We need to do more peace building and extend mercy to others

Sep 15, 2020 Letters

Dear Editor,

Today, I would like to commend the Joint Services for their efforts over the weekend to facilitate the funeral of Joel and Isaiah Henry. Well done Joint Services! I read a press statement from the Joint Services over the weekend on the funeral and there were two points which were commendable; the reference to the Joint Services forging partnership with the families, relatives, friends and supporters and secondly, showing recognition to the various stakeholders for their support to the Joint Services efforts. Keep building on these aspects.
The Guyana Police Force also distributed a traffic advisory on the route for the funeral; this was a really good approach at conflict management. People needed space to grieve and the police were facilitating that space and process.
I really like this approach; it is much progress in the right direction from some of what we saw last week. The Joint Services, and us generally as a people, need to focus more on conflict management and peace building. Something very tragic happened with the killing of Joel and Isaiah Henry and people were and still are very hurt and angry, so managing the conflict in this case, also means giving people space to grieve, of course in lawful ways.
There is much hope for our society, the fact that some of our leaders and officials still listen and take advice, these are positives that we can built on.
I would just like to share an experience which I had recently on extending mercy. About six weeks ago, I was going into a store and there was a loose piece of wood over a surface drain, I stepped on the wood and fell and hit my face; my teeth went through my top part of my mouth. I went to the hospital, and the X-ray showed that I had not broken any bones or teeth.
The store manager was very compassionate and kept calling a lot and for days to see how I was doing and informed me that they would have paid my medical bills. However, I was so happy that the doctor and the dentist said that I would be fine, that I told the manager I do not need any money for the medical expenses, just fix the loose wood so that what happened to me does not happen to anyone else. It could have been a pregnant woman, an elderly or disabled person. I then told him that it would be nice if he could do one more thing for me, he said what is that? I said, serve God for the rest of your life. Let this mercy that I have extended to you, mean something. I also told him that he had not lost a customer either and I will still shop at his store.
Within a week, my face was healed. I still have a minor problem but in time, I know that I will heal perfectly. I think I healed so fast because of how I managed the situation. Now, it was the perfect situation to exploit someone, but I chose not to.
We need to do more peace building and extend mercy to others; I believe that even at the level of the government, more mercy needs to be extended. That is one way of us moving on as individuals and as a society.
Yours truly,
Audreyanna Thomas

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