The day that Freddie Kissoon went low

Nov 20, 2016 Letters

---

Dear Editor,
My father always told me that there are three types of people in the world; those who are great, those who imitate and those who hate. He also believed strongly that the differences that existed among those who form these three groups were easily recognizable: great people rise above effortlessly, and take others on the journey with them, those who imitate struggle and fight and try anything and everything to become great, and the haters, well they have no interest in being great based on merit, their only concern is to demean, defame and discredit those who do have a legitimate claim to greatness. Today, Mr. Editor, I will leave it up to you and your readers to categorize the infamous columnist Freddy Kissoon and the many fallacies presented in his outrageously seditious article published in your newspapers on the 18th November 2016 titled; “Guyanese messengers of death from Cuba have returned.”
Mr. Editor, I believe in the freedom of speech, I believe that it is a basic and fundamental human right but I also believe that with every right we claim there are responsibilities attached, that are just as fundamental. Journalists in particular have a huge responsibility to the masses that depend on them for timely, honest, factual and evidence-based information that can ultimately guide decisions and influence behavioral patterns. Mr. Kissoon failed miserably in this task when he published that article berating both Cuba and Cuban trained doctors, claiming among other vile and repugnant things, that we “have killed many poor people.”
I’ve read many of the ramblings of Mr. Kissoon and I dare say there is nothing impressive about his constant criticism of others (hiding behind a pen is an act of cowardice) and his facade of equanimity. That you somehow have leverage to try to discredit the hard work and sacrifice made by us all with your grossly inaccurate mass generalizations. On what grounds? To what end? What have you gained from this vicious attack? How has this improved your already derisory public image?
Mr. Editor, we have grown accustomed to the constant attacks; by our government, by our Minister, by random strangers, by patients, and so many others. It can be intimidating and many times we feel helpless and we retreat into a state of apathy because many of the so called inadequacies that so many talk about are not due to lack of knowledge or appropriate skill set, rather these are largely due to lack of resources ….we have the knowledge…but knowledge alone is useless if the tools needed to adequately apply it are missing…..we are willing but willingness alone doesn’t cut it….we have to be able to do… BUT HOW CAN WE when the tools needed are not provided (I cannot in good conscience do a laceration repair if I have no gloves or sutures or iodine no matter how willing I am or knowledgeable I am.
As Michelle Obama said, “When they go LOW, we go HIGH.” And going high and rising above by no means signifies that we will be silent in the face of their onslaughts, it by no means signifies that we will ignore how undervalued they make us feel, instead we will unite and respond with pride, dignity, joy and laughter in the face of their ignorance, we will turn up to work every day and continue to do what we have always done….work 72 hour shifts, go without meals, climb mountains, walk across rivers in baking sun or heavy rain to deliver care, we will continue to treat patients door to door, continue to deliver twin babies thousands of feet in the air on aircrafts, diagnose cancer in the deepest darkest jungles of Guyana without any imaging or labs, we will continue to be social workers, and councillors, teachers, good neighbours and friends, we will continue to break barriers and push boundaries…we will continue to go HIGH! And Mr. Kissoon will be floating around in his same bubble of mediocrity, writing his same articles desperately trying to inflate an ego that that has obviously been stretched to its limit.
Adoniyah Benjamin
Cuban trained doctor

Editor’s note; we asked Mr. Kissoon to respond to this letter since we are aware that his column was motivated by information on the subject shared to him by editor-in-chief, Adam Harris. Mr. Kissoon’s comments are as follows:
In discussion with my editor, Mr. Harris, he indicated that he knows of situations where the Guyanese authorities implored Cuban officials to modify the grades of certain Guyanese students. The issue came up as there is a present situation where a large number of returnees from Cuba are not yet employed.
I did not say all doctors. I referred to “many of them.”

---

---