Crossing borders
on Fiona Craven (Guyana), 15/Feb/2012 02:44, 34 days ago
What a difference a 12 hour mini-bus journey makes. That and financial input from theNetherlandsand a few hundred years of different colonial rule. I’m talking aboutSurinameversusGuyana. I have now visited two of the three‘Guyanas’ and am unsure how to begin comparing them without sounding negative towardsGuyana.Surinameis clean. It’s ordered. It’s got shopping. It’s got only cars on the streets ofParamaribo(no horses and carts). The perception of the Surinamese is thatGuyanais nothing to be proud of.“why do you live over there” “don’t the different races fight all the time” “aren’t there still horses and carts on the roads”. All I could say was that yes,Guyanahas its problems, but it’s a country full of surprises and there’s always ALWAYS something incredible going on.What fascinated me most about our 3 days inParamaribowas the rich history.Guyanahas the same rich history, it’s just harder to find out about it. But inSuriname, we did a plantation tour where our guide spewed facts and dates and nationalities at us until I was convinced thatSurinamereally is the centre of the world.Seriously though, I’ve always thought of globalisation as something born in the 20thcentury. But people and goods have been transported across the globe for hundreds of years. What is so fascinating about The Guianas is that they have such a rich, multi-cultural history that tells a great history of the world. I’m a huge fan of the BBC Radio 4 podcasts ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’, so here’s ‘My History of the Guianas in 329 Words’.First of all there were the Amerindians (a people very like the native North American Indians and people of theHimalaya). The Europeans came over in the 16thcentury. Over the next few centuries the borders frequently shifted and the colonial powers changed between first the Spanish, then the English, French and Dutch. The Europeans found the land rich for growing coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugar cane and tobacco and with that came the need for more labour. Thus began the huge slave trade fromWest Africa. Thousands of people were shipped across theAtlanticand forced to work for their European masters across the Guianas. It was a time in theNetherlandsknown as‘The Golden Century’ when The Netherlands (and the other European colonists) grew rich at the expense of the local Amerindians and imported African slaves. With the abolition of slavery (first inGuyanain 1834 and shortly afterwards inSurinameandFrench Guiana), a further source of labour was required. The late 1830s saw the start of the mass transportation of people across the globe fromAsiaas indentured labourers. InGuyanathese were the East Indians, and inSurinamethe Javanese. Families were promised great opportunities, although in reality the conditions were little better than slavery. Many families returned to their mother land when their contracts were up, while many more chose to stay.Guyanagained independence fromBritainin 1966, whileSurinamegained its independence from The Netherlands in 1975. French Guiana remains part ofFrance.Today, agriculture has shifted from cotton, coffee and cocoa (labour is cheaper else where in the world), to sugar (yes, that Demerara sugar in you cupboard comes from here) and rice. More recently, sought after minerals such as gold, diamonds and bauxite have created a new trade in people and resources around the world. Many Chinese and Brazilian businesses own and run the mines here, ensuringGuyana’s rich history of trade continues to cross boarders around the globe.Depiction of a bounty hunter slaveColonial soldierIndentured labourers travelled long journiesby seaMap showing the movement of slavesPot used on the plantations for making cane juiceDescendents of the indentured labour from IndonesiaDepiction of old SurinameDepiction of modern SurinameLeaving Dutch speaking SurinameReturning to English speaking GuyanaHappy to be back in Guyana