Christmas at home “a fantasy” for some in 2020

Dec 24, 2020 Features / Columnists, News

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By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – For some, being at home for Christmas this year will only be something they can fantasize about. During this festive season, plane tickets are sold out, boats are filled to capacity, taxies and buses are the busiest. Everyone wants to be home for Christmas, especially those who have been working abroad or miles away from their loved ones. In 2020, however, they are quite a few who desire to be home but just cannot.
I was able to locate three of them – two of them husbands, Sherwin Belgrave, 38, and Romario Adams, 22. These men can only dream of playing with their children this Christmas. They can only imagine a kiss from their wife or daydream of Christmas shopping with the family. The third is a young man, Diego Adams, 19, who longs to hug his mom and play with his little brother.
Belgrave is a resident of Troolie Island, Essequibo Islands-West Demerara. He is employed as a mechanic with the Palamyra Logging Company in neighbouring Suriname.
In February, he hugged his daughters and kissed his wife goodbye as he departed his home for Suriname. He anticipated that he would not get to embrace them again until the Christmas holidays.
Adams, who is from Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara (EBD), is a ‘scaler’ worker with the same company. Like Belgrave, he too had left his two young children and wife and travelled to Suriname in February. He would spend the following months working and had expected to return for Christmas.
His younger brother, Diego Adams, who works with them also did the same. Unlike Belgrave and his brother, Diego does not have a wife or children of his own but wanted to return for the holidays to be with his mother and brother.

Each day as they worked hundreds of miles away from their loved ones, the young men could think of nothing else but the upcoming Christmas season.
Work would be over, and they would be heading home to see their respective families again. Belgrave had planned to buy his daughters fancy toys and take his wife shopping.
Not only was he looking forward to being home, but he too would be reuniting with his little brother and mother who he had not seen for a few years.
Diego on the other hand just wanted to buy presents for his mother, little brother and girlfriend, and he wanted desperately to eat some pepperpot. He had planned to attend a few Christmas parties too.
As the days passed by, they grew more anxious about Christmas. But 2020 proved to be a spoil sport. The Covid-19 pandemic struck and borders began closing. All of a sudden, said Belgrave, the bosses began hinting that “Christmas at home” for the employees might be impossible.
Nevertheless, as they continued to work in isolation with other colleagues, there was still a glimmer of hope. They worked with the expectation that the pandemic will soon be over and things would go back to normal.
The pandemic continued, however, and cases both in Suriname and Guyana began to rise. Their superiors in the company were reluctant to let their employees leave.

“My boss said that we can choose to go home if we want but it will be a risk, because we won’t be accepted back to work,” said Belgrave.
“It was a tough decision to make, because that means we would be without employment” he continued.
Belgrave said he and the Adams brothers, along most of their colleagues, chose to continue working in isolation and had hoped that by December, the borders will be reopened and the company will allow them to go home for the holidays.
December drew closer and things were beginning to look promising. They were out of isolation and there were talks that the Guyana/Suriname border will be reopened.
The young men were happy, and the company was also willing to permit them to go home for Christmas, if the borders reopened.
When December finally came, family members contacted Belgrave and the Adams brothers about a major development reported in the local media. The Guyana-Suriname Ferry service was scheduled to be opened on December 12.
Romario said, “I packed, I was going home; we were just waiting for the company to close off operations.”
Within a matter of days Diego recalled, “We were told that the ferry service will not be opened anymore, and the borders will remain closed because of some Cubans.”
“Our hopes of making it home for Christmas was shattered,” added Belgrave.
He continued, “It is sad, travelling home for Christmas now is only a fantasy, we will have to spend Christmas right here without our family.”
Diego with a little bit of sadness in his voice said, “I had really wanted to go home for Christmas, I will miss my mom this year.”
The young men said that they will try to comfort themselves with daily cell phone calls and countless video chats just to keep in touch with their loved ones for the holiday.

 

 

 

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