Dear Editor,
Last September I wrote to the Stabroek News what I thought was my last letter. The medical reports were bad. I was going to lose my arm and the blockage almost the length of a ruler stretched from my upper arm to my neck, could impact my brain and heart. It is unclear how it happened but it could have been a result of the two years I was constantly working on a 15 feet purple heart sculpture. I hadn’t the millions to pay for the surgeries, with the Covid19 pandemic and shut down I hadn’t sold any work, like other Guyanese artists barely managing to survive.
I made up my mind that I was not going to end up like my mother. She lost both of her eyes at the GPHC due to negligence and died shortly after. Most of my old friends deserted me in my moment of need. I have but a handful of friends who have not sold out their integrity for money, but God did not give up on me. Complete strangers came looking for my home to aid me in my darkest hour. Requested that I not mention their names. I did not undergo the surgeries and I did not lose my arm, only my ring finger. I went to many different physicians and spent the money I had raised from the sale of my work without any improvement.
Months passed and my arm was in a bad shape, swollen, my fingers turned purple. Then I came to this good doctor, he was quite honest. He said that I wouldn’t survive the surgery that I wouldn’t come off the table. He prescribed blood thinners and said he may not be able to save my arm but he would try to save my life. Today I have regained mobility in my left arm and I am painting some colorful landscapes on climate change and paintings promoting global peace and an end to genocidal wars among nations. These works are all available.
The calamity of life is that not all lives matter, only some lives matter. Millions of hard earned tax dollars are spent every year on overseas medical treatment for the political elites whilst the ordinary Guyanese have to procure medical attention at the GPHC or find money to pay the exorbitant costs of the private hospitals. Primary health care should be a priority in the life of the small Guyanese population. It came to me that I had to do something to highlight the plight of my Guyanese compatriots and the discrimination of our senior artists who have given their golden years in the service of our country and are deliberately neglected on the basis of their ethnicity, and so I wrote to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, and Global Citizenship of the bigger picture, promoting Global Peace and an end to Genocidal Wars among Nations.
In 1995 one of my sculptures ‘ART in RESISTANCE’ was selected from a number of paintings and sculptures submitted to represent Guyana as a permanent display at the United Nations.
We need to internationalize the dilemma that Guyana is faced with before our situation degenerates any further. I feel certain that there are progressive Guyanese who would support my effort to go to the United Nations. As an artist, I remain convinced that ART can heal the open wounds of the Guyanese nation and help create a better world, bring light where there’s darkness, bring peace where there is hatred and bring unity where there is division. For further information, you can email me at gyunitedartists@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Desmond Alli
General Secretary
Guyana United Artists
