The Guyana-Dutch Cultural Association (GDCA) recently reached out to fellow Guyanese when it had its first ‘give-back’ charity in Linden for over 200 children.
Coordinator of the two-year-old Holland-based group Wray Ondaan single-handedly spearheaded the first outreach at the Christianburg Community Centre and according to him, “This was just for us to do an assessment of the various needs of children living in the community of my birth.”
Children of all ages received clothing, shoes, toys, school materials and several other gadgets. A register was established for each beneficiary from which a needs assessment will be done.
According to Ondaan, he would be working with the GDCA to develop a sponsorship programme for children across Guyana, starting with a pilot group from Linden.
As part of the first outreach, a group of five children was furnished with a camera as part of a tell-a-story competition. Each child has to take pictures of things that they dislike around their community.
The photographs will be judged by the group and the children would be awarded prizes for the best picture story. The objective of this exercise is to give members of the group a pictorial understanding of some of the challenges faced by children in the Wismar communities of Linden.
Before the end of the year, the group hopes to establish a Linden Chapter through which they intend to pilot charity programmes on a regular basis. The first outreach was valued in excess of $500,000.
