ON Thursday November 18, 2010, I felt honoured being a member of the private sector and Upper Corentyne Chamber of Commerce to attend the ERC (Ethnic Relations Council) Confab at the Princess Hotel Guyana at Providence, East Bank Demerara. The meeting was focused on keeping racial oppression down, releasing constraints and barriers between races and living together with racial harmony.
There was a grand turnout with many prominent people, Members of Parliament and others moving together in the crowd during breaks, meeting new faces and exchanging hellos with people they already were acquainted with.
The meeting served a fabulous lunch, drinks and desert for everyone to enjoy but that was not the real gist of the story. The main objective was to get people to come out to understand and accept that we are all races and people of one country and that our motto should stay true being: One People, One Nation and One Destiny. The need for being neutral, not taking sides to any race and not being pushed to vote for someone that you are uncertain of was emphasised. Also if you are a member of a political party you will be monitored and recorded when campaigning during elections for any racist remark from you and if found guilty your party could be fined $5,000 for being culpable of the act according to ERC’s Representation of the People’s Act 2001, Section 139 E.
Highlighted points of interest came from our Prime Minister Sam Hinds and other officials giving their views of what should occur in the future to avoid the end of the race game.
Mr. Hinds gave a lively, amusing and soothing speech about how we should cooperate with other races and do so in a non-stereotypical manner. There were three power point presentations of two cartoon short stories and a short unanimated other, which were very interesting and educational. I always believe you learn a lot from cartoons even though some people may think that they are dumb. I love cartoons and watch them almost every morning to make me laugh, sooth my mind early in the morning and most of all they make you learn how to converse with others in a gentle and kind manner. The first cartoon was about two frogs catching their bait, ready to eat and their tongues got stuck together and neither of the two frogs didn’t want to lose their meal but their tongues were glued so they put up a battle and ended up nearly getting their death because no one wanted to lose the fight nor the prize. Another creature arrived and stole the food from both of them, and then another mature frog told them that they should share in order to live an equal and peaceful life. This presentation was called, “Dinner for two” and was a colourfully animated motion picture; you had to read between the lines and understand what was the ongoing issue and what they did to prevent it. No wonder they say, “Actions speak louder than words!” The second presentation was another cartoon with a bit of noise and anger made from the mouse when the new employee wasn’t doing his job right and they simply had to  change places in the work room in order to get the task done. The moral here is sometimes things can go right when you are in a group, political party, etc, but you have to work along with others and be able to be flexible to meet the standards and objectives put forward. The last one was simply about discrimination and we should try to help a situation and do not look at others who are willing to try first to get eaten by piranhas in a sinking canoe. Calling people “Stupid Buck, Inferior Coolie or Bully Black etc,” are not going to get us anywhere in a serious situation.
We have to learn to respect each other’s race(s) and call each other by our names that our parents gave us, not by our race in a discriminative manner. I could have only stayed until then as I had to return to Berbice to deal with other matters. Others who attended could tell you more about the meeting who stayed until it ended at 7 pm.
I do hope all who attended this function did not just go for the free food but to learn more about respecting and interacting with people of different ethnicities and find positive ways on how to resolve conflicts amongst other individuals. This Fabulous Confab was held at the beautiful ‘Princess Hotel Guyana,’ formerly established and owned by leading businessman “Buddy” Omprakash Shivraj. The venue was amazing with outstanding beauty and a sense of peaceful ambience permeated the conference room where that Confab took place.
I would like to congratulate Mr. Bishop Juan Edghill, his representative partner and his staff for trying their best to make us feel comfortable by serving us meals and information that was like music to our souls. Thank you and God bless all of you and continue the good work you are doing.