PERSONS living with disabilities are often undermined and underestimated because of their conditions but Nadeza Rodrigues, an entrepreneur, who suffers from speech and hearing impediments, has refused to be confined and suppressed by the demoralising rhetoric.
According to a press statement from the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Rodrigues runs a “thriving business” in Karawab Village, located more than 60 miles up the Pomeroon River, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam).

Rodrigues, who benefitted from the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) movement, runs a snackette and sells a variety of locally-made, delicious-tasting foods, snacks and beverages. According to the ministry, despite speech and hearing impediments, Rodrigues does not let the challenges, of being differently-abled, deter her from enhancing her vocational skills and she continues to radiate positivity.

Close friends of the young woman also offered praises for her culinary skills, as they spoke about her exceptional skills in making chicken curry and roti, among other things.
Rodrigues’ well-wishers believe her ability to operate in the kitchen speaks volumes of her determination to not allow her physical challenges to deter her from living a normal life.
Rodrigues’ mother, Zelda Braithwaite, believes that her daughter’s aptitude and charisma, in spite of her physical challenges, allowed her participation in the HEYS programme and gave her the opportunity to leave an indelible mark on the lives of her peers and anyone who she may come in contact with.

In addition to her culinary skills, she is married and is the mother of 12-year-old Triston Rodrigues. Aside from her motherly duties, the woman finds time to do embroidery and garment construction, which ensure an additional income for the family.

When the HEYS programme was introduced in 2016 by the APNU+AFC Coalition Government, Rodrigues was among more than 3,000 persons between the ages of sixteen and thirty-five years (16-35) to get the opportunities to be trained in several vocational skills while also receiving formal training in core areas. Many of the participants operate successful businesses in all ten administrative regions. In Karawab alone, 20 young people benefitted from the initiative.

Like Nadeza, many more life-changing testimonies can be seen and heard nationally, which have positively influenced the target group- the youth- as the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs and the Government, continue to deliver their mandate to the indigenous people, through well-planned and executed programmes and initiatives.

To date, Government has successfully concluded two cohorts, with plans in place for the execution of a third in 2020, which targets another four thousand youth.  This will bring the number of young people exposed to this life-changing initiative to more than 5,000.