THE Guyana Reparations Committee will, this Friday, hold the main event of its month-long activities for the CARICOM International and Regional Youth Reparations Relay and Rally at the Parade Ground.This CARICOM initiative began in Barbados on April 16 when Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Chairman of the CARICOM Heads of State Sub-committee on Reparations, launched the event. President David Granger is a sitting member of that Sub-committee. A Reparations Baton, created in Barbados and made of Mahogany wood, was at the event passed on to Guyana by Chairman of the Barbados Task Force on Reparations, Professor Dr. Pedro Welch. It was passed to Acting Consul General of Guyana to Barbados, Monique Jackman. It arrived in Guyana on April 19, 2016.

In a release, the local committee said the CARICOM Relay and Rally is part of a wider effort to spread the reparations message around the Caribbean through public education and other initiatives focused on Youth. Friday’s event sits in the middle of a large number of activities all across Guyana. On Friday, May 6, and Saturday, May 7, the Reparations Baton was sent to Essequibo, where it was first taken by boat to Hackney, Liberty, Marlboro and Lillidale in the Pomeroon before being taken to Charity. From Charity, runners relayed the Baton to Dartmouth, where a ceremony was held. Runners then took the Baton to Anna Regina, where a ceremony was held at Damon Square.

Runners continued to Queenstown, where a ceremony was held, and finally the Baton was driven from Hopetown back to the Stelling. At each ceremony, the Moringa Tree (‘The Tree of Life’) was planted.

According to the committee, Essequibo activities were followed by Berbice activities. On Friday, May 13, the baton was taken to Berbice, beginning its journey at Calcutta (Mahaicony), then going to Belladrum, Litchfield, Hopetown, Lovely Lass/Golden Grove and Ithaca. At each stop there was a ceremony and a planting of a Moringa Tree. Drummers, outriders, runners and speeches were all part of the process for this 7-hour journey of the Baton through Region # 5, West Berbice.

This was followed on Saturday, May 14, by Region # 6, East Berbice activities. Beginning with the historical heritage village of Sandvoort, the Baton was relayed through Winkle (an historical village of free African technologists) to the Esplanade in New Amsterdam, where representatives from Skeldon, Kildonan, Manchester, Lancaster and other African villages were waiting for a grand ceremony which was significantly facilitated by the Mayor of New Amsterdam and several other individuals. Libations, drumming, singing, speeches and tree planting, as well as a Message from the Guyana Reparations Committee, constituted the programme.

According to the committee, the next major activity is set for Friday at Parade Ground, beginning at 4 pm, with young runners leaving with the Baton from Stabroek, where slaves were undocked, to travel through several historical stops (Parliament Building, Cuffy Square, the Sea Walls) to the Parade Ground for the 6pm programme.

Sir Hilary Beckles, Danny Glover and Don Rojas of the African American Reparations Committee have been invited to the Parade Ground Event. Following the Parade Ground event, both East Coast and West Coast Demerara villages will stage their own activities. The Calendar is as follows:
20 May Plaisance (am)
21 May Mocha (pm)
22 May Buxton (am)
Victoria (pm)
28 May Linden (also 27th)
29 May Farm and other cluster villages (am)
29 May Den Amstel and other cluster villages (pm)

The Baton will then be sent to the next CARICOM country after Guyana’s activities are over in May, and will tour all 15 CARICOM reparations countries this year. Guyana has produced 3 replicas of the Baton in beautiful Mahogany, one for each of the three original counties of Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara.