Canadian High Commission-er to Guyana Charles Court, yesterday handed over a cheque valued $7,628,850 to the directors of Help & Shelter in support of their Rural Counselling Services Project at the Help & Shelter headquarters on Homestretch Avenue.

The donation which was funded through the Caribbean Gender Equality Programme of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is the second initiative this year that CIDA has supported with the organisation.

Co-ordinator of Help & Shelter Margaret Kertzious who received the cheque said she was “very thankful” for the assistance since the project gives the opportunity for the organisation to extend its counselling service in the rural areas of the country.

The donation Kertzious pointed out will go towards the expansion of counselling services in Moruca and Leguan as there was a demand for the service. It will also go towards providing counselling training for the staff of Hope for All, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Suddie on the Essequibo Coast. She also stated that capacity building and counselling training will be done with Family Awareness Consciousness Togetherness (FACT) in Springlands and Comforting Hearts in New Amsterdam. Both NGOs work in the area of HIV/AIDS and requested training to work in the area of domestic violence.

Help & Shelter, now a company limited by guarantee with charitable status, is the foremost NGO in the fight against domestic violence in the country. It has a shelter for victims of domestic and gender based violence and all its services are free of cost.

Meanwhile a press release from the High Commission of Canada stated that Canada is delighted to continue to support civil society groups that are working hard to mitigate the effects of the problem of domestic violence in Guyana.