In a presentation at its first roundtable held towards the end of March, the Pickney Project reported that cases encountered were  “interesting and deep” and that all forms of abuse had been found. In the specific area being addressed – Sophia—part of the project involved counselling 75 children.

One cannot help but assume the worst, particularly since there have been horrific examples of extreme brutality meted out to children in the past, among them nine-year-old Sade Stoby of Mocha Arcadia, who was sexually abused and murdered ; five-year-old Akeem Trotman, a victim of neglect now deceased and the five or so primary school boys who were said to have been sexually abused and whose case Karen De Souza of Red Thread used as a study regarding the effectiveness (or in this case, lack of it) of the new law of instituting paper committals in a sexual offence case.

The Pickney Project, which is a collaboration between Help & Shelter and EveryChild Guyana seeks to save (pickneys) children from all forms of abuse and to protect those who might be vulnerable to being abused from falling victim.

The project which started last year and ends in 2011, had been in gestation for perhaps a year.  However, most likely as a result of a lack of funding and human resources, it will only be implemented in three areas, Sophia, Georgetown, where it has already started, Good Hope and in parts of Region Nine.

According to the report, the project has so far seen tremendous participation by parents, but not enough from the wider community, including law enforcement,  health workers and teachers. Since the project also involves training at the community level as well as among medical and education personnel to detect and prevent and where necessary intervene in instances of child abuse, these initiatives should become part of the community’s response as carers of children and not end when the project does. The counselling of children who witness abuse or are subjected to it is another aspect of the project that ought to be carried forward.

A crucial role exists here for the government, which should be made the joint responsibility of its welfare, education and health sectors, which could and should pony-up on this project. Right now there are other areas or rather children in other parts of the country who desperately need the kind of intervention this project offers. There would be benefits to simultaneous similar joint interventions by the Ministries of Human Services, Education in other areas.

Help & Shelter pioneered stamping out domestic and other forms of violence, beginning back in 1994/1995, when the organization was officially launched and going forward has been an exemplary organization in this area. EveryChild Guyana has been in existence for a shorter time, but has already had successful, but not much shouted about, interventions that support children in the Agricola and Ruimveldt areas among others, particularly as regards the non-violent approach to discipline. Both organizations have had an ear to the ground with regard to child abuse, gleaning a wealth of information in their everyday work that would otherwise require a heavy financial outlay to gather. Both are perfectly poised to undertake the task ahead of them, which cannot be easy when one considers how mentally and emotionally stressful the issue is generally, and they must be commended and supported.