Over $1M in school supplies donated to Corentyne students

Forty children from the Upper Corentyne on Saturday benefited from more than $1 million in school clothing and supplies from a non-governmental organisation.

Abraham’s Tent, situated at Number 74 Villager, Corentyne, on Saturday donated to children of that community school uniforms, books and bags with other school essentials.
President of Abraham’s Tent, Shamim Ibrahim, explained that the organisation is trying to reach out to the community.
Most of the children are preparing for the 2019 National Grade Six Examinations. A few are in reading classes.
Ibrahim comes from a family of 12 siblings who have all pooled their recourses to assist the community. He said the initial idea was to have an open space so that persons can come for whatever their needs may be.
According to the organisation’s President, one of the initial concepts was to help women and children who may have social issues affecting them; however, because of the lack of the relevant human resources, there was a shift to providing assistance in the field of education.
He said this is also what his parents wanted since they ensured that all of the children received an education although they were poor.
“As such, we are trying to give back to the community by identifying those that are underprivileged and those who might be in need with some extra help with their regular curriculum at no cost,” he said, while noting that the organisation has realised that many children do not attend school regularly.
“Because the parents themselves may not have had a higher education, they may not realise of getting their children an education and granted that many of them might be in dire financial stains right now, so we want to let them know that they should not be keeping their children home because of that reason; not as long as Abraham’s Tent is in existence.”
The Tent has been in existence or the past decade.
Ibrahim further explained that what was done is just the tip of the iceberg of what they would like to do to encourage children to attend school regularly.
The overall programme also involves parents who should not be thinking of depriving their children of an education because of their circumstances.
Noting that it is a known fact that not all will be academically inclined, Ibrahim says future plans include the teaching of a trade to children.
“Such as plumbing, basic electrical, carpentry and so on… In addition to that one of the first projects we are going to undertake at the beginning of next year is sustainable chemical free agriculture,” he added.