THE Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund Committee (SILWFC) last Saturday launched a project designed to address social issues troubling the Black Bush Polder community. 

It is expected that this will form synergies between key stakeholders and the people in order to nip such problems in the bud.
The project got underway with a one-day workshop declared open by Guyana’s First Lady, Mrs. Deolatchmee Ramotar who is also Chairperson of the SILWFC, and who was celebrating another milestone that day.
At the forum at Mibicuri Secondary School, in Black Bush Polder, about sixty enthusiastic participants from four communities came together with a common resolve to pool efforts and energies to reverse the trend of an upsurge in suicide; alcoholism/substance abuse; domestic violence; school dropouts; and to restore the core values of good parenting.
Chief Facilitator was Dr. Pradeep Balram, GuySuCo Medical Officer, who expressed concern at the way such social ills have taken deep root in the Black Bush Polder community and the impact on the people.

SUICIDE TOLL
Among the issues identified, Dr. Balram said that suicide has had the greatest toll, with several lives being continually snuffed out, and the situation was getting from bad to worse. The most recent case occurred about two weeks ago, when a 20-year-old who has been legally married for the last seven years, and seemed to have been doing well, strangely ended her life by ingesting gramoxone.
Dr. Balram gave an indepth insight into suicide and its inter-relationship with other stress-related conditions such as domestic violence; joblessness; substance abuse/chronic alcoholism, and the debilitating effects of the latter on the human mind and body, which invariably lead to death.

OTHER ISSUES
Other issues addressed included child labour; empowering of single parents/youths; upgrading of recreational facilities and marketing of produce.
Other speakers included Mr. Jairam Petam, GuySuCo Human Resource Director and Member of SILWFC; Bhopal Jhagroo, Regional Vice Chairman, Region 6; and Mr. Kenneth Joseph, General Secretary of the National Association of Allied and Commercial Employees (NAACIE). The programme was chaired by T. Persaud, Chairman of the Black Bush Polder Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC).

SOCIETAL VALUES
The speakers urged the workshop participants to take the message back to their communities and share it with others who were unable to attend, sensitising them about the role they can play in restoring good societal values. Another aspect of the message is to urge parents to take a stand to ensure that their children attend and complete school, thereby lifting their status in life while making meaningful contributions to society
Mr. Bhopal Jhagroo also called on parents to take their children to places of worship, which would instill in them good moral values. He noted the damaging effects suicide was having on the community of Black Bush Polder, and declared that, “To take one’s life is a sin, and we should all be careful about that.”
Parents were also sensitised about the negative impact the television and computer can have on the minds of young children, and they were urged to help the young people in making responsible decisions about the programmes they view.
Meanwhile, SILWFC, in an effort to minimise joblessness and to create situations where the people of Black Bush Polder can feel empowered and good about themselves, mooted the idea of organising training programmes to benefit young people.

SOCIAL WORKERS
A proposal which won the approval of the SILWFC was for a system to be put in place to have persons identified and trained as social workers who could deal with suicide intervention and other social issues. Immediately four persons were identified who each shared their views on the topic and volunteered to come on board. Eight others (three from each community) will join them. Those identified were Permeshwar Ramcharitar, Seenarine Ramlakhan, Raymon Pearson and Kenneth Pearson.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Deolatchmee Ramotar, Chairperson of the SILWFC, who is also President of the First Lady’s Foundation, endorsed the sentiments of Dr. Pradeep Balram and other speakers on the issue of school drop outs, suicide, domestic violence and other societal ills being addressed. She has committed to being solidly behind the initiatives tabled to address the problems identified.
“As First Lady, I can say that my Foundation believes that it is important that stable and strong families be promoted. My Foundation commits itself to working with the Sugar Industry Labour Welfare Fund Committee.” She said further that even though the quality of lives of the beneficiaries would have changed, there is still much to be done, and assured that “SILWFC is willing to work with you.”
Noting that in a world where changes are taking place rapidly, the First Lady referred to the impact of television and computers, adding that the downside could be that our children are now exposed to many negative influences that have an impact on their minds.
Without proper surveillance, our youths can be exposed to violence, pornography and the glorification of drug abuse, all of which have a negative influence on the social behaviour of many people, Mrs. Ramotar said. To this end, she called on parents to be mindful of their parental roles and to offer guidance in relation to which programmes young people are exposed.
And touching on the issue of early school drop outs, Mrs. Ramotar said the net result of this is invariably that the persons without a sound education end up having to settle for low-income jobs or are relegated to a life of crime. Here again parents were urged to play their role in offering support to see that children benefit from the educational facilities being provided by the Guyana government countrywide.
Meanwhile, she also explored the impact of domestic violence, adding that it is not only limited to spousal abuse or intimate partners violence (IPV) in a relationship, but invariably, the children are affected. “Today, domestic violence is not a private matter between husband and wife, but has major impact on our children. When faced with abuse, the children tend to become violent.”
Moreover, she observed that in recent years, domestic violence, alcoholism and drug use, coupled with the everyday pressures of life, often lead to isolation and frustration and even suicide which has risen sharply over the years.
“We have to be our neighbour’s keepers; we can no longer turn a blind eye since domestic violence can lead to death and children who are exposed to abusive situations tend to become abusers in adult life,” she pointed out.
Mrs. Ramotar noted too that Government has built shelters and provides a place where abused persons can go and be able to interact more freely with others and not to be under duress.
The idea of a workshop to address the burning question of social issues confronting Black Bush Polder was first mooted last year when SILWFC held a meeting at Hampshire, attended by more than 150 persons drawn from communities spanning from Rose Hall to Skeldon.
Written By Shirley Thomas