By Rae Wiltshire
I look forward to meeting new people with different experiences. It has made my life richer.
Each person has a story that can bring a new dimension to understanding the world. Listening to their hopes and dreams is one of the best gifts I have received this year. Each individual gave me a shard of their life.
I journeyed to Lusignan and witnessed the hopeful imagination of a drummer. A conference with marginalised communities highlighted for me their similarities; not differences. I met young people who inaugurated a cosplay event, Fumacon, in Guyana. I also interviewed a violinist who called himself dunce but taught himself multiple musical instruments. There was also the agriculturalist who has continued the generational tradition of farming, a graphic artist who improved his craft by practising self-care, a young woman looking for purpose who has spent over a decade at an NGO working to empower children of the Rupununi, and a tattoo artist who has decided to live a life that is meaningful to him, not society. Each story left me with a memory or a thought that never occurred before.
