Away from Mash, some families opt to spend time together

February 23, 2018

DPI, GUYANA, Friday, February 23, 2018

While the Mashramani celebration was in full swing today in downtown Georgetown, some family members opted to spend the time together away from the excitement.

The Department of Public Information (DPI) visited some well-known spots where families gather to have picnics and participate in other activities.

Jennifer Torrington from Albouystown was in the Botanical Gardens with her family members, “We chose here because we come to picnic, to enjoy ourselves, we come as a family.” She said while her family is not too much into the celebratory aspect of the holiday, it is still a good time for them to be together.

The Prince Family.

“Yes, the Mash is nice, we are feeling the vibe and so on, but we just came here to have a good time,” she said.

Another family, that travelled from Kuru Kururu on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway would have given anything to be part of the celebration but had to go to the Botanical Gardens instead because of the lack of parking space.

“All over full up, this Mash is bigger than before, this year. So, we decided to come to the Gardens because this is the closest way to reach Vlissengen road to see the floats, but we can’t park out there,” Godfrey Williams told DPI.

Ronald John Gomes related that his family has quite a number of small children, so they chose the Botanical Gardens as a place for relaxation.

“But we are fully supportive of the celebration of Mash and we like it. We also like everything that is happening with the new system that is going down. I’m glad for the changes that they made this year- bringing the Mash from National Park to the new Durban Park,” he said.

Close friends at the National Park on Friday.

Over in the National Park, the situation was not quite the same, there were fewer families there, however, the excitement and unity were quite evident.

A family from Diamond was also picnicking in the Park because of their young children.

“It is like a yearly tradition when we come out for Mash. We are here now, we were out on the road, but the sun was extremely hot. So, we just came by to cool down and have some fun with our family and celebrate the regular Guyanese tradition,” Angelique Ramnauth said.

DPI caught up with a group of persons, who work together and have developed a deep bond over the years.

Cindy Sankumar spoke on behalf of the group. “We all belong to different ethnic groups but we still live as one. We all came out to have some fun as a family and we don’t want to go into the “excitement”, so we came here just to enjoy the regular sports.”

The Prince family originally from Nebacalis on the East Coast of Demerara, have all returned home from overseas. Their day spent in the National Park was an awesome experience, they said.

“It is fantastic to be back home in Guyana, we travelled all the way from London and we are having a great time today. We love Guyana.”