Head of State, President Dr Irfaan Ali, has made a bold call on Friday, at the handing over of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) report into the deadly Mahdia dormitory fire which left 20 children dead, that the religious community in Guyana has to play a more robust role in moulding the children in our society.
In Guyana, there is no doubt that the church – whether Christian, Hindu (temple) or Muslim (masjid) – plays a significant role, both socially and otherwise. However, there seems to be a need for a more dominant role of these institutions in tackling crime and social ills among youths. The involvement of youths in crime is no secret in Guyana. A glaring example of this can be had in a quick perusal of any of the dailies, where many of the perpetrators of crime – petty or serious – are youths, although this phenomenon is not limited to these shores only.
This newspaper reported some time ago about a forum where over 100 persons from across the Caribbean gathered at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in an attempt to address youth crime and violence in Caricom countries. Under the theme “Youth Crime and Violence – Breaking the Cycle: Exploring New Platforms for Transformation”, the mission of the consultation was to derive strategies for the reduction of youth crime and violence through discussion of the issues promoting youth crime. As all avenues are being explored to fight against youths’ involvement in crime, Government must consider the church, to a substantial extent, as playing a significant role.
These religious institutions make a difference in people’s everyday lives, and many of our places of worship are deeply rooted in communities. It is through this medium that these religious institutions can impact youths and crime. The church, through outreach programmes, can impact neighbourhoods, making them not only generous, but safe. Because of the influence that religious organisations have over their congregation, Government should tap into this and offer support to places of worship (Christian, Hindu, and Muslim) to finance projects that would enable them to more effectively tackle issues of poverty, which in many cases are the root causes of crime. This support will, to a greater extent, encourage churches to develop a broader vision of how they might have a greater impact on the lives of people in local communities and their surrounding environs.
Guyana’s faith-based organisations had the benefit over the years of training programme initiatives by the Government (present and past) to address concerns of the escalating ills of the society.
At one of those trainings, when the now vice president was head of state, he used the opportunity to appeal to community and religious leaders to reach out to the youths who are at the crossroads of their lives, especially during that crucial time of puberty, when vital life-changing choices can create a criminal or a pillar of the society.
He had also averred that the religious leaders of societies are on “the frontline,” but whether they can make the good generals that would lead their respective communities to a cleaner and more moral society is yet to be seen. Nevertheless, he had expressed his faith in their ability to pilot the society’s ship into calmer and more peaceful waters.
There is no doubt that youths of today are faced with numerous challenges, even more challenges than there were in years gone by; and, as such, to adequately address the issues, emphasis must be placed on the church, which is one of the institutions that first touch the lives of youths.
Places of worship, with adequate financing, can help address the issue of crime by instilling values that relate to moral compasses being missing in many of today’s youth. Among these values are honesty, respect, spirituality, and a sense of justice and fairness.
We agree with the President when he said: “The religious community must now play a more robust role in moulding our young people, and the value system that we define ourselves as a country also must play this very important role.”
