The Ptolemy Reid Rehabilitation Centre yesterday began a year-long slate of activities to commemorate its 45th anniversary.
The centre launched a calendar at a small ceremony yesterday, where Public Relations Officer (PRO) Indar Singh announced that there will be four major activities on a quarterly basis over the year, beginning with an Interfaith Service at the centre on Sunday. There will also be a Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony in May; a Walk-a-Thon in October; and a Children’s Christmas Carnival in December.
Colonel (rtd) Randolph Storm, meanwhile, said the calendar was made possible by the many sponsors and is intended to make the general public aware of the centre and its services, which are still not known by many.
Rehabilitation Officer Cynthia Massay, who outlined the layout of the calendar, said the centre’s children take part in all national events. As a result, the first picture on the calendar depicts their participation in Mashramani, followed by other activities and services offered at the centre so the public can be more aware of them.
According to Singh, the centre was originally established in January 1967 by the Ministry of Health to provide rehabilitative services for those children who had suffered residual paralysis, following the 1960 and 1964 poliomyelitis epidemics. He added that with control of this disease and therefore the subsequent reduction of these types of cases, the centre evolved into an organisation providing comprehensive programmes in rehabilitation for children with various types of physical and other developmental disabilities.
In 1991, he said, in an effort to improve resource acquisition to expand and provide more quality service, the centre was delinked from the ministry. It is now managed by a voluntary management committee.
In the early nineties, in order to address the needs of the clientele who were now of the adolescent and the young adult age, vocational rehabilitation was introduced. In 1998, the centre was also able to begin an audiology service for persons with hearing impairment and disabilities.
In 2009, the centre collaborated with the Guyana Greenheart Society to offer accommodation for its therapy centre for children with autism.
The centre is capable of providing services for up to 30 residents, while the out-patient clinics register in excess of 100 new patients annually.
The centre also has a policy of, whenever possible, employing and training persons with disabilities. At present, in the areas of nursing, security, special education, clerical section, persons with disabilities are represented.
