A little drop in the hat, crumbs from the pie, this is the season for most Guyanese. While the little drops and few crumbs are not life changing or permanent solutions to eliminate hardships and poverty, still, the people express gratitude.
Like a tragedy Guyana’s story continues to unfold. People are asked to stand in front of the lights and cameras, to praise the people they employ by their votes even when they throw morsels at them. Like the morsels from the billions are from their personal bank accounts. Like they are the gods the people should serve. Like they are not people who will one day lie still and make their transition to the ancestral realm. We have emboldened a small group to be arrogant, selfish, and greedy.
How long will we remain asleep, accepting and simply complaining without any real resistance or unity to change our course?
The people employed to manage the affairs of this country have showed repeatedly that their desire for a country where destitution is a thing of the past is not a priority. Desperate, people continue to plea for betterment. With humility they accept the drops and crumbs perhaps believing that they do not deserve better or that better will come with time and patience.
When we see announcements about one off bonuses of $25000 (US120) for public servants in an oil rich country with the fastest growing economy and the biggest budget this year, we know who cares and who does not. We laugh to keep ourselves from crying but nothing about it is funny. We know who is important and who is not. We cannot fool ourselves that there is a vision to improve the life of every Guyanese when time and time again the truth slaps us. New roads and new buildings do not mean development if the lives of the people continue to worsen because the cost of living is crippling. But the people will say US120 is better than nothing and they will wait for the announcement of the salary increases. There are those who will say that the ones complaining are ungrateful.
When there ongoing allegations of cash grants in the hundreds of thousands being given to chosen ones or contracts in the millions being awarded to a chosen few, and US120 is the sweet spot for a bonus for public servants, we clearly see the lines of discrimination, dishonesty, and wickedness.
The people of the country only want a decent piece of the pie that belongs to them. They want to be able to look into the eyes of their children and be confident in telling them that the future is bright here. Many cannot look into the eyes of their children without feeling like they are failing them. They battle the depression, they feel angst, they feel like they are failures. Though they may work hard and continue to hope, the pieces of the puzzle still do not come together.
The people want to hold their heads high knowing that every square inch of Guyana belongs to us, and it is Guyanese first here. Still, some are looking for the fastest way out of Guyana while Venezuelans are looking for the fastest way to steal Essequibo. We can only hope that the rumours of unpatriotic traitors amongst us are false. There are Guyanese still desperately waiting for family sponsorship to migrate while some are becoming illegal immigrants in other countries. Going overseas for betterment should be a thing of the past here. Running from the fastest growing economy should be seen as strange. Most of our university graduates should be able to find jobs here that pay them what they deserve. But look at us.
The air is filled with tension. There is desperation. The people sit with their heads in their hands, in fear and despair wondering, what the future of Guyana holds. Wondering if a decade or two from now the face of our country will change and we will begin looking more like the neighbours who want our land. The people want to be sure that our leaders will not betray us.
How do we change the course of our country? That the vile, the bitterness and hopelessness do not continue to stagnate our progress. Too many are in the hole; sinking deeper while the shovel is hidden in the dirt, and they are having a hard time finding it to dig themselves out. And even the ones holding the shovel and willing to dig themselves out are having too many moments of feeling uncertain because they feel they have no power having lived and suffered in silence for too long and afraid of what obstacles they might encounter to throw them back into the hole.
We are threatened from inside and outside our country. The faces of all our enemies might not be clear, but we know who some of them are. Those who steal, those who make promises they do not keep, those who trample on the good life every Guyanese should be experiencing we know their faces look like us. The call is not only coming from outside the house, but the monsters are also inside and ready to destroy the peace and sanity of the average Guyanese.
We continue to sit, watch, and wait. We quarrel and fuss but excuse our foes. We chain our legs because we are afraid to march for our rights and freedoms. Who controls the minds of the people here? Who invades their thoughts to make them believe that they cannot change the course of this country? That they cannot stand and shout “Enough!”
Who has instilled so much fear that even in this time of great peril, hopelessness, desperation, discrimination, and other crippling realities that they are not desperate enough to stand and protest. Who will tell them, that if not now, when? Who will tell them that those who are jeopardizing their now, are also jeopardizing the future of generations to come?
While the wealthy minority may feel secure, while ignoring the darkness, and excusing evil, they too will not know peace, if the majority does not know peace. The cycle continues as we hope for Guyana’s better day for all. Some have resolved to wait for the next elections to vote race again or for the party they will give their life for in hopes that things will change. Haven’t we fooled ourselves long enough?
