IN collaboration with the Red Cross of Guyana, the Rotary Club of Georgetown and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on Saturday, launched the restoration of the Children’s Convalescent Home at D’Urban Backlands, Georgetown.

President of the Georgetown Rotary Club, Sheldon Hazelwood, said that the cost for the entire restoration is estimated to be about $25 million, with the Government of Guyana already donating $2.5 million towards the project.

Hazelwood said much-needed work has to be done at the facility, which will greatly benefit the community as well as the children and staff of the home.
The contract to restore the building was signed on Saturday and work will begin “promptly” on Monday.

General Secretary of the Guyana Red Cross Society, Dorothy Fraser, said the pandemic prevented the Red Cross from fixing the plethora of issues at the home. And so, last year, the Red Cross and the Rotary Club of Georgetown decided that this was going to be one of their main projects this year.

“The children here are very special to us, and they come from all sorts of backgrounds. One of our children many years ago was sent to Canada; we raised the funds in order to have her sent to Canada for surgery. She has done training with us at the Red Cross, and she is presently working at the Georgetown Public Hospital. One little boy was adopted and is doing training in the UK right now, and another young lad is working in an operating theater in one of the hospitals in Ontario, Canada.

“So, there is so much that these children have to offer to our community at large, and it is absolutely wonderful that Rotary is continuing to work with us in what is good for other people,” Fraser said.

She praised the staff who care for the children and emphasised the need for a better building for all of them.

Meanwhile, Leslie Sobers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said the church has always been involved in humanitarian projects.