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DLP Column:13:14 gold
9/27/2009
The country saluted Ryan Brathwaite over a week ago. The achievement of the young man from Hillaby, St. Andrew brought tears to the eyes of an official of
the Barbados Olympic Association, as he formally addressed the welcome back ceremony at the VIP Lounge. It demonstrated without a doubt that this country is not defined by sport, religion, creed, colour, class, race or home address. We, however, are defined by an innate belief in being craftsmen of our fate. Ryan’s feat is to be commended and so the people of Barbados took to the streets and the Oval in numbers to pay tribute.
The Government, including the Opposition [smile] along with the people of Barbados, must be congratulated for ensuring that we celebrated our son of the soil in
the way we did. This event was a public activity with a committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Captain Straughn. The Permanent Secretary and his team should be given full kudos for mobilising the entire nation in such a short time. The 13:14 Gold Committee was essentially an engine of ideas and created the impetus that allowed the Government to throw their support behind the celebrations – financially and administratively.
This attitude reminded our people that the saying “It takes a village to raise a child” is still very relevant. The spirit that embodied the design of activities in Church Gap, St. Andrew allowed for us to feel what pride and industry truly means in our anthem. Acting Minister of Sports, Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner, was reported to have said after witnessing what was taking place that “it was like Christmas had come early ...”
One of the true lessons to be taken from Ryan’s accomplishments is that size does not matter in sketching your success. Our small island state must continue to forge its way in a competitive manner alongside the developed world by authoring our goods and service with excellence. We can no longer throw our hands in the air and cry that size has limitations. The Ryan Brathwaite story is a Barbadian story that can be used to motivate our country to think big with their ideas. Ryan thought big and never shifted his goal post.
The Thompson-led Government has already singled its intentions to assist at the state level, in whatever way it can, to facilitate the young man’s journey on the road to the 2012 Olympics. The announcement of a committee to oversee the needs of Ryan must be seen as part of our overall support for youth in sports. Barbados salutes the achievement of Ryan during a time when our nation and the region is going through much. He has delivered hope in the face of adversity and remained extremely humble as accolades after accolades were showered upon him.
We urge all leaders to join hands and show we love Barbados. There can be no excuse for any loyal son or daughter not securing some level of involvement in this historic event.
The noted absence of 1+3+1+4 = 9 Opposition members at the penultimate activity were in very, very poor taste. We implore all those on the other side to think Barbados, think Ryan Brathwaite, as we continue to negotiate our troubled waters. Ryan’s success is not the success of the Democratic Labour Party nor does it take away from the contribution of the Barbados Labour Party to our country’s history. What it does instead is once again beg the question: In whose interest is the Opposition working?
[Originally published: Friday September 25, 2009]
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