Six deportees have secured jobs through the local organisation, Juncata Juvant, established some five months ago to help to re-integrate ex-convicts into society.
The non-governmental organisation (NGO) continues to interview persons daily and has made referrals to a number of government ministries and to the Salvation Army for those persons who are in need of lodging. Vice-President Donna Snagg in an interview with Stabroek News at the organization’s Main Street office said the persons secured employment through the group’s immediate contacts, but it was still working on establishing a database with local companies with vacancies. She also said that to date they have interviewed 85 persons, several of whom have been given assistance in a number of areas.
The vice-president also said that some deportees or involuntary remigrants, as the organisation refers to them, have also been given assistance to start small businesses. She said they submitted proposals with their estimates and suppliers for the projects and were given the necessary capital.
Meanwhile, in areas outside the organization’s ambit, persons are referred to the appropriate ministries which are equipped to deal with the specific issues.
The woman said that establishing a halfway home for deportees who have no place to live still remains a priority for the organisation. In addition to providing temporary shelter the home would assist the inmates to develop employment skills.
Snagg said last week the organisation received $1.5M from the Catholic Relief Services. It also received Cdn $10,000 from the Canadian government, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), along with other financial support. Snagg also said the CIDA sum is half of that government’s donation to the project. She said a portion of the funds will be used to cover administrative expenses, pointing out that the group intends to employ a project officer to handle some of the duties, most of which are currently being handled by an administrative assistant.
Snagg said the group will up its drive to find more employment for the deportees and that it hopes to enrol interested applicants in training programmes as “some of them have working experience but no documents to support them and so we will help them to get involved in vocational training,” she said.
Saddened
Aside from the board level, where such decisions are made, Administrative Secre-tary Nicola Lovence deals with the deportees every day. When this newspaper visited the office, Lovence was conducting interviews with two clients. She said some of them are eager to be integrated into society, but are afraid of discrimination.
Snagg then recounted that at one time a deportee, who had never utilized their services, happened to see his photograph on television and became incensed as he thought they had something to do with it. “He came in here and was irate because he said he had worked hard to build a reputation for himself even though he was a deportee,” she said, but when the man realised that he had never contacted the group and that they didn’t have any information about him, he calmed down.
After taking time out from one of her interviews, Lovence said that she is sometimes saddened when she hears about the experiences of some deportees as they struggle to re-integrate and contribute meaningfully to society. “They say that they like Guyana and it is nice but they believe that Guyana hates deportees, and it’s sad to hear the discrimination that is sometimes meted out to some of them,” she said.
She said the organisation gives hope to the deportees, and they say “at least this organisation is going to help me to bring myself together.” Lovence said that every day at least two persons would visit the office and many who have shown an interest in the services offered have maintained contact with them.
Juncata Juvant’s president, Joseph Harmon, had said that he and the other directors believed that the remigrants were returning with some skills which could be utilised in developing the country and provide gainful employment. “We want people to stop labelling these people and not affect their ability to gain a livelihood,” he had said.
Membership is free and includes a welcome package of much needed ‘small items’ on arrival. Assistance will also include a referral for available social and welfare services.
Juncata Juvant is still to publicise its services and it plans to liaise with the Immigration Department to ensure that the involuntary remigrants could have access to the group after being processed on arrival here.
