WHILE conducting health outreaches to communities in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), the Healthy Living Club of Linden stumbled upon a community of some 300 households without electricity.

Although it functions mainly to provide healthcare and basic necessities, the club is now advocating for the provision of electricity to the community called Andyville on the Wismar shore, which is home to a large population of youths. “They need electricity. That is one of the cries of the people. Dr Van-West Charles (Managing-Director of the Guyana Water Inc) was instrumental in them getting water, but presently, the issue that remains is light. It is a young, emerging community,” Chairman of the Club, Colwyn Allen, told this newspaper.
Allen is a nurse serving as the Quality Assurance Officer at the Linden Hospital Complex.
Meanwhile, the Healthy Living Club was birthed two years ago out of a radio programme he had hosted, whereby residents and listeners began calling in for more medical attention that Allen could provide on his own.

Allen decided to reach out to Andyville after he learnt that the roads there were in such poor condition that, recently, an ambulance was unable to reach a woman in dire need of emergency care.

“I said, you know what, let’s get a medical outreach, round up the people and we will come in,” he said.

Last Saturday his club along with over 100 volunteers visited the area, where they tested persons for high blood pressure and blood glucose levels and those found with the conditions were referred to the Wismar Hospital.
The team could see that the community was an impoverished one and that most of the residents were squatters.

However, the community has been awaiting regularisation since 2016, but challenges with the road sizes, the sizes of house lots and more have stymied this process with the Guyana Lands and Surveys Commission,

“They’re squatting, but in the process of getting legalisation there. The executives for the Civil Defence Commission went in to the Lands and Surveys Commission and they were given permission to so stuff… so, things are happening but things are happening very slow,” Allen said
The residents, in their desperation for development, have also agreed to allow the process to go on despite the fact that some houses may need to be demolished for proper facilitation of the process.

In the meantime, while on their outreach, the club also distributed personal items such as clothes and shoes.

Over their existence, the Healthy Living Club also rendered assistance to Kwakwani, Bamia, Victory Valley, Spikeland, Block 22, Anarika and Rock Stone.

In these locations they distributed school bags, medication, performed dental checks and HIV/AIDS testing, working in some cases in collaboration with the US Embassy.

Much of the other financial assistance or items donated have come from establishments and individuals such as Banks D.I.H, Kool Runnings, Bread Shop, Rite Care Pharmacy, Mayfield Greene Variety, Neil Henry, Phyano David and Elizabeth Russell.

“The vison of this club is to reach the far end areas in Region 10, because in those places the residents do not have accessibility to quality health care, so we take health care to the people,” Allen said. He added: “We get volunteers to go into the persons’ homes and do basic health care needs for the patients like helping them to cook, clean up, with gardening and so forth.”

Allen hopes that even as the Healthy Living Club continues to render its services where most that communities, such as Andyville, will receive the attention they need.