…vs Guitar on harmony
We Guyanese do have a way with words; and if we don’t have the words, well, then, that’s no problem, we simply make them up as we go along!! Your Eyewitness has always liked our local comeback to those who boast about doing “this” or doing “that” – ‘e gat wan difference between “moutar” and “guitar” That is between the pretend sound made by the mouth (“moutar”) and the real sounds of beauty produced by the “guitar”!!
Your Eyewitness was stuck by the difference when he showed up at the ball game four nights in a row to see his Guyana Amazon Warriors play in the flesh (so to speak) at Providence Stadium. For two and a half years now, the Government had been going on (and on and on…!) about “social cohesion” with not a thing to show for it amongst the people in the communities.
Quick now, can you think of any event that the Government held that had a REAL impact on the man on the street to hug his fellow Guyanese in embrace? Thought so: none!!
But, at the ball game, your Eyewitness say Guyanese of all persuasions and types – young and old, male and female and all the genders in between, all the six races and the dozens of mixtures and ethnicities. And guess what? When their team was on that cricket field, they were all COHERING!! They cheered in unison when the ball sailed over the fence, they groaned when a Warrior was “out”.
They spontaneously hugged each other when their team won…and consoled each other when they lost. (Next time!!)
When the team lost the two games which they should’ve won… they all shook their heads ruefully. And when they won that final one against the St Lucia Stars, you would think the warriors had won the championship. But no…they’d just won the hearts of the Guyanese people, which were all beating as one!!
The Ministry of Social Cohesion should learn a lesson from this: Social Cohesion will not come from speeches – especially from politicians. Our people have rightfully become very, very cynical about their “politricks”. What is needed are more events like the cricket matches, where we have to stand behind ‘we own” in opposition to “outsiders”. It is only then that we’ll realise we have much more in common than in difference.
So, for instance, why doesn’t the Ministry of Social Cohesion have the Warriors franchise organise local cricket matches at different levels throughout the year across the country against comparable teams from other countries?
Or make it part of their budget to host the CPL playoffs and finals in Guyana? Now that’ll be some real “guitar” won’t it?!!
…and CSEC
For donkey years, those in the educational sector have been promising a “turnaround” in the delivery of their various curricula in a more efficient manner. Meaning, we’d get better results. What’s happened, however, is when they say that, they simply mean they’ll just intensify their efforts to “teach to the test”, so the results will APPEAR better. But even here they’ve failed abysmally!
Take the NGSA. (As Rodney Dangerfield would say, “Please!!) When it was the “Common Entrance”, there were complaints that the test wasn’t accomplishing its purpose – “evaluate” the children in their areas of strengths and weaknesses, so that remedial/customised efforts could be made.
To date, 13 years after the “assessment” change, there hasn’t been a SINGLE review of a student’s score after they moved on to Grade 7 (high school), to follow up with remedial/customised interventions.
So the top 1% will have their 15 minutes of fame, and we will all bask in their reflected glory; then sink into the (educational) slime once again!
…and smuggled chicken
Your Eyewitness has always heard about seized ganja/cocaine being sold in the streets by the cops – who did the seizing, to begin with. But smuggled chicken being sold on the streets by the GRA agents? Jeezz!!
