The demise of Andy and the state of the Guyanese child

Mar 08, 2014 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
The gruesome death of 14-year-old Andy whose skull was reportedly crushed by a truck has once again provoked me to question whether the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport understand their role in this dynamic society and world in which we live.
The tragic death of this child raises a number of questions, many of which I raised in previous letters.
The state of the Guyanese child, under this government, is troubling to say the least. Andy’s death highlights a damning indictment on the ministries identified above. A dangerous revelation regarding how we as citizens, neighbours, employers, vendors, passersby, or simply human beings live should also cause us some concern.
According to a KN report, the police are working on a theory that Andy’s skull was crushed on a parapet at 20th Street, Foulis, E.C.D. on Wednesday 27 February 2014. In that same news item, the owner/ driver of the truck is reported to have said that he did not know that the child was sleeping under his truck.
Now that Andy is deceased, we are learning a lot of his background and his daily struggles. The fact that Andy was associated with a community just a few miles from the capital city, where the heart of the government and the relevant agencies can be found must also be troubling to us, and cause us to think about what might be happening to our children who live in the remote areas of the country.
After this child’s lifeless body was discovered on the Foulis Public Road, we learned that Andy lost his parents when he was two years old, he has never been to school, only has a first name, worked as help for various people, slept anywhere he could rest his head, dwelt mainly in the Foulis neighbourhood for a number of years, etc.
Reading and listening to all the news reports on this incident tells me that many people knew of Andy’s situation; many also utilized his labour (child labour), but none apparently felt it their duty to help to remove him from the pains of his daily travails.
It would be interesting to know if the plight of this homeless child was ever reported to the Ministry of Human Services; if it was what was done to protect him. If those of us who knew of this child’s struggles failed to consider it our duty to seek help for him from the relevant authorities, then we must hang our heads in shame!
Those of us who demanded his labour and seemed to have no care about his welfare should also feel much guilt about this entire situation. How can we be so callous and inhumane when it comes to protecting our children? How can we knowingly watch a child who should be in school, protected and provided for go night after night sleeping under trucks and in the streets?
According to basic innate human qualities shouldn’t we report matters like these to the authorities? Don’t we also have a legal obligation to report child abuse/neglect matters? Or is it that because laws in Guyana remain to be enforced that we seem not to care for our children? And what about the Ministry of Human Services, are we working in the communities enough?
Too many of our children are falling through the cracks and we seem to view this dangerous situation in a very casual manner. Recent accounts of serious criminal activities, involving weapons, are alleged to have been committed by children.
Like Andy, it is clear that these teenagers who are alleged to be committing these heinous crimes, and being shot dead in the homes of their intruders are neither going to school nor are they meaningfully engaged in any structured legitimate program.
How the Ministry of Education accounts for students’ absence and what they do with the information regarding students not attending school is anyone’s guess. It is clear to me that there is no effective collaboration between the Education and the Human Services ministries.
How else do you explain the fact that children who have been dropping out of the school system go undetected for years and quickly become victims of a vicious criminal enterprise which seems to have engulfed the nation? This criminal enterprise is allowed to quickly transform our children into hardened criminals and the political masters of the day couldn’t care less!
This situation does not augur well for the future of the country. If the “political bosses” are pigheaded and foolish enough to believe that they are immutable and will outlast the next generation, then the future of Guyanese youth will continue to be of little or no importance to them.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport often boasts of actions it initiated to develop skills training programs for young people, but yet there is no real account of the successes of any of these programs to the point that youths it supposedly trained remain gainfully and productively engaged as a result of knowledge and skills acquired through these programs.
Today my heart bleeds for Andy and so many other children who are left to simply exist, on their own. As the political, social, and education system continues to fail them, many of us are beginning to accept these failures as the new norm. So, when a teen commits a murder and robbery we simply echo the sentiments of the regime who dubs these teens as criminals whose parents are to be blamed for the crime. This is the kind of stance the PPP/C government has taken with respect to youth involvement in crime. Sadly, however, this attitude will only result in even more heightened criminal behaviour and disruption of our livelihood, because of our reluctance to deal with the real issues regarding youth violence and criminal behaviour.
Andy’s tragic death should cause us to reflect on the lives of our own children and those we love, and ask whether any child deserves to live like Andy lived? And why didn’t any of us who are familiar with this child’s situation take action to ensure his welfare was protected?
Again, is it that we have no faith in the political system that is expected to protect him, so we simply ditched him? Why did we have him work for us and refuse to allow him a chance to experience the pleasure of being in school? When he was finished labouring for the day, why didn’t we offer him a decent place to sleep, where he is protected from the dangers of the night? What about the police who conduct regular night operations in various communities, had they ever visited Foulis to do spot checks of any sort?
If they did had they ever run into little Andy sleeping on the road? If they did what did they do?
I am hoping that Andy’s death does not only end with someone being charged, but that a thorough investigation will ensue to ensure that we as a society understand our responsibility to protect every child. The workings of the Ministry of Human Services and Ministry of Education must also be examined to determine where the ball is being dropped on our children. I am quite sure that there are many “Andys” out there, and so we must work to protect them.
Let me close by asking: who will protest for Andy? Who will walk the streets and demand justice for this homeless little boy who was never exposed to education, but who was made to labour for many?  Who is prepared to stand up for the “Andys” in Guyana, those little boys and girls whose only crime is that the political system and those responsible for their welfare, security and education failed continue to fail them? Andy cannot simply be a name to us, his existence and the tragic end to his life must implore us to demand a full investigation of his life. We must speak to the members of the community in which he existed, those who had him labour for them, the Ministers of Education and Social Services must also be heard from on this issue.
Andy cannot just be a name; his life and his struggles demand that we seek justice for him. The photograph of his little, innocent face will forever have a place in my heart. This child probably died with the belief that there is no love in the world and that no one cared for him. May his soul rest in peace!
Lurlene Nestor

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