EXCITEMENT filled the air on the eve of Christmas as the children of Agatash and Four Miles, Potaro Road, Bartica were presented with toys of all colours, shapes and sizes. Escaping the hustle and the bustle of Georgetown, the capital city, Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection, Simona Broomes, despite her busy schedule, travelled by air to Bartica on Christmas Eve to distribute gifts to more than 300 children living in the outlying communities of Bartica, Region 7.

The gift drive was organised by Minister Broomes; Head of the Political Division (Ministry of the Presidency) Frederick McWilfred; Co-founder of the Give Another Chance Foundation, Ameena Hinds; and one of Guyana’s wealthiest Afro-Guyanese Shawn Hopkinson – all of whom are Barticians.
At Four Miles, Potaro Road, Bartica, more than 200 children eagerly awaited the presence of Minister Broomes and her team. Before presenting the children with their gifts, Minister Broomes said it was important for her to give back to the children of Bartica. She said very often, children in communities such as Four Miles were left out.
“It’s a gift of love from me to you,” the Social Protection Minister told the children, who were more than happy to be recipients. Overly excited, many of the children opted to open their gifts on site, and from all indications, they were surprised and happy.
Over at Agatash, approximately 100 children were quietly seated in the Community Centre, as they were addressed by Minister Broomes and the Regional officials. The Minister recalled that in the lead-up to the May 11 General and Regional Elections, she had visited the people of Agatash and had promised to return, knowing very well that the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition would have emerged victorious. And so she did on Thursday to spread the spirit of Christmas with the “vulnerable” boys and girls of Agatash.
Hopkinson told Guyana Chronicle that this charitable drive is nothing new to him, positing that on a yearly basis, seasonal or non-seasonal; he would often give back to the people of Guyana.
“I come and reach it. My father always donated and freely gave and I am continuing his legacy.” Hopkinson explained that throughout the years, he had been contributing to social development and engaging in humanitarian drives, pointing out that just recently his company had helped to rehabilitate the home of a single parent mother in Stevedore Housing Scheme in Georgetown.
“There was a poor woman who was living there under terrible conditions, and we helped to renovate her home.”

McWilfred, in delivering brief remarks, reminded those present of President David Granger’s plans to transform Bartica into a township. “Right now, Agatash is a part of the arrangements with the local authority, but when the township is declared Bartica will be 16sq miles… so we have to start becoming accustomed to mainstream Bartica.” He told the local representatives there that the community stood to reap tremendous benefits in the not so distance future.