`Come home for Mash’
Teixeira urges Guyanese in Canada
Guyana Chronicle
February 8, 2004
CANADIAN-based Guyanese are being urged to return to their homeland for the annual Mashramani celebrations.
At a media briefing at the Guyana Consulate’s office in Toronto on Thursday, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Ms. Gail Teixeira said Mashramani will be marketed as one of the biggest tourist events during the next five years.
She urged Guyanese living in Toronto to return to Guyana during this period to join in the celebrations which now include all Guyana, regardless of their age, ethnicity or religion. Mashramani is being celebrated under the theme `Unity, Beauty and More in 2004’.
Minister Teixeira also announced that the plans for Mashramani celebrations this year are progressing well. She noted that six of the ten national events are being held in all the administrative regions.
The Minister is hoping that Mash will be marketed as a tourism activity among Guyanese living overseas so that people will return. She announced that despite the problems over the years, there have been a consistent number of 2,000 visitors arriving in Guyana for Mash.
According to the Minister, Christmas of 2003 was one of the best for the country because many Guyanese returned to their homeland after living in other countries for many years. Some people stayed away for 30 years, but despite the negative impressions that people read about, they still returned, she noted.
Members of the gathering commended the work of the Government and expressed their appreciation for the visit by the team. They are also calling on Government members to make more regular visits to Canada so that the Guyanese community there can be better informed about the issues in their homeland.