The importance of giving back
Being presented with a certificate in 2017 from Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith, making him an Educational Resource Ambassador for the University of Guyana
Being presented with a certificate in 2017 from Vice-Chancellor Ivelaw Griffith, making him an Educational Resource Ambassador for the University of Guyana

The work of the Guyana-Jamaica Friendship Association

PRESIDENT of the Guyana-Jamaica Friendship Association (New York) Inc., Dr. Frank Denbow, MD, MRCP, who recently visited Guyana said that his main intention for coming here at this time was to give a donation, as well as a treat to the St. Ambrose Primary School. Dr. Denbow attended this primary school from 1962 to 1967. He then gained a place at the Queen’s College, along with three other boys from the school.

He told the Pepperpot Magazine that the GJFA was formed in January 2014 as a collaborative effort between members of the Guyanese and Jamaican communities in the New York Tri-State area. Its mission is to improve the lives of Guyanese and Jamaicans living in the less affluent areas of these two countries.

President of GJFA Dr. Denbow with Dr. Gloria Thompson, Executive Member of GJFA in August 2017 at the Unman Yana

Dr. Denbow is the son of the late Dr. Frank Denbow (Sr.) – A.A., who was a trade unionist. He died in 1975. His mother was Dr. Enid Denbow, who held the position of Chief Medical Officer (CMO) in Guyana and served the country for more than 50 years. She died in 2017 at the age of 95.

He said that the main focus of the GJFA is health and education matters within Guyana and Jamaica. As a result they have adopted two schools – one in Guyana and the other in Jamaica.

MASHABO SCHOOL
The school in Guyana is the Mashabo Primary School, which is in an Indigenous community on the Essequibo Coast and is primarily attended by Indigenous children. “We have worked with them over the last four years and we have given them cricket equipment and office supplies. We have also donated over 500 books, which have allowed them to start a classroom library; additionally, we have donated past examinations papers, which were responsible for them excelling in the National Grade Six Examinations (NGSA) this year; they have obtained two passes to a Grade A secondary school – the first time in more than 30 years that they have been able to obtain such,” Dr. Denbow said.

He further assured that the GJFA will continue to work with the Headmaster, Mr. Modi Beepat and pupils of the Mashabo Primary school; supplying them with whatever help they may need so that they would continue to improve in their academic performances.

JAMAICA SCHOOL
The school in Jamaica that the GJFA adopted is the Aeolus Valley Primary School in St. Thomas. “It is a very rural school where we have donated laptop computers and school supplies. In addition, we have just had a mission there in September of this year, where we helped them form a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).”

In 2018, two additional laptops, two microscopes, and a sophisticated listening device with several headsets were also provided to aid students of Aeolus Valley School who are having difficulties keeping up in class.

Additionally, two executive committee members spent a week at the school conducting training in modern educational techniques, utilising technology and implementing programmes to strengthen the bond between the community and the school.

He stated that their main focus continues to be education, using those two schools as a catalyst.

PROMOTING GOOD HEALTH
Dr. Denbow stated that since part of the GJFA is the promotion of good health, the association has held a number of health programmes in Guyana and also in Jamaica.

In Guyana, there was a medical symposium, which focused on women’s health in February 2016; there was also a two-day symposium and workshop held at the Umana Yana in Georgetown in August 2017, which focused on Early Childhood Education (ECE).

This ECE symposium and workshop was a collaborative effort between the GJFA and the Department of Public Information and there were over 150 teachers and district education officers from all the 10 regions of Guyana in attendance.

“We are currently planning another medical symposium in Guyana, to be held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre in April 2019; also with a one-day medical symposium on Preventative Medicine for health professionals,” he said. “In addition, we at the GJFA also plan to do some outreach work in both Suddie and Anna Regina; an educational outreach to Mashabo Primary School; and in collaboration with the Ministry of Education of Guyana, a two-day workshop in Georgetown for teachers and educators.

BEYOND GUYANA AND JAMAICA
Dr. Denbow said that while the GJFA from its inception has done a tremendous amount of work in the two subject countries, there are also great plans to do much more work for the development of the two countries.

“As a non-profit charitable organisation, we have helped several non-profit organisations in the New York tri-state area in the form of cash and kind and will continue to do so in the future. This is a New York-based organisation, where many of our Guyanese brothers and sisters are; and we work out of this community,” he stated.

WHY GUYANA AND JAMAICA?
Dr. Denbow said that the reason why the GJFA started was because of his own contact with this CARICOM sister-country, where he lived for a number of years. “I have a love for Jamaica. In fact, I saw some of the same problems that we have in Guyana manifesting in Jamaica, so that is why there was the organising of the two countries,” he said.

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