By Francis Quamina Farrier

Never before in living memory will the Georgetown Seawall and the hundreds of other popular kite-flying locations all around Guyana remain empty on Easter Monday, as they will be tomorrow, Easter Monday 2020. Never before have so many Christian churches had their doors closed on Easter Sunday. Never before in living memory has the results of a General Elections in Guyana taken over a month to be declared. Never before did so many CARICOM Heads-of-State rush down to Guyana to offer help to this nation now in Political turmoil. Never before have so many former friends written open letters chastising their former friends. Never before has Guyana joined the rest of the world to order its people to stay at home. And never before have I written a feature article in which I mentioned “never before” so many times.

The history of Guyana and where it is at this time, is cause for careful analysis, as never before. Yes, there have been many previous efforts to bring a sense of, “We are all in this together.” “We have a nation to Build.” “There is enough wealth in Guyana for everyone to live the good life.” “Time to stop the racial voting.” “Time to terminate the cussin’ out and hate-mongering.” Also at this time, there is so much more finger-pointing, here, there and everywhere, as never before.

As an elder in our beautiful Guyana, I have been asked to speak up, as never before. USA-based Guyanese Columnist Dr. Dhanpaul Narine implored that elders should not remain silent. In a recent article of his, which had the headline, “When good men become silent”, he specifically referred to Dr. Clive Thomas, Sir Shridath Ramphal, Major General (Rt.) Joe Singh and Dr. Rupert Roopnarine. They were all called out for “being silent” regards the March 2, 2020, Post Elections fiasco. Sir Shridath Ramphal and Major General Joe Singh have both spoken out since the publication of that article by Dr Dhanpaul Narine. Elderly Guyanese have the RIGHT to speak out. And those who express the view that “Ol’ People must go one side”, will be confounded – as never before.

Let’s now flashback to a scene I will always remember. It was about 16 years ago on the left bank at the mouth of the Supenaam river in Region two. There was a group of men playing dominoes by the side of the river, just off the (then) muddy speedboat landing. The noise which they were making attracted my attention. There was constant loud laughter and the sound of dominoes being slammed to the table around which the players were seated. Over a dozen other men were looking on and everyone was certainly enjoying the game and each other’s company.

That was years before the current COVD-19 pandemic struck the world and so there was no need for social distancing. Those looking on at the game were all over each other in glee, rubbing one-another’s heads. Slapping backs. Hugging each other from time to time. There was even some jokey punching. Very entertaining though it was, that is not the real reason for me always remembering those men playing dominoes; it was the fact that the players and those observing the game, were very varied racially. Almost every race and mixed-race in Guyana was in that group of about 16 men. They were enjoying each other’s company in such a way that I will always remember that particular domino game – as never before.

Now, fast forward to February 2020. I was again at Supenaam where the muddy speedboat landing was recently transformed to a beautiful esplanade. There were no men playing dominoes during my visit in February 2020, but the image and the memory of that domino game are still very sharp in my mind. Also indelibly etched now in my memory from the recent visit, are two lads who I saw pleasantly interacting with each other on the new esplanade. Today, I am wondering whether those two youngsters are flying their kites in the wide-open spaces in that Supenaam Essequibo Coast community. There have been a few Guyanese in the United States of America who have died after contracting the COVID-19. I knew one of them.

On this unusual Easter Sunday, when so many churches are closed – as never before – and people all around the world are in LOCKDOWN MODE and confined to their homes, I thought it timely to have a glance back to when British Guiana had the Deadly Cholera which was brought from abroad, in a similar way in which the current coronavirus came to Guyana. I am reflecting on the cases of mass deaths when Guyanese were literally dropping dead like flies all over the place after an insecticide was sprayed on them. Burial was quick for all the dead. It was reported that some victims of that cholera epidemic in British Guiana, were buried even before they drew their last breath. I was told of a man who was in a deep sleep and his relatives thought that he was dead. They hurriedly placed him in a coffin. While on the way to Le Repentir for burial, the man woke up kicking and screaming. The coffin was dropped and some kind-spirited citizens opened it for the poor man to get out and return to his family. Many of the dead were buried in mass graves at the extreme north-western area of Le Repentir cemetery at St. Stephen and Princes Street, Charlestown. You will observe that there have been no burials in that area of Le Repentir cemetery in your lifetime.

In colonial British Guiana, there were illnesses such as typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, mumps, pneumonia, jaundice, yellow fever, elephantiasis (bigfoot), hydroseed and also the dreaded Leprosy. It was known and called locally, Kokabae. It is now known as Hanson’s Disease. Later came the sexually transmitted syphilis and gonorrhoea, also HIV and AIDS. All initially regarded as DEATH Sentences. But Guyana survived – as never before.

The West Indies Cricket Team, playing the Austrians at Brisbane in 1960, ended with a TIE when the great Guyanese test cricketer, Joe Solomon, accurately threw a ball which hit the stumps of the Australian batsman, Ian Mecloff, sending him OUT and resulting in the first-ever TIE in the history of Test Cricket. With swirling thoughts like a kite dancing in the strong breeze on the Georgetown seawalls on Easter Monday, I wondered what would all the stakeholders think and do, if the March 2, 2020, General Elections recount results in an announcement that it was a TIE! That would be a result, as never before.