Dear Editor,
Although I have lived in Canada for many years, Guyana remains the land of my birth—the place where my earliest memories were formed and where part of my heart will always live.
The tragedy of the MV Barima has therefore affected me deeply. I grieve for every life lost, for those who are still unaccounted for, for the survivors carrying memories that may remain with them forever, and for every family whose world changed during what should have been an ordinary journey home.
I think especially of the children. No parent should have to endure the loss of a child. No family should be left waiting beside the water, hoping for news of someone they love.
I am also deeply troubled that this ferry served people travelling to communities in Guyana’s northwest, including many Indigenous Guyanese. I cannot know all the circumstances that led to this tragedy, and I do not wish to pass judgement before the investigations are complete. But I believe we must be willing to ask whether those living in remote and Indigenous communities have always received the attention, protection and safe services that every citizen deserves.
Their lives matter. Their children matter. Their grief matters.
At a time like this, there are no words large enough to contain such sorrow. Yet perhaps we can begin by refusing to allow those who died to become merely numbers in a news report. Each one had a name, a face, a family, a story, and dreams still unfolding. Each one occupied a place in this world that no one else can fill.
As members of the Guyanese diaspora, we may be separated from our homeland by oceans and years, but we are not separated from its suffering. We can mourn with our people. We can listen without turning grief into political argument. We can support those who are hurting and call—calmly, compassionately and firmly—for the truth to be known and for every lesson to be learned.
Hope, in a moment such as this, does not ask grieving families to forget their pain. Hope says that their loved ones will be remembered. Hope says that compassion can cross every division of race, geography, politics and circumstance. Hope says that out of this terrible loss may come a deeper national commitment to protecting every person who travels Guyana’s rivers and waters.
May we honour those lost on the MV Barima not only with flowers, candles and words, but by building a future in which no community is overlooked, and no life is treated as less valuable than another. I was heartened to learn of the newly announced HEART Initiative—Hope, Empathy, Aid, Resilience and Trust—which is intended to provide sustained support to survivors and bereaved families long after the immediate headlines have faded. As a member of the Guyanese diaspora, I hope there will also be a secure and transparent way for those of us living abroad to contribute. Distance should not prevent us from standing with our people in practical as well as compassionate ways.
From the diaspora, I send my deepest sympathy to every grieving family, every survivor, and everyone still waiting for answers.
Guyana, we mourn with you. May our shared sorrow awaken our shared humanity—and strengthen our resolve to care for one another.
Yours faithfully,
Jean Janki Samaroo
Discussion