MEET the woman who reserves at least two Saturdays a month to visit the elderly, and spends some four hours with unfortunate children after work each day!

Her name is Ismay Lorna Murray, and she is currently the Vice-President of the Ruimveldt Children’s Aid Centre.

She is employed with the United States Embassy here in Guyana, and does not receive remuneration from the Centre. Nevertheless, she believes that investing her time in children is definitely worth her while, because of the results it can bring eventually.

Mrs. Murray, 57, spoke about the quality of empathy when referring to the elderly. She would love to have others visit her in similar manner when she gets older. In short, she believes in the golden rule: ‘All things that you want men to do to you, you also must likewise do to them’.

QUOTE: ‘There are two sets of people who I keep thinking about that I need to help: The elderly and children. Children are our future; and what we put into them now is what we will get out of them later on’

“There are two sets of people who I keep thinking about that I need to help: The elderly and children. Children are our future; and what we put into them now is what we will get out of them later on.

“And I keep telling them that ‘When I am old and doddering, I don’t want y’all to come and snatch my handbag and beat me up; so that’s why I’m trying with y’all now.’

“We have to try with them now. The more we put into them now is the better future Guyana will have,” Mrs. Murray said in an interview with the Chronicle a few days ago.

Regarding the elderly, she said: “I visit because I feel that people put in so much when they are young; and when they are no longer capable of doing it, others just cast them aside and shun and neglect them. It’s quite hurtful to see how the elderly are being treated.”

Mrs. Murray therefore hopes one day to be able to train young girls to care for the elderly, and put them out in communities to serve as ‘Home help’.

Those included on the visiting list are her friends’ parents; pensioners from the Guyana Sugar Corporation, where she was employed for 23 years; and others she knows. “At the US Embassy, I get American and Guyanese holidays, so I use the American holidays to do business, and the Guyanese holidays to visit,” she explained.

Home is where you belong
Mrs. Murray was born at Mocha Arcadia, East Bank Demerara, and lived there until she turned 18, when she left for London to study intensive care, nursing, and midwifery. After completing her studies, she returned home and worked for a year at the Georgetown Mayor and City Council. She then worked with GuySuCo before pressing on to the Peace Corps, where she remained for two years, until moving over to the embassy.

Mrs. Murray is a mother of three, two of whom are studying in London. The third, having completed studies, is helping her to care for the other two. Her husband, Colin, a retired engineer, is also supportive of her.

Asked the reason for her return to Guyana, Mrs. Murray said: “I spent eight years in London. Those countries are good for studying, but I don’t think they are good to live in. I think you never belong in countries like those. You may have material wealth, but you never belong there.

“I would not have been able to contribute what I am contributing now if I had stayed in London. I would have had a nice house with a nice car, but my life would not have been fulfilling as it is now, because I like what I am doing. I always tell my children, ‘You only belong at home.’”

‘Lead by example’
Speaking of her work at the children’s centre, Mrs. Murray said: “I feel like this is what I was destined to do. Sometimes when you are not getting donations, you feel like giving up; and then somebody will come with a nice, big package and give you. And it encourages you and brings you up.”

She is the treasurer of a Christadelphian church, and is quite active therein. She teaches Sunday School, and feels like this is an achievement in her life. “I just want to be a better person all the time; I try to be daily.”

She offers this advice to people who may want to take up volunteer work like her: “Children are very special people, and you have to lead by example. Otherwise, you will not be effective.”

The Children’s Aid Centre at Lot 13 Public Road, Ruimveldt was registered as a charitable organization in 1991. It has on record more than a hundred kids between the ages of three and 15, but feeds about 60 each day after school. It is a voluntary, non-profit, charitable organization registered under the Friendly Societies Act on July 18, 1991, # 643.