By Francis Quamina Farrier

ALL over the world in this Leap Year 2020, humans are much more alert and concerned about their health. That is so principally due to the current COVID-19 pandemic which plagues every country worldwide and which is taking many lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been monitoring and giving data and advice wherever needed as the pandemic rages on, principally in the United States of America, Brazil and the Western European countries, where tens of thousands have already died. New Zealand remains one of the most successful countries in keeping its citizens well in this year of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a five-million population, its number of coronavirus deaths has remained at 25 for over six months.

Here in Guyana, there are those persons who are gifted and interested in helping others with health issues to regain their full health. Looking back half a century and longer, we can recall the many ‘unqualified’ individuals who practised medicine and health works very successfully. Take the popular midwives of the past who had no college or university degree in medicine, yet they delivered babies over not one generation, but two and even three, with total success. Most of them never had a single case of infant mortality. I have known midwives who, without an X-Ray, were able to recognise a baby in the womb which was not properly placed. With their bare hands, they turned the unborn baby and positioned it for normal vaginal birth.

Those who are old enough to remember would recall the celebrity Dispenser Gregory Howard Matthews, well-known as “Doc. Matthews” who ran a popular dispensary at 76 Public Road, Grove, East Bank Demerara. ‘Doc’ Matthews was so successful that he had patients who travelled from all around the country as well as from overseas seeking his service. So popular was this qualified “Sick-Nurse/Dispenser” that a large bus of passengers from Georgetown would arrive and every passenger would disembark and head into his drug store to be attended by ‘Doc’ Matthews. As a young boy, I was a patient of ‘Doc’ on a few occasions. The medicines which he prescribed were rather limited — Special (Vat) water, Liniment, ointment and a few others. But they sufficed. His patients revived and regained full health.

At this time in Guyana, there are health issues other than the coronavirus which are being addressed by health workers and administrators: Hypertension, Diabetes, HIV and Aids, Malaria and several other maladies. In fact, such health issues were there before the arrival of COVID-19. The present Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony, is a medical doctor, which augurs well for the Ministry of Health being well supervised in programmes and projects which will assist with the improving wellness of the Guyanese people. COVID-19 is posing a big challenge for the Ministry of Health, mainly because there are those Guyanese who are very undisciplined and refuse to obey the COVID-19 protocols: wear a face mask, wash hands regularly and stay at least six feet away from others.

Beyond the Ministry of Health are those citizens who have the capability and willingness, like ‘Doc’ Matthews of old, to be supportive of the official health programmes. They are those who have been blessed with a natural talent and gift for the healing process. For example, there is the ADA Wellness Foundation — a non-profit organisation founded by Social Entrepreneur Allison David-Alexander. She points out that “ADA is looking at the bright side of life, as the word ADA, a biblical name defines.” She shares her own experience, saying that “After many years of chronic illness, not knowing exactly what was the complain, I finally found out that it was sinusitis, a nerve condition.” Her health organisation continues to bring wellness to those who turn to them for healing.

Award-winning Youth Leader Samantha Sheoprashad is a woman who has dedicated many years working with youths in mental health, entrepreneurship and youth development. She is dedicated to improving the mental wellness of young people who need such assistance — especially those who suffer depression or have attempted suicide. In her programmes she gives youths in need of help the assistance to refocus their lives to a purpose for living. Samantha creates impactful youth programmes which go a long way in redirecting those youths who are on the verge of giving up on life; those youths who consider suicide as an option. These are issues which have been addressed by some of the younger playwrights in the country. Suicide has been played out in a number of newer plays during the past six years. Unfortunately, none of the plots support what Samantha Sheoprashad and others like her are working on. In fact, in those plays in which there are acts of suicide, never in a single one of them which I have seen, is a call made to the Guyana Suicide Hot-Line. In one of the plays which I saw, a depressed teenage female who was raped (part of the action in the play), later placed a gun to her head, pressed the trigger and shot herself dead. Then the curtain came down to end the play.

For many years Guyana has been listed as the number one country in the world for suicides. One would hope that playwrights would not add to the problem, by writing and staging plays which are void of presenting a solution to the suicide problem. It would be hoped that they would, in a way, partner with those who are working so hard to be part of the solution. Such playwrights should include a scene in which someone who is considering taking their life, would instead call the suicide hotline and is guided to keep on living. If they based their plays on reality, then the reality of The Suicide Hotline ought to be included. We have a nation to continue building. We need to be healthy to continue that task. Guyanese need wellness in every aspect of our lives.