsible for ourselves as we entered school (ie every child was armed with a balata goblet to fetch water from the mighty Rupununi, every child learned to prepare his/her food – cook/roast – while mostly boys went fishing after school). I amongst others was fortunate to stay at our godparents whilst others stayed all by themselves. This does not mean that I did not go on fishing or bird-shooting (with sling shot) ‘expeditions’ with my colleagues.
As I went further beyond the limit of Yupukari Primary I learnt the meaning of ‘Feed, Clothe and House’ differently.
Ten years later I happened to be at Kimbia to witness the tail end of the ideal ‘Feed, Clothe and House.’ I was very impressed to see how much work had been put into the ideal – a large open savannah to be cultivated with cotton and and blackeye and the huge structure of the cotton gin in the middle of the savannah. The other potential in the line of feeding the nation was the livestock farm – chicken, eggs, pork and milk.
Even though training/education was not mentioned in 1971, Kimbia was where many of us began our trades as auto mechanics, masons, electricians, carpenters, and of course in the area of practical agriculture. I was delighted to see a few of my colleagues continuing their studies that had started at Kimbia at the university.
Kimbia Sports Ground was used by riverain schools to run off their school athletics. Kimbia was so organized that it had family quarters for staff members with families along with a day-care centre. I have always wondered what has happened to those places – Kimbia, Papaya and other former GNS locations. For that matter I wrote regarding this a while back in relation to the training of our youths in the various areas mentioned above to avoid them becoming involved in crime.
I also think that if we are true Guyanese brothers and sisters – One Nation, One Nation, One Destiny – we should continue to develop what the previous government had implemented. After all, whatever was done with good intentions was built on taxpayers’ money/Govern-ment of Guyana money and not that of a specific political party. This, in my opinion, is a way of sharing the power of ideas.
Just today someone from Berbice (an unnamed letter writer in the Guyana Chronicle) expressed the view that the savannah at Kimbia be reopened for agriculture since the current government was encouraging its people to turn to agriculture due to rising food prices.
Anyway had we looked at the 1971 slogan – Feed, Clothe, House – beyond the coastland, today Guyana would have been supplying not only the Caribbean but the rest of the world with food.
Yours faithfully,
Guy Marco
