ALTHOUGH 58 is not an outstanding number, Guyanese celebrated Guyana’s 58th Independence anniversary at home and abroad last Sunday in fine style. I attended one of the celebrations in the diaspora. It was held at the St. John’s Anglican Church at Mount Ranier in Maryland in the United States, and it was well attended.

The church and the parish hall were bedecked with Guyana flags and buntins with the Guyana colours. Later, everyone with whom I spoke after the service, and during the reception which followed, had good things to say about Guyana, the land of their birth. Some of them spoke of their longing to visit Guyana sometime soon. One even enquired whether there will be another “Visit Guyana Year” in the future.

Among the attendees at that celebration was Guyana’s ambassador to the United States, Samuel A. Hinds. Ambassador Hinds most notably served as Guyana’s Prime Minister from 1992 to 2015, except for a brief stint in 1997 when he served as President of Guyana. Ambassador Hinds mixed freely with the attendees at that celebratory event.

As the celebrations went on, I interviewed a few of the Guyanese. “Well, I know they have a lot of problems in Guyana!” said one of them. “But which country don’t have problems? Even here in America you have so many political and other problems! And look what’s going on at the airports here of late, with so many near mishaps right on the ground!” As our conversation continued, she pointed out how Guyana is a country that is blessed with extremely favourable weather: “No cold winters in particular,” she emphasised, and she shook as though she was temporarily out in the elements on a cold winter’s night.

Indeed, there are some Guyanese who are residing in the northern climes, who seem to really miss the tropical weather of Guyana, especially during the winter months, and long for the Summer season. The Guyana Independence decorations, such as the Golden Arrowhead flags – miniature and large ones – and buntings with the Guyana national colours, were all around the inside of St. John’s church and within the adjacent parish hall where the reception was held.

“It was like being back home in Guyana” was mentioned to me a few times by those with whom I spoke during and after the festivities. Some even spoke of the church activities they used to be engaged in back home in Guyana before they migrated. Some also conversed as though they were actually back in the Motherland. As I interacted with those in the hall, I realised that many of them had visited Guyana at least once during the past 20 years. While there is quite several overseas-based Guyanese who have never returned home for a visit, there is still an impressive number who have actually visited at least within twenty years of migrating. The fact is, there is an impressive number of them who do return on visits.

Sadly, quite a large number do so to attend the funeral of a relative or close friend. Some years ago, the Ministry of Tourism mounted a “Visit Guyana Year” which I do not think attracted many visitors and so could not be classified as a “success”. As such, one wonders if there wasn’t enough experience garnered to make the organisers much more experienced and equipped to organise a really successful “Visit Guyana Year” in the future.

Those who were among the previous planners should be invited to share their experiences, where they feel mistakes were made, and how to avoid them as they inject better plans to make the next VISIT GUYANA YEAR as successful as possible. I closely followed the “YEAR of RETURN” organised by GHANA, and I found it successful because early and meticulous planning was done. Many Guyanese who are based in the diaspora tend to support those Guyanese events which have earned praise over the years for being well-planned and executed. Christmas and the Mashramani have always been extremely well done and attracted thousands of visitors.

It is not too early to start planning for a “Visit Guyana Year”; let’s say it will be in 2027. A small group of well-experienced individuals with the requisite skills should be brought together at least two years in advance to map out the programme of events and get the promotion going across the world. There is an attractive element to such an event. However, I will curb my enthusiasm and refrain from mentioning it here. It is unique but would increase the number of arrivals significantly. I can add this much: I am sure that Guyana’s current US Ambassador, Samuel Hinds, has the expertise to make such an event a success.