Dear Editor,
I was discouraged to learn that the Mayor & Councillors of the City of Georgetown, in collaboration with an entity named the ‘United Nations Association of Guyana,’ was hosting, in observance of International Women’s Day 2018, an exhibition titled ‘African Guyanese Women’ — last Thursday, March 8, 2018, at the National Gallery of Art (Castellani House).
The first question I asked was whether they would be hosting five other exhibitions for the five-other main ethnic groups of Guyana: Those being Amerindian Guyanese Women, Indian Guyanese Women, European Guyanese Women, Portuguese Guyanese Women and Chinese Guyanese Women, and even possibly the Guyanese Women of Mixed Race. I was told that this would be the only exhibition. How could a municipality be involved in such a partisan event? The other concern is: why the involvement of the beleaguered Georgetown Municipality in such an activity? Surely their time would be better spent and their resources better utilized to help not only African Guyanese Women, but, indeed, all Guyanese Women, should they stop: closing down their Day Care Centres, which would allow women to go to work knowing that their children are being properly cared for; should they eradicate mosquitoes in the city through fogging, which would eliminate diseases such as malaria, dengue, West Nile virus, chikungunya, yellow fever, filariasis, etc; should they improve the hygienic conditions at the Abattoir, which is supposed to produce wholesome meat; should they improve the conditions for women vendors in the municipal markets etc.
This would seem to be another political stunt by the administration of Council, because council’s track record of mistreatment of women is well known. Just look at how the last three Town Clerks, all women, were treated.
Do they know the meaning of the phrase ‘Charity begins at home’? This is a proverb that expresses the overriding demands of taking care of one’s family before caring for others.
Sincerely,
James Mc Onnell
