7 minute read
Guyana's sea-wall hero sparks a massive clean-up
By Jennifer Cipriani
In August 2020, a homeless man in Guyana, Carl Melville, went viral on social media after a post of him cleaning up the popular seawall area was shared multiple times. Built by Dutch Settlers in the 1880’s, this concrete and steel structure runs for 280 miles along much of Guyana’s shoreline, protecting it against the might of the Atlantic Ocean which towers some 7 feet above the coast which sits mostly below sea level.
Over the years, the section of the wall which is in the capital city of Georgetown, has been a place of relaxation for family and friends. The strip has emerged as a popular weekend entertainment spot. Here, among the bling and excesses of alcohol, one can find a fusion of street foods – from traditional Guyanese to Latino fare influenced by a migrant community. One can choose from fried fish and fried chicken paired unexpectedly with green plantain fries, cook-up rice, pudding and souse, curried dishes, black pudding, and souse, as well as hotdogs, burgers, gyros, Brazilian grilled meats and local pastries.
These weekend events often leave piles of trash behind. Unsightly plastic and glass bottles, disposable food containers and other waste, line both the wall and the beach, spoiling this beautiful landmark – a sad indictment on the numerous pleasure seekers and a poor testimony to the visitors staying in the nearby upscale Marriott and Pegasus hotels.
It’s no surprise that Carl’s story spread like wildfire. This wasn’t just an act of conscience, it was one of leadership. Carl had become homeless – a casualty of Covid-19 on the labour market in country. The loss of livelihood left him living on the seawalls. He decided one day to single-handedly begin to clean up the space he now called home and then simply continued the task. Facilitated by numerous shares on Facebook, Carl’s story reached the owner of GameXpress, Audie Henriques, as he scrolled through local news while stuck overseas due to the pandemic.
Henriques and his staff were deeply impressed by Carl’s passion and sense of community. “His hardworking nature and his ability to do so much for the cleanliness of the seawall and not expect any reward for it was truly inspiring,” said Henriques.
Henriques decided to reward Carl’s diligence. Anyone who would display such commitment to unpaid work, was sure to be a responsible employee. Henriques hired Carl to maintain the GameXpress store and surroundings and gave him a place to stay nearby. In appreciation for his act of national pride, Henriques also granted Carl paid time off to continue his seawall cleanup.
Life as a small business owner has not always been great for Henriques and his wife Nazeema, who started off in business since 1994. They were dogged by several failures as they ventured into wholesale party supplies, children’s books, shoes and clothing.
But they never gave up. GameXpress, before it was officially launched in 2005, started out as a small game arcade in the year 2000. As its popularity grew, customer interest expanded into games, consoles and accessories for personal use. This gave birth to GameXpress.
Over the years the challenges were numerous. “We had to mortgage our house, and were robbed and broken into multiple times,” Henriques recalled. But he remained undaunted and persevered. Helping others is characteristic of Henriques; but his own personal trials only served to reinforce his commitment to supporting those who are less fortunate.
“Since GameXpress was launched, we embarked on our own social responsibility programme. Though not at the scale that large companies can, we have been making steady contributions each year to multiple orphanages,” the Philanthropist explained. In 2014, he undertook the sponsorship of high school education of an at-risk youth whom, for the purpose of anonymity, we will call ‘G’. He has been doing well in school and Henriques holds out great hopes for him.
“Helping him is probably the thing that made me the proudest other than when my kids got their bachelors degrees. And that’s because he started out with bad grades but then when he got 14 subjects with grades ones and twos, I was delighted for him.”
GameXpress continues to pay for the young man’s education now that he is at University. And that’s not all. “Before the pandemic, we were paying for the transportation of a student from Linden, a town about 2 hours away, to attend one of the top schools in the City, Queens College. When school resumes, we will continue doing this,” says Henriques.
In the midst of the pandemic, GameXpress continues its Corporate Social Responsibility efforts by distributing hampers to residents in depressed communities. The company usually provides groceries and financial aid to underserved persons in the community. The pandemic has increased those numbers. Apart from education and food relief, Henriques shares another cleanup campaign. “We make other contributions to the community by paying to have the parapet from Camp to Alexander Street, Georgetown, cleaned”.
GameXpress has over the years grown into a successful small business. The party supplies that failed initially, became a huge success when Henriques focused on retail sales only. He is currently the distributor of Wilton cake products which are doing excellent in Guyana as many supermarkets carry the products.
What has made GameXpress stand out from its competitors?
Henriques believes the differentiating factors are his excellent staff who provide top notch customer service; the variety and availability of products; and competitive prices. Undoubtedly the reputation his business has for consistently good deeds, has contributed to the patronage he receives. The many comments under the Facebook posts about his employment of Carl, attest to this. “That is why GameXpress will always have my support,” said one customer.
Since March 2020 Guyana’s business climate has been severely affected by the prolonged elections process and simultaneous outbreak of Covid-19. GameXpress, during the initial lockdown, suffered like many others who had staff and bills to pay but were not generating any income. But they fared much better than many other small businesses.
“We are known to focus primarily on home entertainment, so the pandemic did not affect us as much as it would other businesses,” explained Henriques. Globally, trends reflect a
spike in home entertainment solutions as the world settled into lockdowns and remote work.
Since GameXpress and Carl Melville first made the news, Carl is now quite settled in his new role. Henriques reported that Carl is doing great at his job and is popular with patrons and suppliers. Carl was even invited to meet with Guyana’s new First Lady Mrs. Arya Ali, who has undertaken to support the seawall project. On September 5th HE Arya Ali made good on her promise and embarked on a clean up exercise with the Seawalls and Beyond community group. She also reiterated her commitment to the National Beautification Project, a personal initiative which aims to regulate and monitor unlawful intrusion on landscape and public spaces. Her plans include planting of trees and the return of creative arts events at the bandstand.
How does the future look for this small business role model?
“We hope to continue to grow as a company not only to expand in the sense of business, but also to be able to increase our potential for giving back to the community,” said Henriques.
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