I CALLED him one the coolest British High Commissioners who ever came to Guyana. I often thank him for his contributions to our society. The Honourable Greg Quinn and his beautiful wife Wendy hosted the launch of the Men Across Borders Anthology at their residence which attracted a wide cross-section from the diplomatic corps, the business community and the private sector.

After publishing Women Across Borders, I knew I had to also publish Men Across Borders. I mentioned it to High Commissioner Quinn and he was excited to contribute to this project. International Men’s Day was the opportune time to highlight this anthology. MC Russel Lancaster did the welcome and invited remarks and Jo Anne Forde to open with prayers. I shared my vision of why I decided to provide a platform for men to tell their stories. Growing up, the lack of good male role models influenced me not to have a desire for sons. I am witnessing many young men falling through the cracks because of a lack of that male figure to guide them. Many days my mind was consumed with many questions during my brother’s illness before he died. Would he have made better decisions if he had male figures who were a good influences on his life? My mom did her best with the limited resources she had, but it was very difficult.

I know my brothers have never heard “I love you” or “I am proud of you” from my dad and neither have I. My dad was not there for the better part of our lives, but I am also aware that even fathers who are present in the house don’t always father their children.

I was listening to one of the conferences of the late Myles Munroe and I was in awe of something he shared. “The greatest social, economic and psychological course on Humanity today is fatherlessness in every country.” Disastrous statistics show that 92 percent of all problems in society are related to the absence of fathers. Maybe some of the males are struggling with their manhood and image and struggling with their purpose. When they lost authority they sometimes try to regain with violence, because in some cases that is all they know. It was probably easier years ago, because they had more authority in the house and less now because of the rapid advancement of women.
High Commissioner Quinn spoke about the importance of gender equality in any society

Men Across Borders will feature 12 co-authors from different part of the globe telling their stories: Guyanese Rawle Dundas, Diego Alphonso, Cleveland Bradford, Ganesh Singh, Shiv Dindyal who resides in Canada and Will Pluck, who resides in The Bahamas, Caribbean Fashion Guru, Richard Young and Sohan Badal from Trinidad, Barbadian Ronnie Morris – Founder of the Barbados Music Awards, Antiguan Calvin Southwell, Apostle Felix Figuera from Venezuela and Elliot Tommy, an entrepreneur who was born in Nigeria and who now resides in China.

Like the Women Across Borders Series, this anthology seeks to provide an opportunity both for these exceptional men to tell their stories and for these stories to be an example for other men, both young and old, to find purpose for their own lives. Each of these men has committed to providing mentorship for young men and we intend for the mentorship programme to be launched at a later date.

I met a lot of men who are angry and resentful at their fathers and society which most times manifested in violence. Men don’t like to admit they need help because society expects him to be macho. We have to find a way to have joint conversations with males and females to find solutions.

A large number of women attend conferences that assist in their growth, but most men don’t think it is important to their lives. Social activist Ganesh Singh and Caribbean Fashion Guru Richard Young shared excerpts from their chapters with the audience; Dr Quincy Jones shared vital info on men’s health. Impressions contributed a blown-up poster of the book cover which was painted by artist Compton Babb. Men’s fashion closed off the evening’s celebration for International Men’s Day. I was also impressed with another event that featured a man that left a legacy. The British High Commissioner hosted a reception in honour of Cyril Grant. When I received the invite I had no idea who Cyril Grant was, but that evening I was captivated by the legacy he left. It was like a history lesson for most people at the reception. Francis Quamina Farrier who knew him recited one of his poems at the reception. The event celebrated his100 birth anniversary.
Cyril Ewart Lionel Grant (8 November 1919 – 13 February 2010) was a Guyanese (born in

Beterverwagting) actor, musician, writer and poet. In the 1950s, he became the first black person to be featured regularly on television in the United Kingdom, mostly due to his appearances on the BBC current affairs show. In November 2017, a Blue Plaque celebrating his life was unveiled at his home in Highgate, North London, where he lived for 50 years before his death, aged 90, on February 13, 2010.

Let’s find creative ways to add value to all because empowerment has no gender as we continue to celebrate this beautiful journey called life BEYOND THE RUNWAY.