The most expensive lawn ornament

As part of an initiative to help students continue their education after primary school in hinterland areas, the government donated several buses to areas surrounding secondary schools. The secondary school near us received one, as did our Institute. Frustratingly, we couldn't actually use it until the official hand-off by the President of Guyana, a visit which was delayed so many times we all began to doubt it would ever happen. For months, the bus sat gleaming, untouched by the red road dirt that covers everything else in the Rupununi. It sat there so long we all nearly forgot about it. The only ones getting any use out of it were the cats, which had kittens in the shade under it.

Finally the President actually came. The practice sessions for the students' welcome for him had interrupted classes repeatedly before every rumored visit, but they finally came in handy. He was feted in true Amerindian style, and gave the most up-beat speech I've ever heard from a politician or official here. Instead of champagne, he christened the bus with coconut water, and finally we had a usable bus.

We used it twice. Both times to take students and spectators to watch football matches. Then, just the day after the finals (the one Paiwomak lost in St. Ignatius), a teacher at the Institute fell asleep at the wheel and crashed the bus into a swamp. It took less than a minute, but the bus is a crumpled mess. The front and side are smashed, and since it tipped completely sideways, water flooded in through windows and made sure the interior wasn't left unscathed either. With the extent of the damage and the fact that seatbelts are almost never worn in Guyana, it's amazing no one was killed. In fact, no one was even injured worse than a few bruises, to everyone's great relief.

The bus, however, is once again, relegated to the status of lawn ornament, although no longer gleaming and hopeful.The estimated damage is half a million GYD.