Guyana Golden Lives Organisa-tion (GGLO) in collaboration with the Wellness Centre has launched a Grief Support Project to bring comfort to bereaved children and adults.
The announcement of the initiative was made at a reception held in observance of Grief Awareness Day on Friday at the residence of British High Commissioner to Guyana Greg Quinn on Friday evening.
According to Quinn, through the partnership, GGLO’s support group will focus on supporting and helping bereaved children and the Wellness Centre’s group will target adults. Quinn said that the groups will provide emotional and psychological support.
“It provides an opportunity to begin the healing process through the sharing of personal stories and listening to the stories and experiences of others. This will allow participants to develop the coping skills to allow them to get through the most difficult period of their lives and of their individual journeys through grief but also to build hope by a companionship with those who in effect ‘get it’ and understand firsthand what people are going through,” the High Commission-er said.
GGLO founder Marva Langevine told the gathering that the organisation was created to spread awareness on grief and loss in childhood and to provide support for grieving children as well as bereaved families.
The Queen’s Young Leader Award recipient said that childhood bereavement is a prevalent public health issue that can have a profound impact on children’s future well-being.
“At GGLO, we have a flexible approach to offering assistance and support. Our home visit exercise has been worthwhile, however it lends us to just a few families,” she said, while observing that the creation of the grief support group enables her organisation to communicate with more families. “These support groups will encourage children to share and manage their feelings in a safe and secure environment; referrals will be made for those who would need further professional assistance,” Langevine added.
GGLO is a charity which provides support to bereaved children and spreads awareness on grief and loss with a flexible approach to providing support for the children, according to Langevine. She told Stabroek News that the group helps children to cope with their loss and, at the same time, helps them to rebuild their lives. The organisation caters to assist children up to the age of 18.
Meanwhile, Langevine recall-ed that requests were made to have a grief support group for parents who would have lost their children, which led to the collaboration with the Wellness Centre to make that support group a reality.
According to Shinelle Bayrd, the founder of the Wellness Centre, she was given an opportunity to represent Guyana in Paris at the Youth Global Forum in December 2018 where she received the business project award, which saw her receiving a grant to implement the idea. Bayrd told Stabroek News that after she returned to Guyana, the Wellness Centre was started in February this year. The organisation works with volunteers who are trained in the field of mental health and social work along with certified psychologists.
“The Wellness Centre Guyana is not only to raise awareness for mental health but to provide support for those suffering,” Bayrd said, while adding that it is her aim to change the way people view those who suffer from mental illnesses and to create a safe space for those suffering to receive the treatment they require. According to Bayrd, she was excited about teaming up with GGLO for this project.
“I am pleased to announce that we will be doing this within the next month. In September, we will be launching our adult bereavement support group and it will be open to the public,” she said.
