Every time I go away to play to audiences outside I hear from Guyanese in the diaspora on the coping-with-life-in-Guyana question. My general response is that it is an individual matter revolving around one’s own requirements for contented living, so that each person has to come and make their own evaluation. If the questioner persists, however, I will sometimes refer to some particular aspect that might be of value to the Guyanese considering living here again.
Recently, for example, when a friend in Toronto raised the matter, I mentioned my own experience in returning to live in Guyana where I quickly learned the value of “knowing people who know;” getting to know these folks who are something akin to the Malcolm Gladwell definition of “connectors” in a society is the key to making your transition here go smoothly.
They are people who can steer you to where unusual items can be bought, how to
