Continuing its mission to empower, enhance and improve communities and livelihoods, St Francis Community Developers (SFCD) recently partnered with Food For the Poor (FFP) Guyana and distributed farming tools to communities on the East Bank of Berbice. The communities, including Highbury, Lighttown and Plegt Anker, received items such as water pumps, gas-powered tillers, pick axes, cutlasses, forks, shovels, files and long boots.
In addition, students from the communities, who faced a long daily commute on foot to and from school were also the beneficiaries of bicycles under the partnership of the two non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
At the handing over ceremony, held in the headquarters of SFCD at Port Mourant, Corentyne, US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Bryan Hunt told representatives of the benefitting communities that donors who are contributing to the improvement of their livelihoods through FFP are making an investment in their future.
“This is an investment to build the future of these communities… they decided that they want to invest in your future and, like any good investor, they would want to see returns,” Hunt said. “They don’t expect to see the returns in a monetary fashion. What they want to see is a better quality of life in all these communities… we want to see young people earning degrees and graduating from school, see you become a productive community to provide food throughout Guyana and probably South America. We want to see women having equal rights as men,” he added.
Hunt further told the gathering that they should seek to use the investments and continue to work hard to develop communities that they can be proud of.
FFP Guyana Chief Executive Officer Kent Vincent, in brief remarks, emphasised the organisation’s commitment to continue assisting the residents. “We would try our best to continue to assist you… where there is need, there is Food for the Poor,” he declared.
Additionally, SFCD with the assistance of FFP also gifted bicycles to 18 families with students who previously travelled miles on foot to get to school each day.
According to SFCD President Alex Foster, during a trip with his team along the East Bank of Berbice they saw a dire need for transportation in the communities.
Foster explained that they picked up two students who were walking home on their lunch break at Plegt Anker. To their surprise, he said, it took them 20 minutes of travelling in their vehicle to arrive at the children’s home at Welgelegen.
Foster went on to explain that when they questioned the children if it was a daily routine for them to walk home, they explained that they sometimes used the family bicycle but whenever it was being used by their parents they would have to walk to and from school or sometimes they would not go.
Many students on the East Bank of Berbice would walk miles to and from school on a daily basis, while some share bicycles—with as many as three to a bike—to make the journey. Foster added that after his team observed the hardships faced by the students on a daily basis, he requested bicycles through FFP.
The representatives of both organisations also noted had they would work diligently to acquire a school bus for the students who travel to school from the length and breadth of the East Bank of Berbice. Hunt and Vincent were also given a firsthand tour of the communities, during which they visited and interacted with residents.
