Children in The Upper Corentyne area are continuing to receive meals from the Service to Humanity (StH) group even though schools are closed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The underprivileged children are part of a school-feeding exercise that the StH initiated to ensure that they attend school. It is conducted three days per week.
Shanta Youngkam, the cofounder and coordinator, told Stabroek News (SN) that they decided to still focus on the children and would deliver the food to them in their communities.
Currently, the group has just enough funds to provide the meals on a weekly basis.
She said the children look forward to the food and would get excited when she and her team arrives.
She currently has three volunteers assisting with the preparation and distribution. Her son, a student of the University of Guyana, Tain Campus, also assists with the cooking.
Yesterday, the group was able to solicit money to provide lunch to 120 residents. Youngkam said they displayed the food under a tent by the roadside and residents were welcomed to pick up a box.
Usually, the group would conduct fundraising activities
like barbecues and it would also receive funding from local and overseas donors.
Unfortunately though, she said the COVID-19 has affected the funding.
Face masks
Meanwhile, the group has so far distributed 420 face mask to underprivileged families.
Youngkam had taken on the task to sew the double-layered mask. She also made some with a pocket for people to put in a tissue if they wish.
After sewing, she puts them in individual plastic bags and “seal them off” to prevent contamination.
The fabrics for the project was donated by a businesswoman in Georgetown.
Even though the sewing took her late into the nights, she enjoyed doing it, especially because the recipients were very appreciative.
She is also happy that they were taking the virus seriously and were willing to wear the masks for their safety.
She also pointed out that this is a very difficult time for families who were already suffering as a result of the closure of the Skeldon Sugar Estate.
Currently, the situation is worse because most of the shops have doubled their prices.
Families have had to cut back on their spending, while many do not know where the next meal is coming from.
Hampers
Youngkam said they would use the opportunity to distribute hampers to deserving families during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. She chose that time to conduct the distribution because that is when the group would get a lot of donations.
Youngkam considers herself to be “multicultural,” saying “I am a Christian, my husband is a Hindu and we receive a lot of donations from people of the different religions.”
Youngkam and her husband, Surendra Bhagarathi, got the idea to start the feeding programme after learning that the children of former sugar workers could not afford to give their children lunch to take to school and kept them home as a result.
Her husband worked at the estate for 27 years, serving in a senior position.
After losing their jobs at the estate and being unable to earn a steady income, they told Bhagarathi of the financial difficulties they were facing.
Youngkam said it was heartbreaking for her husband and he told her they needed to do something to change that.
He told her that they should provide meals for the children so they can stay in school. Youngkam was thrilled at the idea and immediately started working to make it a reality.
She posted their plans on Facebook and got a lot of positive responses, including one from Habeeb Alli, a Canadian-based humanitarian.
Youngkam said they started the feeding programme as a family project on January 29, 2018. On April 19 the same year, they got the StH group registered as an NGO.
Ali had told SN that he was honoured that members of the StH group invited him to support their cause.
Alli visited the volunteers and students in 2018 and “was impressed with their level of dedication as well as the support they have received” from some entities, including the American Embassy.
He has successfully helped to raise awareness and funds for the feeding programme as well as for scholarships for the children.
He had said too that, “Canadians have responded kindly during Ramadan and during Qurbani to continue serving these children regardless of race or religion.”
According to Youngkam, Ali had told her via a Facebook comment that he was happy that the group took on the initiative because he was also involved in similar work when he was in Berbice.
“He’s always going out of his way to ensure that the families and children are well provided for,” Youngkam told this newspaper. “He’s helped to raise a lot of the funds for the group.”
A few weeks ago the NGO held a clothing distribution drive for deserving families.
She said her NGO is small and she tries her best with the little resources.
Although she gets satisfaction from the work she is doing, she recognizes: “There is so much need… I wish that we can do more.”
She is hoping that one day the organisation would grow and they would be able to bring smiles to a lot more people.
