As the President said when he (officially?) launched his “Men of Mission (MoM): The 1000-Men Initiative” that’s supposed to help our beleaguered boys, the problem isn’t just a Guyanese one – it’s global. Earlier in the month, he’d made the original announcement from a masjid in Leguan, signalling – your Eyewitness suspects – that our religious bodies (of which we have no shortage!) have a big role to play in fixing the problem. There, he’d noted that young men and boys face a barrage of societal ills, such as drug abuse, domestic violence, gang violence, and other violent crimes. It is not that young women and girls don’t face those challenges also, but boys face them in spades!!
At Camp Ayanganna on Friday night, however, the President took a different tack. Said he: “We [men] are the root cause of much of problems in society; it’s now our time to be the root of the solution, to be the root of positivity, to be the root that makes a difference, to be a root that builds a support system. Men on Mission will be the foundation to remove violence against women and children. This is not the responsibility of women, it is a responsibility for us to work with each other.”
It’s possible that he moved from the challenges faced by the young men to make a connection with the fact that, with these problems left unaddressed, as the young men become older, they inflict mind-numbing violence upon women. But if this is a global problem – which it certainly is – don’t we also have to look abroad, from where some of the impulses may be originating?? Take, for example, the misogynistic and gun-glorifying lyrics of dancehall music, that’s now being censured in its Jamaican home. Shouldn’t we be following suit??
Then there’s the chicken-and- egg conundrum of the other fact that, in general, females are the ones who raise these boys who’re later violent towards women. What about “the hand that rocks the cradle” philosophy?? We’re told that the programme aims to achieve its objectives through mentorship, counselling, and the creation of economic empowerment for the participants. But where’s the role of mothers in all this?? Shouldn’t they be taught to teach their sons more positive values towards the female species??
Then who’ll be doing the mentoring? The MoMs, led by “a broad-based committee spearheaded by the GDF’s Brigadier Godfrey Bess, with CoP Clifton Hicken as second in command”. These top two honchos are “Disciplined Forces” guys. What about the accusation, “to a hammer, everything’s a nail”? Back in the day, Burnham thought that “discipline” would solve the same challenges young men faced – and we ended up with the militarised National Service.
All your Eyewitness is saying is that we have a lotta work to do before the implementation of MoM.
…Afghan refugees
Guyanese were dumbstruck when an online news outfit reported that Guyana and Suriname were asked by the US to accept an unknown number of Afghan refugees. They were stuck in Kosovo from the 100,000 who’d fled the Taliban when Kabul fell. These were people who supported the Americans, and felt they’d be killed by the Taliban, who condemn them as “collaborators”.
Now, your Eyewitness has a soft spot for refugees – having witnessed Guyanese fleeing to every country on planet earth during the PNC dictatorship – but these are individuals who failed to pass the US security check!! If the US, whom they helped, is objecting to their presence in the US, shouldn’t we be wary?? Back in mid-September, a WSJ article stated that Suriname had been contacted. But one Afghan said they had concerns about that plan because of the crime levels in Suriname and the troubled economy.
So, we’re added to the list because we’re “oil rich”?? Isn’t this premature? Let’s have a public discussion on this matter!!
…dogs
While there’s no excuse for Charrandas’s obscenities, the folks who try to feed New Delhi’s 265,000 stray dogs face constant harassment from outraged homeowners. There suffer over 100 dog bites annually, and several fatal incidents of mauling of children.
