TWELVE persons from Moraikobai, Mahaica-Berbice are now beneficiaries of the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) project- the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs flagship youth programme.

A total sum of $600,000 was set aside for various projects in the village this quarter and the participants last Friday received a $50,000 grant each to boost their respective establishments, the ministry stated.

During a moving testimony to the changes realised in her life through the programme, Marina Hope said “because of the HEYS programme, today I am now a seamstress; own my own sewing machine, and a grocery shop. I never had this opportunity before and I am really thankful for it.”

Latoya Jacobs, another beneficiary of the programme said, “this HEYS programme did a wonderful thing for me in my life, I was at home sitting down doing nothing, and since this programme came out, I started knowing things that I never know especially the catering side. I never know to make like egg ball, pine tart and now I trying with all of that.”
Cheryl Clinton, a single parent said, “starting in the HEYS programme I was living a single parent life, I have four kids and it was not easy and I must thank the Government for choosing to put the programme in this village. I’m happy to be on board because from that I was able to build and own my own home and for that I am happy.”

Clinton, who spoke on behalf of her cousin Vanessa Clinton who is differently -abled, said that the latter runs a successful poultry business. “It is helping her a lot because she has a family of two. It’s helping her to send her daughter to school and in the home and even help her husband so the business she is in is great and is helping her,” she said.

Neil Persaud, who is the Programme Monitor for Coastal Villages, spoke of the benefits the programme has brought to persons. “We have seen the fruits of this programme today, the evidence is there. The programme is a catalyst or an agent that causes development in a faster way and this is what HEYS is all about. It is for your development. I like the stories where you were once dependent now you are independent, that’s the goal, that’s what we want,” he said.

He added, “we want to thank those who would have made use of this opportunity to develop yourself and build and become independent so we want to encourage you to continue on that path.”

Persaud further explained that the APNU+AFC government has invested some $9.5M in the village of Moraikobai in an effort to not only empower them individually, but also to boost economic activities there.

David James, who is the Legal Adviser to Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Sydney Allicock, said he was pleased to see the vision of President David Granger for Hinterland Development realised.

“Today looking at what you have done, HEYS is a programme that has borne fruit and has fulfilled the promise that it was meant to be, the promise that it would improve your life, it would improve the life of your community, which means that you will have a better life.”
He added, “you have already shown that you have started well, you have shown the desire, you have shown the commitment and this is not an end in itself… this could be the stepping stone to many things greater and bigger in the future, so I think that is the story and the lesson you should learn from HEYS.”

Twenty youths from the village participated in the one-year programme (2017-2018), and to date, all of the participants have thriving businesses. A remaining eight participants will soon receive their grants. The village of Moraikobai is located some ninety eight miles up the Mahaicony River and is home to more than 600 residents, who mainly depend on logging, fishing and hunting for their daily existence.

They can now boast of having established village shops, fuel depots, a salon, garment construction shops, snackettes, poultry farms, cassareep shops and ground provision farms.