Dear Editor,
I write today with a heavy heart, burdened by what the media is attempting to do to Dr. Mark Bynoe, Director of the Department of Energy’s, unblemished character. What they are attempting to do will inevitably fail but this knowledge is unlikely to make it less distressing to Dr. Bynoe. Before I go further I must state that Dr. Bynoe is completely unaware of this letter, therefore these thoughts are completely my own.
I’ve known Dr. Bynoe for many years. As a matter of fact, I’ve known Dr. Bynoe since I was a teenager. Dr. Bynoe was the Rector of the church I attended before I migrated. Dr.Bynoe earned the respect of the entire congregation despite his tender age. Dr. Bynoe has always been beyond reproach taking his spiritual journey not down the easy well-trodden path but down a path lined with thorns as directed by God. Dr. Bynoe did not take a solitary walk but took the congregation with him, the weak and spiritually infirm along with the strong and spiritually mighty. Dr. Bynoe has always been apolitical and impartial.
I last saw Dr. Bynoe when I visited Guyana in April of this year. His belief in God had not diminished. Rather it has grown, if that was ever possible. He remained humble. Very humble. Shaking the hands of all with his characteristic smile. His oratory skills a complete mismatch to his humility. A man, unmatched by those who are trying to discredit him. A man who I know would be the first to forgive and forget.
I would always remember the human side of Dr. Bynoe. As a kid our house did not have electricity because it had fallen to the ground. I studied under the light of the neighbourhood shop until our evangelist and our rector, Dr. Bynoe found out. I was given a key to the church, to utilise at nights, to study. In the church was a chair, that was my bed for years. Dr. Bynoe was a pillar of support. The motivation I needed. While I was in medical school, he left to pursue studies in the UK. On his return, he remained humble. If today I have become a person of minimal success, that minimal success I owe to people like Dr. Bynoe, who provided a shoulder for me to lean on when I was spiritually and physically ataxic.
Dr. Bynoe is made of steel mentally but he is human. If the media continue along this path, in my opinion Guyana may lose a very special and incomparable man of the soil.
Yours faithfully,
Dr.Mark Devonish
