Macedonia-Joppa Volunteer Committee has recommenced working

Dear Editor,
The Macedonia-Joppa Volunteer Committee (MJVC) on the Corentyne welcomes the new year, after two harsh years of the COVID-19 pandemic that took the lives of almost 1,300 Guyanese and caused 72,000 hospitalisations and more than 70,000 recoveries.
Indeed, the pandemic had taken its toll on the people, especially children, many of whom did not fully understand what the pandemic was about, and the danger it posed to their lives. However, with the diminishing of the pandemic and the decline in the number of infected persons in 2022, the Government relaxed the strict rules it had implemented, and today the situation seems normal in the country.
Because the children were home-bound and could not attend school and social gatherings, or even be outdoor to play with their friends for almost two years, we at the Macedonia-Joppa Voluntary Committee, in an effort to revive the spirit of the children, celebrated the festive season with a lavish Christmas party for more than 200 of them, at the Eversham Village Community Centre on Saturday, December 10, 2022. With smiles on their faces, the children, aged from three to 15 years, enjoyed the evening with a variety of dishes, drinks and juices, as they met and greeted their friends, and sang and danced to their favourite tunes.
The MJVC, a non-profit organization, also provided a Christmas dinner for more than 100 senior citizens on Sunday, December 11. The MJVC also delivered hampers to all of them. And on Friday December 23, 2022, for the first time, the residents of the district, including the young and old, sang carols and witnessed the lighting of an eight-foot Christmas tree in front of the Eversham Community Centre to mark the celebration of the festive season.
The MJVC, founded by Dr. Asquith Rose and led by a team of dedicated men and women from the district, has done a marvellous job in 2022 to help the less fortunate in the area. Funded by a few kind and generous private donors, the MJVC has succeeded in realising its motto of uplifting the people in the district. During the past year, the MJVC has provided hampers to almost all the residents in the district, wheel chairs to senior citizens, chickens to several residents, kites to children, and sports equipment to the youths in the district.
In 2022, MJVC volunteers worked tirelessly to help the residents of the district celebrate Mashramani in February, Easter in April, Independence in May, and Emancipation on August 1. In this new year, the MJVC has plans to establish a race track, a recreational center in the district with several sport facilities for cricket, volleyball, basketball, lawn tennis and track and field.

Sincerely,
Dr Asquith Rose