THIRTY-FOUR year old Rocliffe Rodrigues lost one of his legs several years ago but the father of three still climbs onto his horse and leads his cattle, sheep and other animals to their pens.

The young man was enrolled in the Hinterland Employment Youth Service (HEYS) programme of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs in 2019, and, with the support of his wife, he was able to expand his farm.

Rodrigues and his wife own a growing animal farm in Aranaputa, North Rupununi. They possess 7 heads of cows, 106 sheep, 20 pigs, a duck farm and several horses.
According to the ministry, the young man says he’s proud of all his accomplishments since participating in the youth program in 2019.

He was able to defy the odds, and, together with his wife, the man has created a sustainable livelihood for his family.
The enthusiastic farmer revealed that, in the earlier stages of getting his business off the ground, the business faced its fair share of challenges, but with support, he was able to come this far.

He said his biggest fear was the fact that he has one leg which caused great uncertainty as it related to his ability to grow his business since the negative forces were prevalent, compounded by an illness that was plaguing his animals, proper housing and fencing for protection.

Credit he says, must be given to a villager who saw his potential and kept encouraging him to continue and not give up.
“I wanted to give up, sheep getting sick, some going to people house and eat up deh things, so I decided to sell out and kill and sell and done with dah, but I reach this man and he told me to never give up and to this day he always tell me that. It was very hard but I still coming through and I am proud of myself because I have my own farm,” he said confidently.

He added that he realised that “life doesn’t end there, you got to do what you got to do, do it like a man so not because I got a one foot I can’t do it, I never giving up.”
He said “in the next ten years I see myself as a big, big businessman I want no less than five thousand sheep, my own butcher shop, couple hundred heads of cows you know, I have to know how to set myself.”

Rodrigues also revealed that only last year, he was able to dig a well on his farm and it will ensure his animals have enough water all year round.
Speaking about the opportunities HEYS has afforded him and hundreds of others countrywide, Rodrigues posited that “the HEYS program was more than just a stipend, today plenty people out there want this opportunity and can’t get it. Plenty of them from here fall away and them well and strong and watch at one foot.”

On the other hand, he said his personal development also comes with its fair share of challenges since “some people vex that I making it now you know, even some of my own friends they saying one foot getting rich and now he turning a snitch, but I doing what I got to do, that is my first priority.”

He said he is thankful for the support he continues to receive from his wife and the wider community and more so “the government for giving us this opportunity.”
Like Rodrigues, the HEYS program also provided opportunities to the differently abled across the hinterland and many have shared life-changing testimonies on the positive impact the program continues to make in their lives.

The HEYS Program which is now deemed a movement, has seen close to four thousand youths benefit, and there are already plans for a third cohort in 2020 which will target four thousand youths.