Despite continuing challenges, Ann’s Grove youth Candacy Holder remains committed to a journey she started just over three years ago to make a positive difference in the lives of children.
Holder, 21, now a second-year law student at the University of Guyana, has been doing humanitarian outreaches and tutoring sessions through EduSpire, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) she founded on December 3rd, 2017.
EduSpire is a portmanteau of educate and inspire, which are the two main objectives of the group.
At present Holder works with five other members, four of whom provide their time and effort part time.
When she first started out, she was the lone member of the NGO. It didn’t take her long to add members to the group who shared her vision of making the world a better place for children. “When I first started the planning phase, I knew that I wanted to focus on education and I wanted to inspire, not only my peers but youths — both older and younger than me —which is how I arrived at the name,” Holder explained.
In 2019, the group donated school supplies and uniforms to ten children. The church she attends, Holder said, has a prize giving ceremony every September for the children of the church who have done well in school or improved. Some of the children who were awarded and considered to be in need of school supplies were among the children that benefitted from EduSpire, while other members of the group found other lesser fortunate children. One of the members of the group had learnt of a young woman from Linden who was widowed and had three children to take care of. This family benefitted from this outreach also. To pull this off, Holder and fellow group members went into their pockets to find most of the funding.
“Funding was by no means easy. We want to do more but the resources available are limited. This has been our biggest and main challenge so far”, Holder explained.
She recalled that to help distribute the school supplies to the ten children, the group had decided on a cupcake sale. Other desserts, all of which were made by the members of the group, were also on sale. However, despite their efforts, by the end of the day there were many items that were still not sold and which they subsequently offered to passers-by. While the fundraiser did help to cut costs in finding the necessary monies for their school supplies project, the members of the group faced the brunt of the expenses in making the event a success.
“At one point, I wanted to scrap the whole idea but one of the young ladies working along with me said ‘you know, it’s a good idea which will benefit others so keep at it and people will realize the goal you set out to achieve and they will gradually work along with us’. Since then, we have been able to obtain some funds every now and again and I would say she’s right, we just needed to be persistent despite the challenges,” Holder said.
By 2020, more people learnt of the group and provided some donations, so last year when they decided to donate school supplies to the Special Educational Needs students at Beterverwagting, they already had funding.
Holder believes that the decision not to dissolve EduSpire has also helped her and its members as well. “I think EduSpire has given us a sense of purpose. For us it’s just having the opportunity to bless others. It has made us grateful also. If you think you’re in a bad position, there are others who are worse off than you,” she explained.
One of the most inspiring experiences for Holder was when the NGO visited the special needs centre on the East Coast of Demerara. It was an eye opener for Holder as well as the rest of the group on the much needed patience and dedication required of the teachers to be able to connect and work along with the special needs students. “Being provided the opportunity to learn about what they do is one of the most inspirational things I’ve done in my 21 years,” said the young woman.
Holder, who is also owner of a business called Grooming Essen-tials, which provides hair and skin care products for men, noted that sometimes her business provides funding for EduSpire.
While the NGO was able to pull off a humanitarian outreach last year, 2020 and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic squashed any other plans they had. Educational talks at schools on the East Coast of Demerara had been planned but these had to be cancelled.
At present Holder and another member of the group are working on a timetable that will allow for tutoring through online platforms. EduSpire is looking for committed persons to join with them as they move forward in improving the lives of children.
Holder can be reached at 675-4455 or on Facebook (EduSpire) and Instagram (EduSpiregy).
