Consul General of Guyana to New York, Barbara Atherly, told a group of senior citizens at the Richmond Hill Queens Shri Trimurti Bhavan Mandir, on its 19th anniversary, and a celebration of mothers, that women are the bedrock of society, and they should be honored everyday.
The diplomat, who addressed the predominately Indo-Caribbean audience of grandmothers, great-grandmothers and youth, reminded the citizens, that she also celebrated a day to honor mothers during her UNICEF tour of duty in Afghanistan, Mozambique and Syria, where a special day is set aside to honor mothers.
“I want to encourage woman to embrace their uniqueness,” Atherly said. adding that the records show that the Mandir has made significant contributions to the community in Queens.
“We applaud your efforts. Since its inception, this Mandir has been called a ‘Thriving Ozone Park Temple’ by the New York Times.”
“Your contributions towards the spiritual, cultural, and community life of many Indo-Caribbean Hindus must be applauded. You have reached out to families facing social problems. Many of these problems are similar to what we are facing home in Guyana, such as domestic abuse, mental health issues and suicide.”
“I urge you to continue your spiritual and social support to families and if possible conduct a study to find out what are the underlying factors of these social ills affecting our society.”
“Ladies and gentlemen, today we honor and celebrate mothers, today you celebrate 19 years as an organization in this community. So once again I congratulate you for all your achievements and pray that this temple with grow from strength to strength.
“Let us continue to remember the less unfortunate among us and continue to support them,” said the diplomat, who has attended numerous outreach programs since taking up office one year ago.
