–Human Services Minister urges Mon Repos residents during outreach

RESIDENTS of Mon Repos turned out in their numbers at the Mon Repos Primary School, on Monday, to interact with Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, and to benefit from a wide array of services that the ministry took to the location during the outreach. The minister had the opportunity to listen to the individual concerns of residents, young and old, and to receive feedback from community leaders and heads of several women’s groups on the East Coast of Demerara. In her charge to residents, she encouraged them to “upskill and earn,” so that residents can work with the ministry to have a “bottom-up” approach to development, rather than one that starts at the top and filters down to the bottom of the chain of command. “We want to have a very close connection with people who are on the ground; people at the grass roots level who can give us the best idea of what the community needs to progress,” she told residents, later adding: “We would be in a better position to serve you if we know and understand what the key things are that you would like us to focus on in the community.”

Minister Persaud encouraged women to participate in free courses being offered nationwide by the government, including ones by her ministry, such as the recently launched Women’s Innovation and Investment Network (WIIN). “I want women to stop thinking that they have to go and work for somebody; be your own bosses,” she urged the residents. She also implored them to look at working in groups, and even on their own, to bring out the kind of changes they want to see in their lives. “Go for the things that you don’t normally go for when choosing what course to do. Our training will teach you how to sustain your businesses. And don’t just take the training and sit down with it at home; earn from it. When you use your new skills to earn, you can move from financial dependence to independence,” the minister underscored. Also present at the outreach was a team from the Ministry of Health, to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to those interested. Officers from the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA) were also on hand to meet with residents and address any concerns they might have.
Minister Persaud is continuing her visits to locations all across Guyana in an effort to take the services being offered by her ministry to the people. Just recently, she met and interacted with persons from the Grove/Diamond, East Bank of Demerara communities. She also lately visited Monkey Mountain in Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni) and Kwakwani in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Berbice), where she similarly interacted with residents and helped them sign on to various programmes that the ministry is working on at the moment.