Blossom Inc., Belle West murder, more crime and catching hell

Feb 14, 2021 Features / Columnists, The GHK Lall Column

>>>Encouraging Events, Disturbing Developments<<<

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – It is a story that encourages hope amidst the darkness of this society, since there are those who still care, and in ways that count. Blossom Inc., a not-for-profit agency under the guidance of its leader, Ms. Ayodele Dalgety-Dean, is such a warming story. Incredibly, it is for those things that do not make the spotlight, those persons that society wishes to stay silent, and to deal with their pains and traumas privately. Through, Blossom Inc., Ms. Dalgety-Dean, is having none of that; through her agency, the first brutalised and then stigmatised of our local world are given some semblance of justice, some degree of dignity and healing. Blossom Inc., works tirelessly, and largely under the radar, to stand in court support for victims of sexual abuse. The mere thought of courts and being before all those intimidating strangers only intensifies the traumas of those previously victimised and terrorised. But Blossom Inc., through Ms. Dalgety-Dean and her team, is there for them, when it matters, when it makes a difference. Twenty convictions were obtained in the midst of that never-ending other trauma, the COVID-19 pandemic. Twenty perpetrators exposed and brought to justice, because a few people cared enough to want to do something about their pains and ordeals, and actually did it. This is encouraging, stirring.
Now, I touch upon the dark, disturbing realities of living in this country. Crime seems to be everywhere, and in the most routine, the unlikeliest of places. There was a Belle West football field difference not forgotten, a man delivering puri to a friend’s house in Houston, and another buying cigarettes in Albouystown. Here are the ordinary things in life that are taken for granted, but yet in two of these three places, the encounters climaxed in horrifying death, while the third nurses a gunshot wound. He is lucky, since he was targeted twice in the same day by gun-toting robbers. The football difference was especially harrowing, with premeditation and extreme heinousness. The multiple stabs, the chasing and cornering and killing by several siblings so determined in their long moment of madness that only gruesome death satisfied their blood lust. I read of too many such incidents, these shattering episodes of barbaric violence. They do not comfort, they disturb immensely, since no end is in sight; and we are all the more fearful and weaker for this continuing onslaught of violent crime everywhere. Having to look anxiously over one’s shoulder in every pathway of daily life is bad enough; being engaged in the regular interactions of life and to be victimised deliberately or accidentally, and all criminally, only adds to the disturbances of everyday struggles to survive.
The disturbing goes on in the circumstances now faced by our workers of the sea, our fishermen. They are ‘catching hell’ and it shows. I can share from personal experience, though I no longer visit the Meadow Bank wharf. A place once thriving with the abundant produce of our fishing grounds is now reduced to a less and less rewarding outlet. The catch is ‘50 percent’ less, despite longer trips at sea. Our fishermen are hurting, and so are we, from fewer choices and the much higher prices that accompany those. When there is a lower catch, which is now most of the time, the cleaners and hustlers (in the good sense of the word) have less work, almost no earnings, and no place to go to make up the money gaps experienced. They lose their opportunities for soliciting, the fishermen could be out of work, since the boat owners can no longer afford workers, and are forced to taking care of their own needs. I hear oil exploration is a factor, which makes sense; and I hear of the government needing to do something to improve the lot of these men, and consumers who depend on them. The outlook is not good, may get worse. This is not comforting and on many fronts.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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