Last weekend, Guyana’s ambassador to the United States, the Honourable Bayney Karran, concluded a two-day visit to Georgia at the invitation of the Guyana Association of Georgia (GAOG). He was their guest at a “Meet-and-Greet the Ambassador” reception last Saturday, and he met with scores of his countrymen who reside in Georgia.
“I fielded all the questions about development back home; about the social and economic development of Guyana; about the role the diaspora can play in that process. There was a lot of enthusiasm on their part,” the Ambassador told Guyana Times International following the event. He also told those in attendance how they can engage in charitable and social work in the country.
GAOG President, Austin Thompson, told this publication that the objective was to afford both the ambassador and the Guyanese community in Georgia the opportunity to discuss those issues in Guyana that are of concern to the diaspora.
Thompson said Ambassador Karran addressed questions which touched on business development; improvement plans for social and economic conditions; better policing of traffic on the border with Brazil, to mitigate illegal crossing; alleviating immigration constraints; unity among all races; issues of inequality; the upcoming elections; alleged corruption in government; and several other issues.
Thompson notes that even though this was the first such event involving the diplomat, Guyanese responded well to the invitation. He declared it quite pleasing to see the diversity of ‘cultures’ represented at Saturday’s meet-and-greet, and opined that this demonstrated the potential Guyanese have to come together as one people, from one nation, having one destiny, to embrace our country’s ambassador.
For his part, the Guyanese diplomat said he was impressed with the steps GAOG, as well as the Indo Caribbean Cultural Organisation (ICCO), has taken to promote unity within the community. “I was impressed with the growth of the organization, having purchased their own property; also, by the cohesiveness of the community,” Ambassador Karran said.
