New Jersey Arya Samaj hands over house to Enmore family

Sep 05, 2011 News

After years of dwelling under what can be described as deplorable conditions, Kamlawattie Harrilall and her family can now boast of being one of Guyana’s newest home owners.
Thanks to the New Jersey Arya Samaj Humanitarian Mission, which has a Guyana Chapter, Harilall’s dream of emerging from the throes of poverty came through two Sundays ago with the official handing over of a three bedroom concrete single flat house in the Haslington New Housing Scheme on the East Coast of Demerara.
While the house which cost a little over $1M can be considered some kind of a gift- because Harilall hadn’t the means to achieve it-she and her husband will actually be paying for it over a period of time.
However, there is no interest attached and the installments are tailored to suit the family’s meager earnings while allowing the children to remain in school.
A few months ago Harilall, her husband and four children eked out a living in a single room mud floor apartment in the bottom flat of an Enmore house.
They cooked their food on a fireside in the yard, which was also where they emptied their stomachs.
Mosquitoes, rats and roaches shared their modest dwelling.
Now, the smiles on their faces are as wide as the Essequibo River when they were presented with the keys to their new home and a new life.
Avinash Persaud, President of the Guyana Chapter of the New Jersey Arya Samaj told this newspaper that the organization was pleased to be associated with the project, which commenced about two months ago, since the family was observed to be hardworking and the parents were hooked on ensuring that the children receive an education.
“We recognized that the family was not a lazy family, they did not put poverty in front of sending these children to school. And because of the family’s passion for education, that is why we embarked on this task,” Persaud said.
He explained that the family will not have to replay the total cost of the house since the Arya Samaj through the benevolence of persons in the diaspora, has donated a significant sum to the project.
“This makes my heart smile…and seeing the smiles on the faces of this family is one of the best thing that one can ask for because when you put a smile on a child’s face you put a smile on the world,” Persaud told this newspaper.

The brand new house that was handed over to the Harilalls two Sundays ago.

The project actually kicked off during a recent visit of Pandit Suresh Sugrim of New Jersey, USA, who explained that the Arya Samaj’s latest gesture is just a continuation of the work it has been doing to help people to emerge from the fangs of poverty.
The organization has been working in Guyana since 2005 and has spent millions of dollars assisting persons throughout Guyana.
“As of 2010/2011 we talk about empowerment and education, and the only way we can break the cycle of poverty in this nation is through the power of education…we try to help families who are willing to help themselves,” Pandit Sugrim stated.
He said that the reason for having the family pay back for the house interest-free, is to empower them by giving them the scope to work, to earn and to have and feel a sense of ownership.
“Sometimes when you tend to give everything free, people do not appreciate it,” Pandit Sugrim said, adding that the organization has already built several houses free of cost to the owners.
For Harrilall, a domestic, the repayment figure of $10,000 per month is a fair deal.
“That’s fair,” she said. “I am proud of the Arya Samaj,” she added, her next step is to start buying some furniture, since her previous dwelling could not accommodate these luxuries.
“I don’t have a TV, I don’t have chairs but my children are very proud because then gon own dem own home. Me husband very glad too,” she added.

3 thoughts on “New Jersey Arya Samaj hands over house to Enmore family”

claude50 September 5, 2011 at 1:19 pm

Well well this is a very good house to further make a good comparison in size an value to those shown by K-News an that of NIS building in Berbice which is of a larger scale by L-W-H against the cost…put the 4 bldg together you got the size of the NIS bldg with the cost way less than 25M….
Guest September 5, 2011 at 2:04 pm

would have been great to give them that house for free, lool like pandit into poor people real estate
vijay singh September 5, 2011 at 2:30 pm

Krinvanto Vishwam Aryam, Very noble of Pt Sugrim and his samaj