Covid-19 is a dramatic parable for our times. Its message is that what matters most for your and my well-being, and the well being of all our fellow humans, is our shared knowledge, information and resources.
In order for me to be better off, wherever on the planet I may be,
I must have a concern about the well-being of other nations and races and cultures, and their social, economic and political systems. It follows that actions that deepen my understanding of other peoples, and that strengthen our country’s interaction with other countries, will redound to my benefit and the well-being of all Barbadians.
In the Caribbean and around the world, we struggle to fully understand how intimately our individual and collective destinies are bound up with nations and peoples far away.
Many of the things that threaten my quality of life, the livelihoods of Barbadians and the well-being of all humans seem remote: climate change, environmental degradation, poverty around the world, trade wars and human migration among them. We know that dissention on these issues is bad for humanity, but they don’t have an immediate impact on our daily lives.
That’s where the Covid-19 virus is different.
As nations and all humanity.
But with Covid-19, unlike issues of national sovereignty, globalisation and climate change, the imperative for cooperation and interdependence is in our faces, literally a matter of life and death. Our society, the Association for Barbados-China Friendship (ABCF), was born of a commitment by a small group of us to deepen personal interaction and mutual understanding between Chinese and Barbadians. We are strong in our conviction that this is necessary for us, individually and as a nation, to improve our well-being and cope successfully with the challenges we face.
First of All
As I said at the launch of the Association in May last year, China is the world’s second largest economy; we would do well to achieve a level of familiarity with China and the Chinese, similar to what we have with the US, the world’s largest economy, on which we are so heavily dependent.
The ABCF is a first step in that direction, and we invite you to join us in our mission to secure our common future through understanding and cooperation with China and the Chinese.
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
