THE LIONS Club of Bel Air has formally handed the management of the Blind Institute at St. Phillips Green, Georgetown the keys to the gate of the posh, newly-constructed security fence around the facility. This happened two Fridays ago, in a tangible demonstration of support for people with disabilities.
Built at a cost of $1.2M, the fence has been constructed of concrete and chain-link material, making it durable and able to satisfy the security needs of the institution, which, over time, has regularly been robbed and vandalised by persons running through the area.
Club President Lion Zafarulla Persaud handed over the keys to the gate to  President of the Blind Institute, Mr. Cecil Morris, at the entrance to the Blind Institute.
Present at the ceremony were Past President Lion Ramchand Ragbeer; Secretary Shabona Singh, and other Lions; as well as Ms. Julie Lewis and others from the Blind Institute.
Lion Ramchand outlined that the fencing of the Blind Institute compound was a major project identified by the Lions Club, and was accomplished through fund-raising and collections from several donors. He expressed gratitude to the donors and those who supported the Club’s fund-raising activities, and promised that the Club would later undertake landscaping and beautifying the compound of the Blind Institute.
He also said that the humanitarian gesture on the part of the Bel Air Lions Club was in keeping with activities being implemented by 208 Lions Clubs globally as part of a mandate to render humanitarian assistance to those in need.
On behalf of the Blind Institute, Mr. Cecil Morris expressed gratitude to the Bel Air Lions Club, noting that the project was indeed major in terms of the cost ($1.2M) and what it will do for the Society for the Blind in terms of protecting them from the vagrants and robbers, among others, who encroach on the premises at ‘all hours during the night’.
Morris recalled that, on a mere one-night haul, bandits stole from the Institute two computers, six Braillers, sewing machines, chairs, tape recorders and lots of other materials totalling more than $3.3M.
While acknowledging the great value of enclosing and securing the compound with a durable fence, he also appealed to security firms to come on board to help offer some kind of security for the Institute and the persons utilizing the premises.
After past breakages, the Justices of the Peace and Commissioners of Oaths to Affidavits Association, headed by then President Mr. Hermon Bholaisingh, twice rebuilt the previous fence around the compound, utilizing chain link materials and wooden runners. However, intruders again visited the premises, a few nights later, and tore the entire fence down, taking away both runners and the chain link fencing.
The members of the Guyana Society for the Blind have expressed their gratitude to all those who have, in any way, helped to make life comfortable and secure for them.
This most recent goodwill gesture on the part of the Lions is also in consonance with President Bharrat Jagdeo’s stated wish that corporate Guyana and civil society organizations take time out to consider the needs of the disabled and other less fortunate persons in society, and make it a point of duty to help respond to the needs of such persons, as a way of ‘giving back to society’.
President Jagdeo had made this appeal just hours before this handing over ceremony, when he launched the Salvation Army’s Annual Christmas Kettles Appeal at Georgetown Club in the city, and made a donation of $18 M to assist in rebuilding the Men’s Social Services Centre which houses the Salvation Army’s Drug Rehabilitation Programme in Guyana.
And a few days earlier, President Jagdeo made a similar plea to corporate Guyana when he met with a large gathering of persons with disabilities at the Police Officers Building.
This activity involving the Blind Institute coincided with the Lions’ Multiple District 60 hosting of the Mid-Year Conference and Cabinet meetings, at the Princess Hotel, Providence, East Bank Demerara last week, when the organisation’s future plans and progress report were discussed. Visiting delegations at that forum were drawn from Lions Clubs from the Commonwealth Caribbean, the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname.
Among the leading delegates to the Conference and cabinet meetings were Lions International Director Douglas X Alexander from New York, who is a recently retired director of the J.P. Morgan Chase Bank;  Presiding Council Chairperson, Lion Lincoln Carol Moore; and Lion Past Director Terry Innis from Trinidad and Tobago; Lion District Governor 60B, Lloyd Barker from Barbados and Guyana; Chief Host, District Governor 60A Surujpaul (Terry) Singh; and chairperson of the planning committee, Lion Denise Thompson of Citizens Bank.