AS part of its anti-suicide campaign, The Caribbean Voice, through its social activism programme Arise, has identified billboards as a vehicle to get the message out there.

Guyana has 65 Local Government districts, and we strongly believe that placing a minimum of one billboard per district would be a very significant anti-suicide strategy.

Now, everyone knows that Government probably does not have the money to construct billboards, but every local government district has a number of small businesses and professionals; so if these individuals can come together and donate a few dollars, the cost of the billboards would be easily covered.

Every district also has carpenters and painters, and those individuals can be approached to donate their services to construct and paint the billboards. In fact, perhaps even the lumber may be obtained as donations from sawmills and lumber dealers, or at concessions that would significantly reduce cost per billboard.

Finally, every community most likely has artists who can be approached to place the messages on the billboard. In this respect, The Caribbean Voice suggests maximal use of billboards with anti-suicide messages on one side and anti-abuse (domestic, sexual and alcohol) messages on the other.

In effect, each billboard can be a community effort, and perhaps the community can come out when the billboard is erected, and the occasion can be used to inform and educate the citizens on approaches to dealing with these issues.

The Caribbean Voice appeals to the various business and professional alliances – chambers of commerce and industry, manufacturing associations, lawyers’ and doctors’ associations, and so on — to spearhead efforts to create and erect billboards. We believe that, in many cases, a single business, family or professional may be able to cover the cost of a billboard. And the messages can be crafted by NGOs and individuals operating in suicide and abuse prevention – Help and Shelter, Red Thread, The Guyana Foundation, social workers, psychologists.

The Caribbean Voice is also willing to craft and provide messages if necessary, but that is rather unlikely.

Finally, in the event that certain districts cannot cover the cost of billboards or banners – more than one – cheaper alternatives can be arrived at.
NORKAH CARTER
DEVV-RAMDAS DANIEL
JUDY DEVEAUX
ANNAN BOODRAM
BIBI AHAMAD
COLLIS NICHOLSON
ANNA ADDIE ODYSSEY
DONNA JENNIFER ROSS
PANDIT SHARMA DANESHWAR