Let us support one another in the Spirit of Christmas

Christmas Message from Dr Godwin Friday, Leader of the Opposition

Fellow Vincentians and friends, let us come together and celebrate the Christmas season and do so with the certainty that despite our challenges, by the grace of God, better days will come. While the past year has been difficult, the season offers the opportunity to pause and spend time with loved ones. And it is a time to reflect on God’s enduring love for us.

The Christmas season calls on us to think about others; to ask ourselves what we are doing to connect with those around us, what we are doing to support each other, and what we are doing to build each other up.

As this is a particular time to connect with one another, I send greetings to friends and relatives in our diaspora, across the globe. You may be far away from us this Christmas time but you are in our thoughts and prayers.

The last year has been a testing time for our beautiful nation. The cost-of-living crisis continues to put severe pressure on families, who try to cope despite low wages and increasing taxes. For many people, the search for meaningful jobs seems endless and bleak. The scourge of crime has blighted too many lives, and homicides have become weekly tragedies- and of course, the damage wrought by Hurricane Beryl is still with us. For many families who lost homes and livelihoods in the unprecedented hurricane, this will not be a normal Christmas but, hopefully, they will be able to find some joy in it and see the promise of better days ahead.

Against the backdrop of challenges, I am nevertheless inspired by the people I meet and the stories about their lives that they share with me. Stories of caring and support, of lifting each other up in times of need and loss. As a people our generosity and kindness are enduring and well-known. Let us call upon these positive attributes every day, for they are our strength.

When severely tested, it may be tempting to surrender to negativity and become resigned to accepting limited prospects as our permanent condition. But we must never yield to such temptation. The Christmas miracle that began over 2,000 years ago in a manger in Bethlehem is a reminder to us all that there is always hope that we can change the world for the better.

The coming year will be a year of change, with numerous opportunities to build a brighter future. My colleagues and I are committed to leading that change and to bringing more jobs with better wages to our country, and to tackling head-on, the dreadful spectre of crime that haunts our communities. I know that if we all hope together, plan together and work together, we can make our country a place of peace, prosperity and opportunity for all.

My dear people, in a world of strife, we must more than ever work for better understanding and for peace and love everywhere as Christ teaches.

I wish you and your family joy now and hope for the future. Let us come together and look to 2025 as a year where we bring hope, opportunity, and real change to SVG. May God bless us all.