Dear Editor,
Reference is made to “US has asked Guyana to accept some Afghan refugees” SN, 30 October. Guyana belongs to all people, including refugees from Afghanistan. Someone wrote: The Statue of Liberty faces outward toward the nations, holding aloft the torch of freedom, the flame of hope, the promise of the future. She holds this torch high in the daytime and during the night as well. She shines her light in the midst of darkness. The Statue of Liberty belongs to all people. Her message is universal, speaking to the hearts of those who cherish freedom everywhere. Liberty’s image is one of strength, majesty, and hope, visible in her eternally raised right arm which carries the torch of freedom.
Holding aloft a light that never fails, she represents hope to the hopeless, welcome to the poor, courage to the meek. Facing outward toward the ocean, her lamp is a beacon on stormy seas, drawing to her shores, those from afar who seek a better life. For these, and for countless others who embrace her message, the Statue of Liberty represents the Golden Door. What is the Golden Door? It is the entrance into liberty and freedom from oppression that is the promise of America — a land, a people, a way of life. The Statue welcomes all to this door — the lost, the needy, the rejected, the exiled. She invites them to step through it into freedom.
The Statue of Liberty’s comforting presence is increasingly needed when the sea of world events becomes more stormy, the waves higher. In times of turbulence, her light is reassuring, her presence, a guarantor of safety. We are living in a time when the sea of world events are stormy and the waves higher. Put simply, in times of turbulence. Like the Statue, let our light be reassuring and let us welcome the presence of the Afghan. Like the United States, let Guyana be a country that: Welcomes all to its door — the lost, the needy, the rejected, the exiled. As an immigrant who benefited from living in America, I wish to encourage that as many as possible refugees from Afghanistan be accepted. Please allow me to share my personal experience with living and working with Afghans.
In 2006 and 2007, I was deployed to Afghanistan twice with the American armed forces. Both times I worked closely with Afghans. I was deployed to one of the poorest areas of the country, Bagram. While there, I interacted with Afghanistan’s soldiers and civilians. I can tell you that the Afghans are truly good people. The one memory I would never forget about Afghanistan is the amount of poverty I saw. I have been to many poor countries, and I have lived in many depressed villages such as Albouystown. But, even in Albouystown, one of the poorest communities in all of Guyana, I didn’t see such poverty growing up as I saw in Afghanistan in 2006-2007. Living in Afghanistan was the only time I saw people living in houses made with mud. No cement. No wood. No concrete. No steel. No zinc. Only mud. Mud from top to bottom. Mud inside and outside. Mud floors. Mud widows. Mud roofs. Mud walls.
It was shocking to see people living in such dire poverty in the twenty-first century. The people seem to be living in the seventeenth century. They had no electricity. No running water. No indoor plumbing. No indoor toilet. Almost all of the women were illiterate. Their clothes were always dirty. They were always wearing the same clothes, a long blue dress. The only part of their bodies I saw was their eyes. Every part of them were covered from head to toes. When I look into their eyes, I saw sadness, hopelessness and tremendous pain. I remember asking myself, how people can live in such abject poverty. The gov’t of this country must do something to help these people. We are truly our brothers and sisters’ keeper. You never know that one day the Afghans’ children may join the Guyana Defense Force to fight and to protect our country from our enemy. I’m going to put my money where my mouth is and I’m personally willing to have 25 Afghans live with me at my house in Guyana.
Sincerely,
Anthony Pantlitz
