The Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Guyana last month received international recognition for its humanitarian work.
In a press release, the Embassy said it received recognition during the Order of Malta’s 64th international pilgrimage to Lourdes, in France. A mass was also held on May 4 to pray for the sick in Guyana.
According to the release, since 2017 the Embassy of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Guyana has been doing its part to support a range of issues, including migrant health care and educational support. “Our focus is truly humanitarian, in assisting refugees and other displaced persons in most places in the world,” the release said.
In the area of health care, the release said, the Embassy has been supporting migrant and displaced persons by supplying health care services through St Joseph Mercy Hospital in Georgetown as part of the Blessed Gerard Paediatric Mission.
Additionally, it said a medical doctor would visit Port Kaituma, in Region One, to take care of the needs of residents of that community and contiguous areas, as well as the Venezuelan migrants.
The release noted that the Fund for Forgotten People, a British/American foundation, approved a grant for the first year’s support in 2019/2020 and has approved a second one to allow for the continuation of the project in Port Kaituma.
The release said medical outreaches comprising doctors and the St, Joseph’s Mercy Hospital Mobile Clinic have been ongoing in regions One, Three and Four and will be expanded in the coming year to include Region 5
The Order of Malta in Guyana also collaborates with the St John Ambulance Brigade, which promotes the training and education in First Aid to all age groups.
In the area of education, the release said that through private funding the Order of Malta has hired two special needs teachers. They are based in the special needs home for children at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara and Crisel’s Academy of Excellence, in Parfait Harmonie, on the West Bank of Demerara.
Additionally, a further sponsorship programme ensures that children who are resident in orphanages and who have outstanding academic results, are awarded scholarships. Such students are recommended by their school principals.
Meanwhile, the release also noted that as the war has escalated in Ukraine, the Order of Malta responded by organising buses to transport families across the borders and assisted them to get settled through its volunteer programs in those countries. Further, through Malteser, the worldwide relief agency of the Order of Malta for humanitarian aid, the Sovereign Order has been in the forefront globally in assisting Ukrainians at the Polish, Hungarian and Slovakian borders.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta, officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John, of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, commonly known as the Order of Malta, Malta Order or Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of a military, chivalric and noble nature. The Order of Malta has ambassadors in over 112 countries across the world.
