SEEKING to address social ills in their communities, the recently launched Upper East-Bank Youth Group took matters into their own hands with their first rally against domestic violence on Sunday.

The group of over 40 individuals clad in purple and white t-shirts, marched from the Rubis Gas Station at Supply, East Bank Demerara (EBD), to Soesdyke, another village, while holding aloft a large banner stating: “We won’t wait! End Domestic Violence!”
The group’s founder Keoma Sutton, told the Guyana Chronicle that she and a few others were inspired to join efforts to address the challenges in their communities.

Now, the individuals are seeking to cater not only for one village but, instead, for all villages from Supply to Soesdyke, where according to Sutton a large number of young people reside.
She told this newspaper that many of these communities are plagued with issues of high school drop outs, domestic violence, child labour and other effects of financial problems.

“There are a lot of issues in our communities for which we need to reach out and help, such as children who are out of school because their parents cannot afford to send them every day …We put a group together so that we could focus on these things to see if we can help the children that are not going to school through fundraising, we can help the elders in the community and more,” she said.

However, the group chose to focus first on the issue of domestic violence after observing a high prevalence of violence against women and children in their areas.

“Domestic violence is a big problem in the Upper East Bank. Many young people are in relationships that are going through domestic violence or have witnessed domestic violence among friends and family. It is not something nice and has a negative effect on children.

“Domestic violence is everybody’s business…I want to spread awareness about domestic violence, to teach the people that do not know about it or where to go, the places that they can go to seek help,” Sutton said.

When it comes to other matters affecting the communities’ youths, she pointed to the need for after-school programmes, skills training institutions and a greater representation from welfare officers.

“We need welfare officers to place more focus up here because a lot of students are out of school. You would find them on the road, they’re gambling, some of them are working at a tender age,” she said.

Although the group is not yet a large one and is now working on becoming registered, they have received support from the business community and have plans to formulate a women’s group to empower women.

Sutton, who is self-employed, initially began hosting the group’s meetings at her home but now plans to relocate to a neighbourhood secondary school, to accommodate the growing number of supporters.

Making a final call, she said: “We need more support from the people in the community. They need to come out because we’re not doing this for us, we’re doing this for the future generation. We’re trying to set things in the right place for the youths. We want to teach them the right things and the right way of life.”