The Guyana Red Cross (GRC) Society last Sunday presented a portable rice mill to Baracara under its Carib-bean Community Resilience to Disaster Risk (CCRDR) initiative which aims to strengthen communities’ resilience in natural disasters.
According to a press release from the Red Cross, in Baracara, residents depend heavily upon rice cultivation for their livelihoods but it is very costly and time consuming to transport paddy for harvesting to the nearby town of New Amsterdam which is about 60 miles from the Canje Creek. The portable rice mill simplifies this process by eliminating long distance travel and significantly reducing the cost of harvesting paddy, it said.
The statement said that the mill will be managed by the Management Committee of the Community Disaster Response Team and signals the completion of work in the community under the CCRDR initiative. It will be housed on the grounds of the Baracara Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The three-year CCRDR project is funded by the Canadian International Deve-lopment Agency (CIDA) and Canadian Red Cross, and is implemented by the Guyana Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Civil Defence Commission. Since 2011, project activities have been implemented in five communities in Regions Five and Six and will continue in 15 additional communities in regions, Two, Five and Nine in the new year.
Project activities include Vulnerability and Capacity Assessments (VCA) and Community Disaster Response Team (CDRT) Trainings which encompass first aid, shelter management, light search and rescue, damage and needs assessment, fire prevention and safety, and psychosocial support training.
The initiative also develops and disseminates family disaster plans, and implements a small disaster mitigation project. The community identifies the mitigation project during the VCA with the aim of reducing vulnerabilities, secure livelihoods and/or educate the community.
“The CDRT is also equipped with the skills to collaborate closely with the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) to sustain community disaster response activities,” the release said.
