Dear Editor,
I recently came back from Guyana after living 21 years in the US. This issue has me highly concerned. How can this happen?
“We have a son who is 18 years old and ready to marry. We can marry and take her to Suriname to live with us. She can go to Christian church and live with us while she matures to serve as a house wife. Our son will not touch her until she is 18. We will take good care of her.” said the Surinamese couple to the wide eyed and tired family of hopeless aunts, uncles, and father.
They are discussing the future of a 14 year old girl who does not listen to anyone. She smokes crack, has sex, and is a high school dropout since December 2010. What, you say? Of course, right here in quiet old #78 Village back yard. Number 78 Village Rampoor is infested with a group of 14-17 year olds who are all crack users. The little girl’s cousin is her pimp. He gets crack from a “friend” who in turn crawls into his bedroom window to have sex with the 14 year old girl, his cousin. Outrageous you say, sure, it gets better. There is a 17 year old girl in the gang who collects money from the boys to have sex with the younger girls. The little “madam” at the tender age of 17 is a product of “Girl School”. Not your little old Guyana. Wake up, open your eyes and ears, look and listen. It is happening right now. There is little or no parental support for anyone it seems.
Most of what I hear from some of the parents is, “Abe tired talking to dem pickney dis, dem hard ears, dem na listen to no body.” The feeling of despair, of helplessness, of a total breakdown of parental values and discipline all play a role in this dysfunctional society. Most parents of these kids don’t want to or are too tired to deal with the issues of this teenager pack. The parents rather hide their kids when the truancy officers come knocking because they feel the kids will continue to do the same things. They are also afraid of the drug users. There is also the perception that another person’s child is not one’s business and they should just stay out. The notion that it takes a village to raise a child definitely does not apply here.
Most of the teenager pack’s parents are uneducated and work menial jobs to get by. They have no faith in the system nor do anything to get out of their current situation. I hear the words, “we are poor people, what can we do” a lot. It is very hard to convince these people that there is a way to get help and there are organizations and people who are willing to extend a hand.
A very casual inquiry, at Skeldon High School, leads to a whole world of individuals ready and willing to help. Teachers, counsellors, an actual social worker (University of Guyana graduate) are all in place ready to help. With limited resources and just the goodwill of helping a child to stay on a straight path these teachers and social workers try tirelessly to contain a problem that is fast spinning out of control. The drug epidemic is quickly engulfing this once innocent society into a 15 year old monster. What will happen in a couple of years when these kids grow up a little? It will be intolerable to be on any street corner or walk on any streets. There is little or no help from parents who are too illiterate to bother about helping their kids get off drugs. As far as they are concerned the kids are bad and there is nothing to be done about it. This is the brick wall the social workers run into every day. Social workers take money out of their own pockets to buy shoes for a kid who cannot afford it—that is going beyond the call of duty. There is only so much a social worker can do. They cannot parent every child. That is the parents’ role. But this society has always been okay with someone else raising their child.
It has always been a common practice here for parents to give a child to their relative or close friend or some to complete strangers to parent. When my father passed I had many offers to “mine” (raise) me. My grandfather and grandmother were very vocal and stayed strong that I was not up for adoption, or raising or any such crazy thing. They made sure everyone knew that I had a home, their home. Had they allowed someone else to “mine” me who knows how I would have turned out? Not that I have not had my share of troubles, God knows I had, but I am still not so bad.
After a three-hour session with the social workers the little 14 year old was allowed back in school with stipulations and check points. She has to check in 3 times a week with a social worker and every evening with another teacher at the teacher’s home to do homework. There is a support system in place at her home to assist with absenteeism. Everyone around this child were brought in and it was made absolutely clear what were the consequences if this little girl were to not follow the guidelines laid out for her. If she is absent for 1 day for no real reasons the social worker will be forced to report to the Ministry of Education who will inform the local authority to commit her to a Correctional School for Girls. She is to stay away from her pimp and the young drug pusher and avoid her little pack at all cost.
The social worker made a list of things for the little crack girl to have so she could have a smooth transition back into school. All items were bought and the eager young lady was ready for her return. After being escorted to school and receiving a warm welcome, things seemed great. Until the little drug pusher decided to wait for the terrified little girl at the head of the street one morning. She immediately informed her family who came out to walk her to the public road for a taxi. She started to buckle down and took her studies seriously. In the afternoons, she sought help from her teacher and regularly made her social worker visits. Things seemed back on track.
Days prior to the last foreigner leaving, the young drug pusher confronted the 14 year old somewhere outside of her high school with a knife. She screamed and ran between her friends to hide. Her attacker ran away.
The last foreigner left at noon, in the evening the 14 year old never came home. Three days later her father hobbled to the local police station to file a missing persons report. The 14 year old’s family led the police to the young drug pusher’s family’s home where they suspected all along that the young girl was being kept. Female ranks went in and rescued the juvenile.
She recounted that the drug pusher threatened her with violence against her family so she went with him. The police took her to the hospital for a medical examination. Doctors reported that the young lady has been sexually active since around age 12 and there was evidence of rape.
The young girl is being kept by the police at an undisclosed location with access by her family for food and clothes. The local magistrate issued a warrant for the young drug pusher on charges of rape and kidnapping of a minor. There is a hearing next Thursday pending the fugitive’s arrest.
We hold our breaths and pray to our divine ones that justice is served and this young lady can try to put the pieces of her fragile life together. Here is hoping that cooler heads and kinder hearts do the right thing and take this situation seriously so that this does not happen to another young lady. This is an opportunity for the justice system to do the right thing and the humanitarian community to reach out and envelope a hopeless child and for all of us to open our eyes and minds and find a way to prevent this from happening again.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Khadaroo
Concerned Guyanese
living in the United States
