Latest update April 23rd, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 28, 2013 Letters
Dear Editor,
“It takes a village to raise a child” is an old African proverb with some people also attributing it to Greek origin. It was made popular by Hillary Clinton during her campaign for the Presidential nomination.
Whatever the source, in Guyana, we know the treasured value of being raised in a village – a close-knit community where everyone looks out for every child to nudge him or her towards success and a right path in life.
Adam Harris, in “the village raises a child” (KN Jan 20), caused many of us in New York to reminisce about growing up in the countryside. In the rural area, you cannot escape doing anything wrong, not even a minor offense without being admonished if not getting a good cut arse or both.
And in the village, youngsters didn’t hate the people who reprimanded you or whipped your behind because you know they were right and you are sure not to repeat those wrongful acts.
And you were lucky to be whipped by the neighbour or stranger because if your parents knew you did wrong, the beating would be manifold because parents didn’t take kindly to having children embarrassing them with their wrongful acts.
Yes, Adam is right in stating that the whole village raised the child. When one child succeeded, the entire village celebrated, as Adam rightly noted.
Everyone looked out for each other and everyone helped each other to lead a better life.
I remember, when GCE or Common Entrance results came out in the papers, all eyes looked for the names of youngsters from the village. It was big news and talk of the village for days when only a handful of us took and passed Common Entrance in 1972 making us eligible to attend Multilateral High School in New Amsterdam (I opted for Chandisingh because my Aunty Bethlyn, insisted that is where she wanted me to be schooled and my parents acquiesced) and a few others (lower passes) made it to Belvedere and Manchester. Everywhere you walked, people would say “Dem boys bright” and you smiled in shyness.
In the village of my time growing up, people nudged you to success and the pressure is on you to be the best and achieve noting short of your potential. And God helped you if you got caught committing a wrongful act like stealing genips or mangoes or tamarinds from the neighbour’s trees – licks like peas. If you did wrong, everyone chastised you. And when you got home, there was further reprimand.
In my classes in NY, Guyanese students often told their peers that in Guyana when someone saw them do wrong, the person would whip (slap or box) them and then go to the home to inform their parents that their child did something wrong.
The parents would then put an additional whipping on them. The village of the past encouraged a straight society with little tolerance for wrongs.
And that is why people like me, Adam, and others came out straight and we serve society well without looking back for rewards. And whenever, I visit Guyana, which is often, I visit the village and reward those who helped to make me what I am and I donate generously to institutions and community events in other villages.
I have noticed that the village of today is not what it was in years gone by; honesty, decency and integrity are no longer there. People don’t want to serve community without rewards. And today, you can’t tell a kid he is wrong or put a whipping on him for wrongdoing. You are likely to get into trouble for child abuse, or corporal punishment, etc.
The child may end up beating the adult and the family would pick a fight if you dare reprimand a child for wrongdoing. And in the city, it is even worse. No one wants to be told he or she is wrong and some parents cover for the criminal acts of children. The youngster may have a gun or a razor brandished to cut you up.
For our children to become successful, an entire community must have a stake in raising them. In NY, a few of us continue to subscribe to “it takes a village to make a kid succeed”.
In my community of greater Richmond Hill, I volunteer to help youngsters with tutoring and organizing activities for them.
My teaching colleagues and I had tried so many times to organize tutorial sessions to help students with their exams so they can score high to gain admission in prestigious colleges.
And we even dream of having our own school looking at various ways on how we can improve our immigrant community.
Most Guyanese immigrants don’t subscribe to our core belief of “it takes a village”, committing time and energy to change others. But they have lived a decent life with the values they brought from Guyana.
And I salute them for their successes. As Adam pointed out, Caribbean immigrants have transformed entire communities. He is right about Jamaica, a once drug-infested and crime-prone area. Guyanese and others have transformed it.
Ditto parts of Cypress Hill, Bushwick, East N.Y, Richmond Hill, Ozone, and several parts of the Bronx. Over the weekend I visited a community in Bushwick where I taught during the late 1980s. You would think WW II was fought there. It had the highest incidence of murder and other crimes. I could not believe the area was transformed with beautiful homes and then I noticed Jhandis fluttering in front of homes.
And I noticed the same in several parts of the South Bronx where I lived during the late 1970s. It shows the power of a village upbringing where people are proud of their values. You have to show pride in yourselves by beautifying your neighborhoods and be thy brother’s keeper.
As Adam rightly stated, we need to return to those old values that help to breed success. Very few of us give back to the community or to people who helped to make us what we are. We should encourage children to succeed and celebrate their achievements as a form of encouragement to reach for the stars.
I go all out to applaud the success of Guyanese American children and my community in general by penning their activities and featuring them in community newspapers.
Like Adam, I will not trade my experiences in the village for any others for it has made me who I am. We all have a stake in the right upbringing of every child.
Vishnu Bisram
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