To the Jungle from the ‘Free World’ -- TASS News Agency, USSR
In the Northwest part of Guyana, in the very heart of the jungle, the small town of Jonestown has been established. It is a town surrounded by croplands cleared out of the vast jungle rain forests. The town and farm are owned by members of the commune consisting of more than one thousands pioneers. They left their motherland because of suppression and as a sign of protest against racial and political discrimination. All the inhabitants of Jonestown are members of the Peoples Temple organization, founded a quarter of a century ago in California. Peoples Temple was originally conceived as a religious organization uniting the lower strata of American society - - white, black, Indian and others - - those who had been denied basic human rights.
Its founder, Rev. Jim Jones, tested all the promised ‘good’ of American democracy. After being sure that his attempts to find justice in America were in vain, Jones called a vanguard of his supporters to leave the ‘Free World’ where they had failed to find a place. ‘I have chosen Guyana,’ Rev. Jim Jones told the TASS correspondent, ‘first of all because this country is socialist oriented and is working towards the establishment of socialism for the most just and human society in the world.’ Peoples Temple expressed its readiness to assist the people of Guyana in their endeavor.
The Parliament of Guyana has given this community a leasehold on 27,000 acres in the Northwest part of the country. The first group of settlers arrived in Guyana in 1974. Each year more and more members of Peoples Temple join the collective: workers, farmers, white collar workers, teachers, lawyers, and other professionals. Among them are many young people who in the United States were refused the right to work.
Today’s Jonestown has neat houses, farm buildings, dining halls, kindergartens, some cottage industries, medical clinics, and a future hospital. The medical personnel give free medical service to not only members of the commune but also to surrounding villagers. Special care is given to the children. There are about 250 children in the town, many of them adopted. No less care is given to the seniors, about 100 of them, in Jonestown. After being in Jonestown, one can hardly believe that everything was created in one or two years. The inhabitants of Jonestown are creative, they love work and they celebrate life. They demonstrate real care and concern for children and seniors alike.
The movies and literature about socialism and socialist countries are very popular among the people of Jonestown. Jim Jones explains that socialism if the only way to realize true civil and human rights and democratic freedoms.
TASS Correspondent Voropaev
Georgetown, Guyana, South America
In the Northwest part of Guyana, in the very heart of the jungle, the small town of Jonestown has been established. It is a town surrounded by croplands cleared out of the vast jungle rain forests. The town and farm are owned by members of the commune consisting of more than one thousands pioneers. They left their motherland because of suppression and as a sign of protest against racial and political discrimination. All the inhabitants of Jonestown are members of the Peoples Temple organization, founded a quarter of a century ago in California. Peoples Temple was originally conceived as a religious organization uniting the lower strata of American society - - white, black, Indian and others - - those who had been denied basic human rights.
Its founder, Rev. Jim Jones, tested all the promised ‘good’ of American democracy. After being sure that his attempts to find justice in America were in vain, Jones called a vanguard of his supporters to leave the ‘Free World’ where they had failed to find a place. ‘I have chosen Guyana,’ Rev. Jim Jones told the TASS correspondent, ‘first of all because this country is socialist oriented and is working towards the establishment of socialism for the most just and human society in the world.’ Peoples Temple expressed its readiness to assist the people of Guyana in their endeavor.
The Parliament of Guyana has given this community a leasehold on 27,000 acres in the Northwest part of the country. The first group of settlers arrived in Guyana in 1974. Each year more and more members of Peoples Temple join the collective: workers, farmers, white collar workers, teachers, lawyers, and other professionals. Among them are many young people who in the United States were refused the right to work.
Today’s Jonestown has neat houses, farm buildings, dining halls, kindergartens, some cottage industries, medical clinics, and a future hospital. The medical personnel give free medical service to not only members of the commune but also to surrounding villagers. Special care is given to the children. There are about 250 children in the town, many of them adopted. No less care is given to the seniors, about 100 of them, in Jonestown. After being in Jonestown, one can hardly believe that everything was created in one or two years. The inhabitants of Jonestown are creative, they love work and they celebrate life. They demonstrate real care and concern for children and seniors alike.
The movies and literature about socialism and socialist countries are very popular among the people of Jonestown. Jim Jones explains that socialism if the only way to realize true civil and human rights and democratic freedoms.
TASS Correspondent Voropaev
Georgetown, Guyana, South America
