Parts of Georgetown are filthy - it is! Why?

Now, let me tell you that the last time my blog was all about the things in Guyana that will always hold beauty.  There is no way that can hide.  I did the blog

http://lethemtrip.blogspot.com

and there I tried to capture the history of wooden buildings, the beauty of the green plants and gardens the lushness of our markets.

BUT

This time I can't hide from the state of things that smack of an insult to the Guyanese who live and work daily in Georgetown.  In conversation with a young woman who lives here with her young daughter, I heard that the area around her daughter's school is full of pot holes filled with stinking water.  I learned of a few communities that are gated and the privatation of clean up crews that make it easier for the neglect of larger community.  I sense that Guyanese feel trapped.  As she said, "wuh we gon do." 

Is the neglect and the abuse of power causing a form of whole scale chronic depression?  It's not as if there is no effort.  The Guyanese seem to be trying against all odds.   The garbage cans are few, and the ones that exist have piles of trash around them; it seems to then create an attitude of "who cares?"  And a Guyanese informed that then people just dispose of their garbage wherever. 

I've also seen the efforts of men as they wade in overgrown garbage filled gutters with small rakes as they attempt to drag them to remove the dirt; it is a job that seeems impossible.  The homeless in Guyana are dreadfully malnourished. 

It feels as if the wheels stopped turning and what should be up sank and should be down grew up and spread - buildings and land.  There are pot holes in the street and the pave and there are areas where pools of rain gather and wear the earth down. People have learned to walk in this danger zone without slipping, falling and breaking limbs.

Can it be ignored?  Can't I speak about it and still love Guyana?  Can't I try to understand?  It doesn't stop me from wanting to be here; it doesn't stop me from loving the warm Guyaneness of people. . It makes me wonder if it is a form of social depression.  Guyanese restaurants can have piles of garbage not too far away.  It seems to affect everything.  The grass is overgrown, the trees look a little sad, it seems beyond the idea of poor; it feels as if the Guyanese people are overwhelmed by the circumstances.

Guyanese step around and over the lack of care. They continue to live.

It's like badly broken beauty.  You look and you see what was and wonder what will be.  How can one lift it back up?

The smell of rot overpowers the senses at certain places.  It seems to me that it was not this bad, but I was told that the last time I visited I was blinded by my sentimentality.  I still think that it was not so.
 
Again, this is not a popular topic for some and it is not open for discussion or for publicity especially if you do not live in Georgetown.  I am not trying to demean Guyana in a malicious manner because I am aware that many social challenges - monetary and otherwise can cripple a country, but I have questions and the Guyanese people I meet seem to also feel a little lost in trying to understand the state of things.  Even though they mention places like "Prada" that I was told houses officials in an upscale housing development while the Guyanese wait for the government to spend the money necessary for their standard of living to improve.