Freed treason accused ‘picking up the pieces’

– say they have learnt many life lessons

By Bhisham Mohamed

A family portrait of the Munroes

It has been almost eight months since Carol Ann Monroe, Bruce Monroe and Leonard Wharton were acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence that they were planning to over throw the government at that time, but from all indications, they have reintegrated themselves into society using the incident as a learning experience.
“You learn to restructure; you learn to be cognisant about the people around you; you learn to pay attention to your environment; you learn to isolate persons you keep close to you and persons we don’t want to keep close to us; and we learnt to chose your friends wisely.”
These were the sentiments of Carol Ann Munroe on Saturday during an exclusive interview with Guyana Times International in the company of her husband, Major Bruce Monroe, who both expressed their excitement to be up and about and more importantly, spending time with their families and close friends.  Almost in tears, Carol disclosed that their lives have changed drastically, forcing them to keep a low profile while spending a lot of time indoors with their children and refurbishing her private educational institute.
She added that in the first couple of months after their release, they have been quiet, but with the support of everyone, they are more than fortunate to be basically cuddled and protected by everyone.
“Where the stigma was concerned, one of the things that left us puzzled was that people told us they were praying for us; the repeated voices which echoed the same sentiments kind of took away the shock and making the transition process of reintegrating into society much more comfortable,” she noted.
The woman explained that one of her greatest challenges was going back into the classroom, recalling she was instrumental in moulding one of the people who had given evidence against them during the preliminary inquiry.  “I have been part and parcel of reforming this young man from an arrogant person to someone with a more pleasant personality. I am even the godmother of his daughter,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Taking that betrayal into consideration, she was not sure that she wanted to further invest in the school all over again. Nevertheless, after remembering her grandmother’s words which echoed in her head, she decided to give it another shot.
The words of her grandmother were “Never say that something cannot happen to you, but to the outcome, at the end of it is how you as an individual deal with it, will decide your fate” – a sentence that has been constantly banging in her head while she was staring at the four walls of her prison cell.

Challenge facing children
Another challenge, according to Munroe was the fact that she had to face children after being charged with one of  the most serious offences in the land. “How can I be a mentor, a preacher against these crimes when I was charged for treason?” she asked.
The mentally strong woman recalled a few days before she was taken into custody, a few boys were misbehaving in the school compound and she had the cause to caution them, but now asked, “How would I actually have a conversation with the misbehaved children who are aware that I was in prison and can use that as a slap in my face?” The Lord, she noted, works in mysterious ways; their children she noted were not interested in bombarding them about their criminal record, but rather they were more compassionate than before.
“You had to re-adjust yourself and make a decision whether to move on or stay in the past… and I have made a decision, one that will be the hallmark of my return,” she added. As the interview continued, the brave and courageous woman explained that her school, The Achievers Academy, was vandalised 22 times while she was in prison, and another three time times after her acquittal.
“There were no windows. We were actually starting back from scratch and the money that we had saved up for college funds for the children were used to put things back in order. It was tough to make a decision on the basis of making an investment or scrapping the idea of a school,” she noted.
All in all, she is grateful for life and for the tremendous support that was showered upon them during their time of crisis.
A usually quiet Major Munroe conformed that he has rejoined the army, but is currently on leave. “I am back in the army… all of  the leave that was built up during my 20 years in the army was made available, but while on leave, I am considering my options,” he added.
He also disclosed that after completing his leave, he intends to call it quits, while noting that the incident has caused him to step back and do a re-evaluation.
“I will now be cognisant of the way I think, the way I view people, the way I talk to people… I plan to do things differently,” he said.
While it has been a challenge for him, he thinks he will devote his time to his family. After being released from prison, he said together with his wife, they hit the ground practically sprinting to put not just their lives in order, but to assist parents and children who have suffered tremendously as a direct result of their absence. He thanked God for his guidance, noting that God has good things in store for him and his future.