Dear Editor,
I note with renewed optimism President Granger’s concern for the nation’s youths who are being lost to suicide and the will he has demonstrated to tackle this issue.
I am an HIV Counsellor/Tester currently stationed at the GPHC, and over the years I’ve seen thousands of people who voluntarily came to be tested. A high percentage of these people came not because of worry or concern over HIV or STIs, but because they needed to talk to someone about their problems.
People are despondent when they spend 5-7 years studying to become doctors and nurses yet see an advertisement for a dental surgeon who will be paid $87,000 monthly.
People are traumatized to learn that the post(s) which should be opening up to them for their elevation is now shut for 3-5 years since the persons in those posts, having reached retirement age are immediately rehired on contracts.
People are saddened that they offer their skills and services and are put on an indefinite hold, while seeing others who are either less qualified or from the ‘other’ side sail past them into opportunities they were told were not available.
People are wallowing in despair that after obtaining their masters and doctorates they are tied to a system for years and simply assigned to desk duties while their expertise benefits no one in their country.
People are tired of the drama that obtains in acquiring land to build and the deathly bank loans in a country of less than a million people that’s roughly the size of Britain.
People are frustrated at the quality of health, security and basic services meted out to them in a manner that says ‘You’re lucky you’re even getting any!’
People are in angst over the blatant disparity between the haves and the have-nots, particularly as it relates to our justice system.
There’s so much more I can highlight, but I think you get the picture. Suicide is the act of a few seconds triggered by a number of factors. Depression comes from a variety of factors like those outlined above, although not limited to them, way before the act of suicide is committed.
Perhaps, we can start reversing the trend of suicide if we take stock and act on the desolation identified above.
Yours faithfully,
Stan Gouveia
