Parents of children with disabilities excited about cash grant, other initiatives to support PWDs

Noting that Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) have often been neglected over the years, parents who have to take care of these special needs children are excited about the $100,000 cash grant announced by President Dr Irfaan Ali.
The Head of State made the announcement on Friday last during an interactive session with this vulnerable section of society at State House.
In addition to the cash grants, President Ali assured that the Government is committed to uplifting the lives of PWDs and will be rolling out a number of other initiatives aimed at achieving this.

One such initiative is the establishment of centres in every region that will offer a variety of services to this vulnerable group of individuals. In addition, President Ali said the Government will work with the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and the University of Guyana to create special programmes that will see teachers receiving better training on how to deal with various special needs children.
Avil Bisnaught, the mother of 13-year-old Alex Persaud – who is permanently bound to a wheelchair – said the cash grant will significantly help her in taking care of her son and she is looking forward to what else the Government has in store for this underrepresented group.
“Well, as a mother of a special needs child, I think it’s very good and very nice of him [the President] to give a $100,000. Nobody never really pay attention to if children with special needs need anything, so anything is better than none. So, I think it’s something very good and I hope that it becomes fruitful so that we can get more often,” Bisnaught explained.
The mother also believes the development of centres for PWDs and the training of teachers are “important” undertakings and she hopes that eventually, it will transform the lives of these persons.
“The [existing] special needs schools are so full…we need more special need schools and more so, we need more teachers on special needs that are trained,” she expressed.
President Ali had also announced that a registry will be created that will automatically qualify all children with disabilities for access to public assistance which will bring an end to the tedious task of parents and guardians having to verify this through the public system, of which there was a barrage of complaints against public officers.
In fact, Bisnaught shared her experience with the process of applying for public assistance for her son. She said that she applied four times, and was denied on all entries. She said that one public officer was disrespectful to her, to the point where she had to ask to speak to a supervisor. Even then, her request for public assistance was still denied.
“The amount of hassle and talks, you got to be hearing…sometimes you feel so small with how those people talk to you,” the mother recalled.
Kenroy Joseph, the father of 10-year-old Keona Joseph faces similar struggles in taking care of his daughter, who is diagnosed with cerebral palsy – which is a group of disorders that affect a person’s ability to move and maintain balance and posture.
He too believes all the initiatives announced by the Head of State will be beneficial. “People need to look at it in a holistic way…,” Joseph explained, referring to all the programmes in place to support PWDs.
The father explained that though his daughter is living with a disability, his goal is to help her become independent by the time she reaches 18. “At the end of the day, I’m looking at her future…when she reach 18, she must have something…in terms of money in her bank account…or if she want start her own business or whatever, there must be something for her,” he explained.
Dharshanie Purnwasy, the mother of ten-year-old Saskia Purnwasy who is on the autism spectrum, shared similar sentiments. According to her, raising a child with a disability is an extremely challenging task.
“She’s not eating no solid food, she’s walking but not perfectly, you gotta help her to go up the stairs…,” the mother shared, noting that Government’s assistance and support are significant.
The cash grant, the woman explained, will help to offset medical and hygienic expenses associated with raising her child.
More importantly for her, however, is the establishment of more special needs schools across the country. The woman explained that most of such institutions are in Georgetown and for families like her, who live out of the city, it is difficult to transport children with special needs.
“So, we’d have to take taxi and that’s expensive…so I think a school would be nice for her up the East Coast [of Demerara],” the mother explained.
Meanwhile, Ganesh Singh, who is the Programme Coordinator at the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD), is extremely pleased with the announcements made by the Guyanese President.
Singh, for years, has been advocating for more opportunities for PWDs and he is excited to see his efforts were not in vain. Of importance, he said, is the recognition that many of these support initiatives will be decentralised.
“This is something that we are extremely happy about because the concept of those centres or the nature of those centres would be one that provides training and employment for persons with disabilities. So, once those centres are established in all the regions, we are assured that persons with disabilities will gain meaningful employment. So, we’re very happy about that,” he expressed.
“And, it’s very pleasing to know that it’s going to be done in all the regions because for a very long time, things have been isolated just on the coastland and persons with disabilities in the outlined regions or the rural parts of Guyana are not being afforded an equal opportunity,” Singh added.
Meanwhile, when pressed by reporters on whether the $100,000 cash grant will be an annual initiative, President Ali explained that, “I can only speak for now. We’ve assessed our revenue and this year, it’s a one-off grant.”
In addition to the President’s announcements, First Lady Arya Ali has been able to raise the sum of just over $13 million through an All-White fundraiser event that was recently hosted, and that money will now be used to commence the construction of a business centre for persons with disabilities (PWD) in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).(Shane Marks)