Beautify Guyana
Editorial
Kaieteur News
April 18, 2007
In the preparations for our hosting of the World Cup Super Eight games, we were exhorted to “beautify” our homes and surroundings so as to present a more positive image to the expected hordes of visitors that were supposed to descend on us.
The hordes did not appear, but even though it might not have been obvious to some visiting sportswriters, there is no question that there was a noticeable improvement in the appearance of many communities – and not only on the East Bank of Demerara, where the National Stadium is located.
While in the beginning there was a bit of a snicker of, “World Cup!” when the average Joe noticed the sprucing up effort, after a while they couldn't help but perk up as the effect sunk in. We had become too used to shoddy surroundings.
It wasn't that we did not know better. Most Guyanese have spent some time in one foreign country or other and they not only took note but they very quickly fell in and did as the local Romans did when it came to no littering and so on. It was just when they returned home that the old lethargy took over.
It is possible that we may have begun to believe that we were not worth it.
All this talk about us being a “Highly Indebted Poor Country” where we have to spend all our energies on ‘poverty alleviation” had to have spilled over into other areas of our national psyches. The media bombards us with images of how the ‘poor” are supposed to live: every one of those images are suffused with dirt and litter. It's OK to be clean when we are in the “richer” countries and maybe we should not try to be what we are not.
But the recent national makeover is a clear indication that our citizenry are not as apathetic as some may want us to believe, when it comes to taking pride about our land – and doing something about it. It is our position that we must not allow matters to revert to the old status quo; in fact, we must not only maintain the World Cup “spic and span” dividend but we must work to increase it.
The Ministry of Local Government can pick up the initiatives of President Jagdeo and the Central Government, institutionalise them and then expand the programme into a national “Beautify Guyana ” programme. People love competition.
In colonial times there were “ Best Village ” competitions that encouraged locals to really go out of their way to improve their environments.
While the prizes were nothing to sneeze at, the thrill of “beating” other villages was the prime motivator in the competitions. We may have been even “poorer” then than now by several benchmarks but it did not mean that we had to live in squalour.
A portion of the subvention that each Neighbourhood Democratic Council receives annually, can be earmarked for the “Beautify Guyana ” activity. The funds expended will be recouped many times over as the local communities dig into their pockets or contribute their ‘sweat equity” to a programme where they literally can see and feel the benefits.
Local and national businesses can also be drafted into the effort. For the World Cup foray, the local tourism board advertised that some paint companies were offering discounts to homeowners on the East Bank who were willing to get involved. It would be interesting to find out what were the results of this experiment.
Whatever the results, however, from a marketing standpoint, it makes sense for business of all types to become involved in a “Beautify Guyana ” programme.
The “feel-good” vibes that all marketers want their products to be associated with are guaranteed.
We reiterate that it is essential that we begin to give value to our humanity. In this year of our commemoration of the end of the slave trade, let us remember that just as our identities are not totally circumscribed by slavery, our identities are neither totally defined by our poverty.
By cultivating beauty around us we remind ourselves that our essential selves are beautiful.