— parents welcome automatic public assistance announced by President

AVIL Bisnauth was refused four times when she attempted to apply for public assistance for her son. It would be for one reason or the other that the officers would decline her application. On many occasions, she felt that she and her son were judged harshly and on the basis of only what people could see on the outside.

No one truly understood the difficulties associated with the single mom raising her 13-year-old child with Spina Bifida. Her son, Alex Persaud, was born with a hole in his spine which renders him unable to walk and confined to a wheelchair. So while he may look fine as if simply sitting in a wheelchair, it is a mountainous task for Avil to care for him properly.

Perhaps it is for this reason that she is one of the persons who was thrilled to hear President, Dr Irfaan Ali announce that automatic public assistance would be given to children with disabilities as a means of long-term support.

“We were there at State House. It was very good hearing about so much that the President will be doing for people with disabilities. No one usually pays attention to those with special needs… no one gives you anything,” she shared in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Sunday.

Avil also welcomes the $100,000 grant that was announced. She currently has to do everything with the money coming in from the small shop that she runs. Accessing public assistance, she said, has been a challenge. “I applied four times and not once did they grant it. They would tell me to summons the father or get a job or that government can’t mind my child. I’m so relieved; automatic qualification would be so good,” Avil expressed.

She is hoping that the buses announced by President Ali would be able to accommodate those children like her son who are confined to wheelchairs.

AMAZING NEWS
Acting Chair of the National Commission on Disability Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon, described the recent announcements for persons with disabilities (PWDs) as “amazing news.” “I commend President Ali for the sterling declaration that has been made and we also commend the Government of Guyana, in particular the First Lady, for her recent announcement of the new building.”

Persaud-McKinnon pointed out that the majority of persons with disabilities did not benefit from the initial COVId-19 grant. “So we are very grateful for this laudable cash-relief measure that was recently announced.”

Programme Coordinator of the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD), Ganesh Singh, said all member agencies across Guyana are extremely elated with the announcement by the President.

“We are aware that there are additional expenses that those parents need to incur as it relates to covering the needs because at times they cannot use regular transportation, may have additional medical expenses; expenses with diapers and so forth. We must commend His Excellency and by extension, his government for all the measures they would have [sic] implemented for persons with disabilities,” Singh offered.

SORE TOPIC
He is also happy that PWDs would no longer have the challenges that they do to access public assistance. “It is a sore topic that has been ongoing for many years and we are very happy that finally the President would have [sic] addressed this.”

Singh said several of the announcements made are in line with what is in the Disability Act and also in line with what the disability community has been asking for. “I am happy that the President is fulfilling his party’s manifesto to the disability community and the promises he made to us when we had met him.”

Meanwhile, Afsana Ally, of Number 76 Village, Corriverton, Region Six, was also very happy to hear about the new measures in place for PWDs. Her 12-year-old daughter, Aseefa Ally, has had a vision disability since from birth which makes achieving each milestone in her life a challenge. Even so, Aseefa has been doing very well in school and this of course takes lots of resources.

But her parents were denied public assistance because both of them are teachers and were deemed financially fit to support her.

“Her needs drain our finances,” Afsana expressed. “So I am very pleased at the announcements. It will be helpful to many children. I just hope that there wouldn’t be conditions attached to it.”

Sophia Subrattie, of Tucber Park, New Amsterdam, is another parent who deeply appreciates the new measures announced. The single-parent mother of Jesiah Dos Santos, an autistic 13-year-old, has to contend with several expenses to be able to provide quality care for her son. For one thing, she has to ensure that she gets a driver to take Jesiah around as many would not understand his condition and way of doing things. Her son, like many others with a disability, is “high on maintenance” and so the cash grant announced is especially welcomed by her.

Another parent, Stacy Reece, of Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, is caring for her 15-year-old son Jarese Jeffrey who has a vision disability. She believes that the new measures would aid PWDs in becoming more independent.

Reece would especially like to see more attention being given to children with disabilities who would like to pursue higher education, along with a subsidised cost for their medication.