How in this modern age fires of this type cannot be avoided?

May 26, 2023 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Probably, it has taken hundreds of thousands and perhaps trillions of words, printed and spoken nationally and internationally, to explain how and why the nineteen school children perished along with the nine who have been hospitalized as a result of the fiery conflagration that ripped through the girl’s secondary school dormitory at Mahdia, at Region 8.

Death remains a deeply personal experience alongside the use of any postmortem technologies that might have been witnessed. Those of us who, entered temporarily ‘Death’s World’ (a term describing the wide spectrum of individuals and groups who either witnessed death, the dying, or associated with dead bodies) may have conveyed at times, a certain kind of assuredness that grief and bereavement are headed out way when a family member or someone close to us dies.

As I read more and more about this tragic loss to family and nation, I could not help but wonder how in this modern age of technological advancement, and where technologies tend to occupy a greater part of our daily lives, fires of this type cannot be avoided.

Further, I wonder whether the parents of the children managed to write down all their logins and passwords and generally, making sure that they knew where all the personal belongings of their loved ones were to be found in the home. It is quite possible that they may not have had the luxury of time to do such things thus making the loss not only irreplaceable but numbing and painful.

From news reports published long before, we know that residents of the communities affected by the tragedy have, over the years, experienced social and economic changes of varying degrees. As a consequence, many young Amerindians are opting for professional occupations that require them study away from home; to concentrate and to be more focused on their academic endeavours.

In this regard, the secondary schools and separate dorms for girls and boys, as was the case at Mahdia, represent the institutional arrangements that are offered to successful graduands of the CSEC to attend and to be accommodated with the consent of their parents and/or guardians.

Notwithstanding the social and economic challenges in the communities where the deceased children came from including; Chenapou, Campbelltown, El Paso, Karisparu, Micobie, Madhia and several other villages in the North Pakarimas, the strength of traditions maintained by villagers derives from the fact that they continue to live where they always have.

That apart, there is a certain irony for those of us who from time to time contemplate loss and death, in that, we too go through the process of grieving when we utter the words ‘our thoughts and prayers are with you’ making it well nigh impossible for our thoughts to be easily diverted from grief and sorrow to some other unrelated brainwave.

Those of us who have suffered loses because of death in the family have long come to terms with the physically tangible reality that death wins. But to die in the way those twenty children died is at the same time, a huge loss to families, communities and the nation as a whole.

Kudos must be extended to the President for imbuing in the nation at this time, the need to develop a greater sense of patience, tolerance and perseverance in the search for answers to legitimate questions and concerns the tragedy has brought to the fore.

Moreover, it was pleasing to see the magnificent response by students from schools across the nation who, through their expressions of public support and solidarity sought to help heal the pain and suffering felt across the country.

The extraordinary expressions of solidarity and support extended by the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda and Cuba particularly, and more generally, by governments around the world are timely and most welcomed.

As the nation mourns its loss, we need to keep the faith, singing and bonding. And as we reflect on the tragedy at Mahdia we must always bear in mind that we are all living on borrowed time with our family, our loved ones, relatives and friends. In the final analysis, it is compassion that will strengthen our interdependence and that intimate connection with others nationally and internationally.

Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee

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How in this modern age fires of this type cannot be avoided?

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