Change only happens in a society like ours when someone cares enough

Aug 05, 2019 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
A boy died in Region One the other day. His parents were not rich. He had not lived long enough to have school friends. To the neighbours, he was just an ordinary, healthy child; to those close to him, he was full of life, loved to play football, talkative, so precocious that family members felt he had lived this life before because he seemed to be aware of so many different things.
And like most children, his parents had all the dreams in the world for this child. He would go to school, do great things, give them grandchildren, maybe even be able to help them in their old age.
But the vicious Mr. Scorpion did not care. Mr. Scorpion treated that beautiful child, that one-of-a-kind child, that child so full of potential, that future-of-our-country as if he were worse than the ugliest criminal in the world. Mr. Scorpion had no sympathy for the agony of the parents, their hopes, their love, no understanding of the pain the parents would go through. No; for no reason, Mr. Scorpion just killed him.
But Mr. Scorpion did not do it alone.
The boy died on Wednesday, last week. That’s all a small article in the newspaper reported in a land where the people say that our children are our future, but do not act like it is the case. Nobody seemed to care for this child other than his immediate family. Here is how it happened:
7:30 – Mr. Scorpion does his despicable deed.
8:00 – 8:30 – His family is told by the doctors at the hospital in Mabaruma that there is no anti-venom. The boy has to be airlifted to Georgetown. The doctor calls Georgetown and is told that the plane would not get to Mabaruma till noon. NOON.
Now, bear in mind that that trip takes an hour and fifteen minutes. But we in the country have to live with what Georgetown will give us. We had hoped someone would care. And the family waited with faith in the system.
3:15, THREE-FIFTEEN – the plane arrives. THREE HOURS LATER than promised. Did someone not know about the emergency? But, we have to live with what Georgetown will give us or should we say “die” with what they do not give us?
Regardless, then rush, rush, rush.
4:45 (more or less) the plane comes into Ogle Airport. No ambulance is there. NO AMBULANCE. Now, the pilot would have called ahead. How could there be no ambulance? Finally, the ambulance gets there; fifteen minutes? Longer? No one cares. The child finally gets to the hospital: DEAD.
Now, hold on: in civilized countries, where they respect even their children, there would be questions about responsibility. In other civilized countries, there would be charges of reckless endangerment, criminal negligence, child abuse, even manslaughter.
In civilized countries that care about their children there would be investigations, there would be changes in the system for emergency calls from the interior, about medications that would be sent there (on the same plane, if necessary, instead of bringing the patients to Georgetown), there would be rapid-response measures set up so this does not happen ever again. The doctor would have the authority to speak directly with the airplane dispatcher and not have to go through red tape. Yes, the red tape that is bad on Wednesday is worse on Sunday morning if Mr. Scorpion worked that day because the decisionmakers would not be in office.
In civilized countries those would be normal responses. But, in Guyana, in this naturally beautiful country with beautiful children, no one seems to care about our children from Region One. He was just a small article in the newspaper, then he was gone.
Yes, in civilized countries, there would be calls for resignations and dismissals. But we are not that. Even in the less civilized countries, at least there would be protests in the streets; there would be calls for boycotts, there would be sit-ins, there would be riots.
We do not find ourselves in that category either. We continue as if no one did anything irresponsible; as if nothing needs to change.
Because this same thing happened two years ago. The same thing happened to Keishon Campbell from Region One on August 5, 2017; a child, just four years old. Change the names and the delays are the same, the excuses are the same, and the results are the same. What will it take for us to learn? When will we ever learn?
Maybe we need to admit to everyone that we are not among the civilized countries of the world.
Maybe we need to call the UN and Caricom and every community that we pride ourselves in being part of and tell them to take us off the list of wanna-be’s; that we will never measure up. Maybe we need to admit that with all the talk of how The Black Gold will change our lives, we will never be counted among the civilized countries of the world. Because, first, we have to learn to care for each other before we can presume to be counted among the First World.
These days everybody says that when The Black Gold gets here, all this will change. At this sad time, don’t make me laugh.
For those of you whose hopes are on THE OIL, remember that riches do not character make, they do not impart a caring attitude to anyone. What riches do are to exaggerate one’s intentions and attitudes: for example, it gives a bully the chance to bully more people and to disregard his critics even more. I tell you that money will make Guyanese care even less about the less fortunate, it will make the powerful in society take even less responsibility for their irresponsible actions, and our inefficient systems will become more worthless. Today, Region One, tomorrow, you.
Change only happens in a society like ours when someone cares enough to make it happen and is willing to take the risks involved. Would that little child have cared enough if he had been given the chance to grow up? Do you care enough? Yes, you.
My fellow Guyanese, let me introduce one of our former hopes-for-the-future:
Name: Romero Lucien
Born: March 16, 2017.
Died: July 17, 2019.
Bio: Too short a while on this earth to have a chance to do great things, though he did make his family happy. He was killed by a certain Mr. Scorpion and accomplices, maybe to be named soon. He is survived by his parents and a baby sister.
Fellow Guyanese, today, one of our hopes for the future is gone. Our Light is dimming.
Respectfully,
David Correia

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