A SINGLE mother of seven children from Sheet Anchor, East Canje Berbice, received a life-changing gift on Saturday — a brand-new house — through President Irfaan Ali’s Men on a Mission (MOM) initiative.

Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha, along with Regional Chairman, David Armogan and Regional Vice Chairman, Zamal Hussain, handed over the new structure to Pearl Reynolds, 47, who had previously lived in a makeshift zinc house at the same location.

Now, she and two of her seven children, aged 14 and 12, have a safe and comfortable place to call home. Overwhelmed with gratitude, Reynolds, a domestic worker, described the contractors who built the house as “angels” and expressed that this new beginning will positively change the trajectory of her children’s lives.

Contractors Aubrey David of Quality Deliverers, Ameir Adams of A. Adams Enterprise and Julius DeNobrega of Decon Engineering Services came together to make the initiative possible.

Before handing over the house on Saturday, Minister Mustapha emphasised that the MOM programme is an initiative by President Ali to support vulnerable groups. To achieve this, the programme partners with corporate sponsors to help build houses for families in need.

On behalf of the government, he thanked the sponsors, urging, “I want to invite other corporate sponsors to come on board [and]let us ensure that we make that contribution to improve the life of these vulnerable people, let us work together to improve society.”

He highlighted that the handover not only makes a difference for the family but also contributes to transforming communities through various government initiatives.

He also pointed out that the government’s housing programme has seen significant growth, with nearly 40,000 houselots distributed to people across Guyana since August 2020.

Turning to the Canje residents gathered, Mustapha pointed out the hardships that followed after the closure of the Rose Hall Estate, “I came here with our General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo and then Presidential candidate Irfaan Ali, now President, and people were talking and telling us about the suffering and there we made a commitment, the PPP made a commitment and we said when we get back into government we will reopen the Rose Hall Estate.”

He added, “When we make promises, we take it very seriously. Today, the Rose Hall Estate is once again vibrant, it’s running, and it’s giving a lot of jobs to the people right in this community; those are the benefits we are talking about, those are the measures.”