Brain Drain Guyana

There is very little we can do about brain drain. Someone once told me we cannot see the evolution of the world because everything evolves so rapidly, it is like we are running the fastest we can just to keep up, globalization and national development is no exception to this rule.

Today about 80% of our educated migrate to other countries and this depends on a variety of factors.

Guyana stand out in South America as the only English speaking nation and this is one of the main reasons why we are being hemorrhaged by brain drain. Our top three brain drain destitutions are USA, Canada and UK respectively and this comes as no surprise because they are all English speaking countries. It is important to note that the brain drain percentage in Suriname is higher than Guyana and is the highest in the world. It is also important to note that a majority of Surinamese migrate to The Netherlands, due to language commonalities. Suriname population is significantly lower than Guyana’s; this is why their percentage rate is so high.

As much as Guyanese are seeking to travel to the United States, Americans are looking to hire Guyanese. I am still very proud of the New York Times article in 2002 which talks about Schenectady Mayor Jurczynski visiting Richmond Hill trying to recruit Guyanese to his town.

"They're a hard-working people (Guyanese)," Jurczynski said. "They do not believe in public assistance as a group, unless it's absolutely necessary. So right away I felt good about them. What mayor wouldn't?" (Pittsburgh Tribune).

Mayor Jurczynski have made his success with Guyanese a role model for cities facing decline in America. Robert L. Smith highlighted Jurczynski’s success on Cleveland.com as a solution to Cleveland declining development, Marisol Bello made the same claim and hope for Pittsburgh declining economy.

The lack of a language barrier makes it easy for us to be recognized but the Guyanese appetite for progress and our good work ethics make us stand out in the American workforce. As long as this demand for Guyanese workers continues many more will be leaving the motherland.

Our sense of community and family also contribute greatly to our success in foreign lands. Barbara Ehrenreich in her book Nickel and Dimed explores the world of single women taking on minimum wage jobs in America and come to the conclusion they cannot survive. Little did she realize that Guyanese and other immigrants women survive on less in America, because we have a strong sense of community and family. While Ehrenreich was spending more than half of her salary on rent (in her book), Guyanese immigrants are doubling up, tripling up, quadrupling up… to save that necessary rent money; vital to survival and remittance. Our strong sense of community means you can find everything Guyanese on Liberty Avenue, Richmond Hill that you would find in Guyana.

There is very little positive we get from brain drain, sure we get remittance but that only encourage more migration. It is quite impossible for Guyana to compete with the big ABC (America, Britain and Canada), especially since the conditions are right for Guyanese to succeed in the developed world. Brain drain is solely the responsibility of any single country, crisis in single countries lead to refugee migration and not only brain drain.

There is no solution to Guyana’s brain drain but a reduction in crime would lessen the blow. With less crime Guyanese who choose patriotic over economics can return or stay home and live in relative peace, which can eventually turn the tide towards economical development and separate common migration from massive brain drain.

Thank you,

Asif Mohamed