The St. Ignatius Secondary School and the Lethem Special Needs Group have been awarded grants amounting to US$178,170 ($36 million) under Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Society Project (GGP).
The grant agreements were signed at a simple ceremony at the St. Ignatius Village Benab on Thursday in the presence of students of the school and residents of Region Nine.
According to Mark Adams, coordinator of the local leg of the GGP, the St. Ignatius Secondary School will use its grant to for its electrification project, which would see the school utilising solar energy to power the entire school’s compound. The grant is expected to facilitate the installation of asolar grid consisting of solar panels and a solar pump, the latter of which is expected to boost both the school’s electrical output and power an artesian well.
Adams noted that with the current drought that is plaguing the Deep South Rupununi, students who are residents at the school’s dormitory have been severely affected by water shortages. Therefore, he believes that the award of the grant comes at a very convenient time.
Meanwhile, the Lethem Special Needs Group will be using its grant to facilitate the construction of a building for differently-abled children and other differently-abled persons in the community.
Adams, who is also the Principal Executive Officer of the Lethem Special Needs Group, noted that it is actually a satellite group of the Special Needs for Life, Guyana (SNL).
“The focus of the project is to assist disadvantaged persons and disabled children in indigenous communities of Southern Guyana,” Adams said. He further explained that building that the Lethem satellite group hopes to construct will be the first of its kind in an interior location. The building will be constructed on a plot of land donated by the St. Ignatius, Quarrie and Kumu villages.
Adams stated that the projects will commence on January 16, 2016 and should be completed by their September, 2016 deadlines.
On hand at the signing ceremony were Yvette Archer, Head Mistress of the St. Ignatius Secondary School, Miyuki Shinoe, Second Secretary for the Embassy of Japan in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Alfred Ramsaran, Chairman of the Board of St. Ignatius Secondary School, and Yusa Xavier, Group Coordinator for the Lethem Special Needs Group. Also in attendance were the Regional Chairman Brian Allicock and Regional Executive Officer Carl Parker.
According to the website of the Japanese Embassy in Trinidad, the Japanese government offers financial assistance for development projects designed to meet the diverse needs of developing countries and the GGP supports projects proposed by such bodies as NGOs, schools, hospitals and local government authorities. (Mariah Lall)
