– training Berbice youth to counsel peers

A number of young people in Berbice have benefited from three community enhancement conferences held on March 13, 20 and 27 at the University of Guyana, Tain Campus to enhance their leadership skills and help them to make responsible decisions.

The conferences, which were organized by the Guyana Community Development Foundation (GCDF) dealt with the topics: “Leadership,” which was facilitated by Pastor Alim Mursaline and “Peer counselling” by a Senior Probation Officer in Berbice, Forbes Gavin Munroe.

The final conference was on “Suicide Intervention” and the facilitator was the headmaster of the Winifred Gaskin Secondary School, Kamal Dhanessar.

At the end of each presentation the youth were involved in workshop sessions and members of the groups were then given the opportunity to present their findings on various topics to their colleagues.

The GCDF is a registered non-governmental organization (NGO) formulated for the purpose of dealing with domestic violence and suicide mainly among youth with the focus being mostly in Berbice and Essequibo, where it seems that counselling services are inadequate.

Canada-based Berbician, Vince Ramcharran, chairperson of the GCDF told this newspaper that the conferences were set up to train youth to talk to persons especially their peers who may be going through challenges, as a way of reducing suicide.

“Our long-term goal is to take about ten Guyanese youth with vibrant leadership skills to Canada for further training. The idea was to set up a core group of kids and to get them to train their peers.”

The GCDF is also working with a women’s group at Airy Hall, Essequibo to provide a programme for domestic violence prevention with a grant of

$2 million from the Canada Fund. It has also provided funding to a group at Vilvoorden in Essequibo for computer training.

The organization is also planning to sponsor an essay competition on leadership with 500 and 1000 words for junior and senior students respectively. Winners in each category would be awarded with monetary prizes.
Suicide

He noted that there is a great need for suicide intervention in Berbice as it has been found that counselling services are inadequate. He also hopes to have “outreach programmes at schools to implement these programmes effectively.”

Ramcharran who migrated to Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada in

1967 said he returned to Guyana in 2006 and after spending some time at Black Bush Polder he “found that there were limited services for youths who were high risk.”

At the time too there were about three or four cases of suicide per month, not just in the polder, but other parts in Berbice as well.

According to statistics, in 2006, Berbice had 74 suicides, while the figure for the previous year was 50. In 2007, there were 63 suicides in the county.

Ramcharran said he later set up a “support facility” in the polder, providing gear for sports such as basketball, volleyball and cricket and ensured that females were also included in the games which proved to have a positive impact.

Ramcharran’s desire to help others was based on his 30 years experience in Canada as a volunteer with the Adult Crisis Line (ACL) which started in 1977 and then the Teen Crisis Line (TCL).

He recalled that TCL was started in 1985 after five teens had committed suicide. He said the TCL helped the figure to be reduced to one a year. The ACL “was not working out and so we trained kids from high school to talk to their peers about their problems”. That system, he said has now been introduced in some schools in Canada “with great success.”

He also spent 20 years with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police victims’ services unit which trained laypersons to take care of families in time of sudden death.

He said while the “police officers dealt with the legality of the case the volunteers provided counselling and assistance with funeral arrangements.”

He also spent the past 40 years volunteering with homeless groups in Canada, providing shelters for street people and “safe houses” for women who were victims of domestic violence. He said the GCDF also hopes to build these types of houses in Berbice.

Since 1972, Ramcharran also “volunteered with eleven Canadian/International Interfaith NGOs in Canada where we funded projects in over 100 developing countries. I visited many of these countries overseeing projects.”

In recounting some of the projects, he said that workshops were funded in Northern India for women trapped in the sex trade. The NGO also assisted indigenous women in Chiapas, Mexico to publish a craft catalogue to assist them to sell their craft on the international market.

Apart from that, Ramcharran also “spent decades with Canada First Nations People and I am presently working with the Canada Truth and Reconciliation Commission regarding residential school sexual abuse.”

Meanwhile, since its formation the GCDF has received support from numerous individuals from North America and Europe. Air Canada and Caribbean Airlines have also assisted in the shipping of sports equipment.

According to him Laparkan Shipping has also helped with the shipping of 200 backpacks and school supplies. The items were donated by Telus Communications, Canada where he was employed for over 30 years.

The company is also sending a container of computers that is expecting to arrive in Guyana in September. The GCDF has been working closely with other Berbice NGOs to assist in the distribution of supplies.

Digicel Guyana also donated sports equipment while Scotia Bank Guyana made a significant financial contribution towards the youth conferences.

Ramcharran was grateful for all the help received so far and has assured that it would help contribute to the success of the foundation.