The presentations that gained prizes in the Mashramani Children’s Costume Parade held at the National Park on Saturday, February 15, 2003 speak for themselves. The titles included: ‘Umbrella Unity’; ‘Peace, Love and Harmony - Let’s Unite our Country’; ‘Salute Essequibo for a United Guyana’; ‘United and Free in Mash 2003’ (also the national slogan for this year’s celebration); ‘Unity From Region Three’; ‘Peace Love and Unity in 2003’; ‘Garden of Unity’; “Recipe for Unity’; ‘Wishes for a Better Guyana’; and ‘Reach Out and Embrace Our Differences and Shared Goals’.

As Guyanese reflect on the state of their nation on the eve of the 33rd anniversary of the Cooperative Republic, they must wonder whether the noble dreams and visions their founding fathers held dear for this nation would ever become true in this present generation. With the exception of the Amerindians, most citizens are the descendants of the many peoples transported to this land over the past three centuries to be units of labour for the European powers. The ancestors of the nation worked long and hard under the guidance of the Dutch, the French and the British to transform this coastland from a waterlogged, muddy and disease-ridden expanse into a well laid out and habitable coastal plane crisscrossed with a system of canals and kokers for ideal agricultural production. This transformation did not come about without wrenching human costs. African slaves were forced to remove millions of tons of earth under inhuman conditions. African slaves first worked on the plantations where sugarcane was cultivated and then processed into sugar and rum, which items were then exported to Europe. Upon manumission of the slaves, East Indian indentured workers were imported to work in the cane fields and the factories. Later, Portuguese, Chinese and even some free Africans were also brought to these shores to keep the plantations supplied with a ready labour force. Thus, all Guyanese have contributed meaningfully to the development of the nation, and therefore have a right to be here and to enjoy the fruits of their ancestors’ efforts.

We here recall a particularly touching comment that the late President Cheddi Jagan made while addressing the nation at the dawn of the year 1996. Dr Jagan appealed to citizens to guard against those who have no pride in themselves or their country, and those who seek to destroy Guyana’s wealth and beauty. He exhorted Guyanese to focus on one goal - that of trying with all their hearts to allow pride, and not hatred, to be the legacy for the next generation. President Jagan harked back to times past when the foreparents of this nation struggled in common unity to improve the conditions of their lives. He recalled how the ancestors looked after each other’s children, worked together and celebrated together, and in doing so, forged a Guyanese nation out of their common need to make themselves a people of pride and dignity. The late Guyanese leader then called for the restoration of the dignity that graced the lives of those foreparents.