The Canadian government is impressed with the progress being made by the organisation launched back in April this year to help deportees integrate into society and yesterday donated its second tranche of a CDN$20,000 initiative.
The cheque valued CDN$5,000 was handed over to President of the Juncata Juvant Friendly Society, Joseph Harmon by Canadian High Commissioner Charles Court yesterday.
The organisation which uses the preferred term of ‘involuntary remigrants’ has been working to remove the stigma attached to these persons and hopes to educate society on the real issues facing them.
Briefing the gathering at the High Commission’s chapel, Court said that the results of the organisation are impressive, adding that his government recognized the challenges which deportees faced and so respects Juncata’s efforts to assist the remigrants regardless of which country they came from.
He said Canada is a small contributor to the local deportee population and revealed that for this year some 124 Guyanese have been deported, 29 of whom have a criminal background.
He pointed out that while his government was assisting in the re-integration process, the government and people of Guyana had a responsibility to them.
The high commissioner saluted the work of Juncata Juvant, which he said has made a great start. He also urged that other organisations and individuals support the undertaking.
On August 10 this year the Canadian High Commission-er handed over half of the CDN$20,000.
Juncata President Joseph Harmon expressed appreciation to the Canadian government and other organisations including Catholic Relief Services (CRS) who have been instrumental in providing financial assistance to the organisation.
Vice-president Donna Snagg reported that the organisation has been successful in providing basic services and is positioning itself to deliver on a wide range of initiatives to ensure all-round development, support, re-integration and growth of involuntary remigrants.
Training courses
She said the society is committed to the development of the remigrants and has so far enrolled 108 persons in its programme, made available emergency packages to 30 and provided small financial assistance to 23 others who are working on starting their own businesses. Twenty members will undertake computer training courses while 10 others will pursue training in computer repairs.
Theoretical driving classes and apprenticeship training with various city businesses are also part of the unfolding benefits for Juncata members.
The society, in the next trimester, aims at broadening its network of local and international donors, including linkages with the UN’s International Office for Migration.
Snagg herself is an involuntary re-migrant and was sent back to these shores some 10 years ago. She briefly recounted her experience to the audience. She is instrumental in the formation of Juncata, a yearning which she said came from her humanitarian personality and the urge “to assist those coming behind me.”
Snagg was fortunate to have received counselling and was able to attend the University of Guyana (UG) where she read for a law degree. “I could have gone to Trinidad and become a lawyer and get all dressed up and be proud, but the humanitarianism in me led me to stop and look back at those coming behind me, because I didn’t know if they could go through all I endured,” she said.
She attributed her feelings to her deep spirituality.
Snagg urged members of society to be responsive to the organization’s cause and forget the negative things.
“I rose above this, but please accept them and assist them to find jobs because many of them can contribute to the development of the country because they are qualified.”
Snagg who is now Logistics Manager at Amazon Caribbean Guyana Limited said she had many experiences, most of them bad but she was never behind a cloud and admitted to her employer that she was a deportee, and was not refused the job.
“I am urging that society be receptive, allow them to be part of us, don’t treat them as social rejects and to you [deportees] be all you can be, don’t allow discrimination and marginalization to stop you from being who you can be,” Snagg said.
33 years in the US
Gordon Halley resided in the United Stated for 33 years before he was deported and according to him “the process was not challenging, but the discrimination and marginalization I received when I tried to seek employment (was).”
Halley said it was after one year of being in Guyana before he learnt of Juncata and was anxious that there was an organisation willing to render assistance.
He said he is a holder of certificates in Mathematics and Business Management and through Juncata he has been able to seek employment and feels he is now able to properly structure his life.
“It has made my life better,” he said.
George Fowler was also deported from the US after living there for 13 years. He said, “They clothe me with the label and this served as a deterrent in my efforts to seek employment.
I made a mistake and have told myself that I am getting older and I have to move on,” he said. Fowler said prejudice and discrimination broke his spirit until he learnt of Juncata.
“I went to the Juncata office and after the interview I felt a sense of hope… It was like I could see a light at the end of that dark tunnel,” he remarked.
Fowler is one of the Juncata members who will participate in the computer training programmes.
“I believe that Juncata has provided hope and people who have been misguided could put their life in order through this society,” he asserted.
The involuntary remigrant could obtain information on available social services and be provided with support and assistance to access these services. Juncata has now acquired its own building which is located at the corner of Robb and Oronoque streets.
In the long-term the non-governmental organisation also hopes to establish a half-way home to provide temporary shelter to the remigrants.
