By Francis Quamina Farrier
MANY of his relatives, friends and former colleagues were overjoyed when Boston-based Guyanese Hubert Williams returned to Guyana for a visit after some years away. The reason being, Hubert is a person who can be described as very professional; very much travelled. He is a journalist of the highest standard, who, though away, still has Guyana close to his heart. Hubert also did a fair amount of travelling around his native land.

Before he migrated, he was one of the most revered journalists in the country and had a great following of dedicated readers of his articles and reports in the print media. After he migrated to Barbados, he had no plans to ever return to his native land. But that changed in a profound way. He travelled to Guyana for the funeral of his friend and colleague, Fr. Harold Wong, SJ.  That’s not that long ago, it might be argued, but Hubert is very much a travelling person, and coming to Guyana this time around was a happier one, and which needed some amount of planning. He was coming as a tourist, one might say.

It was not a difficult decision for him to make. However, this recent return to the land of his birth was a joy both for him and those with whom he interacted. His first comment was about the Cheddi Jagan International Airport. “I thought it very superior to others in the region,” he said. That statement is coming from a person who has had wide and regular travels around the CARICOM region and is worthy of note.

Hubert Williams has also worked and resided in Barbados for protracted periods for over four decades of his professional life. As one of the great journalists of the Caribbean, he always receives a warm welcome wherever he goes. His being here in Guyana just recently was a geographical reawaking of sorts for Hubert Williams. “The journey from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport seemed like an eternity before reaching my former residence in Georgetown,” he said and reflected on the fact that Guyana is 500 times the size of Barbados.

He was very active while in Guyana and journeyed to several locations and communities away from Georgetown. “I went around, interacted with strangers,” he said and also enjoyed the sight of so many city and rural landmarks, such as the lighthouse and our famous Georgetown Seawalls.”

While Hubert Williams is getting on in age, I can readily predict that this will not be his last visit to his homeland since there was so much joy in his being here. There was even dancing and laughter.