Over the years, the Agricola Caregivers Great Movement Association has been instrumental in helping to make life easier for one of the most vulnerable groups in society—the elderly.
Located next to the St. Anne’s Primary School in Agricola, East Bank of Demerara, the non-governmental organisation focuses on not only the wellbeing of the elderly in the community, but also those in other East Bank communities. They also aid in the guidance of the youths in these communities.
“When it is their (elderly) birthday we bake a cake, take a card, take their photograph, sing for them and have a little party for them and we started to have fun day for the seniors,” President of the Association Sister Ingrid Cadle said in a recent interview with Stabroek News.
“This is all the churches coming together in Agricola to make the seniors know that they are appreciated and recognised for their contribution to society over the years, and this is one of the ways we are saying we are thankful,” she added.
According to Cadle, the association emerged out of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. “…The seed was planted from the belly of the Adventist. There was a Sister by the name of Abiola Osborne. She went to a meeting and met with the pastor from Trinidad and at that meeting he said that in order for you to know persons from in that community and to work within that community and to be very active, you need to form yourself into little groups,” she related.
It was following this encounter that Cadle recalled that Osborne spoke to several executives at the church and then approached her. “She said, ‘Well, because your occupation is as a caregiver, you might very well fit here.’ And so I looked at it and I said I can come up with some activities for the elderly and so myself and a few other ladies we went from street to street and we did a census,” she added.
Cadle stated that she was the leader of the Women’s Ministry at the time and when that Ministry was closed in 2011, being a caregiver by profession led her to forming the group in the community. “I am a caregiver by profession and so I understand the dynamics of being a caregiver and what is happening in the homes of people with the elderly. The elderly are being abused and so because I understand that they need to get out at some time to meet with other elders and to interact to share their issues that they are facing. Not all of the homes but a lot of the homes, it is happening,” she said.
“Now, some homes you find that the young people are too busy, so when you get home you don’t have the time to sit and talk and the elderly would feel left out and some of them even think about committing suicide and I understand that because I am working with the elderly. I said to some folks from the Pentecostal and some from the Adventist, I said, ‘Let’s form a group.’ And we decided and we formed a group and we came up with the name the Caregivers,” she told this newspaper. Having registered the group as a non-governmental organisation in 2012, Cadle said that it was decided that they could not only look at the elderly in the community and so they started including the youths.
The group currently has some 16 members, comprising mostly seniors and a few youths, and Cadle shared that on a daily basis they would visit the elderly in the community to help them with their chores and also to do cleaning for them. “We also meet every third Sunday at the Bible Way Church, where we play games and also talk about whatever issues are plaguing them,” she added.
The organisation would also hold an annual fun day on May 26th, when it would “dress and clean” the village and have all the seniors congregate in the church for various activities.
Since its emergence, the organisation has held several fun days as well as marathons and a host of other activities in the community. It also holds an annual Recognition Day for the seniors.
It was only earlier this month that the organisation received a donation of food items from Continental Agencies Ltd in aid of this year’s Recognition Day.
In November, Cadle said, the organisation will be holding a relay and they are currently recruiting runners. “The night before we would have the lighting of the relay torch with the young people. We have to involve them. It is experience, wisdom and strength, so we need them youths. We have the experience and the wisdom but that can’t go alone we have to have the [youths],” she added.
Cadle said the association will be making representation to the Ministry of Social Protection shortly on the lack of proper seating at the Agricola Post Office. “There is the post office out there and we observe that there is no proper seating accommodation there. We talked about it because one of the representatives is a caregiver too and we are looking at that for proper seating,” she explained.
Every January, Cadle said, the elderly are treated to an outing at the Splashmin’s Resort on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway. The organisation, she said, is granted a waiver by the resort and the trip is also funded by the Ministry of Social Protection.
She added that they are also looking for other activities where the seniors can get to interact with others, since, “one senior might be living just a street apart and they don’t see each other until we have Recognition Day where we try to get them all in one place.”
Although they face challenges regarding funding, Cadle said that, “we try our best. We opened this shop here so that we can get funds… Seniors need diapers and that would take up half their pension…By God’s grace, we are making it.”
The association also gives back to the children when it is back to school time, she said. “Can’t leave them out even though our emphasis is on the elderly,” she told this newspaper. To this end, she said that those desirous of donating to the association can contact her on telephone number 674-8601.
