–to offer IT training
The Ministry of Health through the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) on Thursday handed over a quantity of electrical equipment and household items to the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) building, Main Street.
The equipment included 15 computer systems, electrical gloves, and a photocopier among other items. Some of the household items included three televisions, five water dispensers and torchlights among other items.
The donation is valued at $6,653,867 with funding coming from the Global Fund HIV/AIDS Programme. It is part of the Ministry of Health’s ongoing effort to assist homes that take care of orphans and other vulnerable children with the needed items to meet the minimum standards.
The Minimum Operational Standards and Regulations for Children’s Homes in Guyana was launched in July 2008 and is a collaboration between the ministries of Health and Human Services with technical assistance from UNICEF.
Speaking at the simple handing-over ceremony Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy said that in his days the NOC was seen as a place where children were locked away. He said the facility has since seen a paradigm shift and he congratulated the Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on the work his ministry has been doing with the facility. “This is not just a handing-over exercise but a joint effort by [our] ministries…to ensure that we change the paradigm at the NOC,” Ramsammy said.
The new Opportunity Corps is managed by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Anthony, in his acceptance remarks on behalf of the NOC stated that had it not been for the Ministry of Health the NOC would have been unable to meet the minimum standards. He expressed his gratitude to Ramsammy’s ministry for the assistance it has given through the years. He explained that the computers will be used to provide information technology (IT) training to the residents of NOC.
Although the NOC offers children living there training in Carpentry, Masonry, Sewing and basic Maths and English, the minister highlighted the need for knowledge in IT and pointed out that this can now happen with the donation.
“When the children leave the NOC we want them to have something; we want them to be employable,” Anthony said.
Touching on the perception that children of the NOC are criminals, Anthony pointed out that 90 percent of them were only there because they have had difficult circumstances. He said the NOC was not a jail.
He pointed out that many of the children there attended schools in the community and challenged anyone to take a visit to the facility and see that “it’s quite open not a closed space”.