FOUR hundred children in the community of Cummings Lodge, East Coast Demerara, over the weekend received toys, treats and other goodies in anticipation of the upcoming Christmas holiday.
This was done by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, with the Minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud leading the proceedings.
In the spirit of the season, the minister and her team travelled to the East Coast community where the children eagerly awaited their goodies. Before distributing the items, Minister Persaud interacted with the children.

In her capacity as minister, she encouraged the children to always attend school, to study hard and do their absolute best to respect their teachers, and to love and respect their parents.
On the topic of bullying, the minister urged the students to always report bullying to their teachers, parents or even grandparents. “Bullying is wrong. No one should bully anyone,” she said, adding, “Those of whom are bullies, and no one is talking about you or don’t want to admit it, that’s not a good thing. If something is bothering you, tell your parents or teachers.”

Minister Persaud wished the children and their families a blessed holiday.
The minister and her team also visited the community of Sophia, specifically ‘D’ and ‘E’ Fields. While there, she extended good wishes to all residents and children on behalf of the Government of Guyana and her ministry.
Like the Ministry of Human Services, representatives of other ministries have visited communities and distributed toys to the children, spreading cheer and creating memories.

In addition to this gesture, the government has throughout the years made several commitments towards the protection and welfare of children including investing heavily in education countrywide, from the hinterland to rural and city schools, establishing a national child labour policy, encouraging parent-infant interaction, and passing laws to protect children under the age of 18 from abuse, exploitation and excessive interference.