Latest update November 26th, 2024 1:00 AM
Digicel surprises four families with $$$ millions
– 13-year-old homeless reunited with family, now in school
By Leonard Gildarie
For a few years, a nine-year-old boy lived on the streets of Georgetown. He grew up in an impoverished area, from an incestuous relationship, and was physically cursed to be born with no anus.
Doctors managed to fit him with a makeshift one which still does not fully work.
At the age of six he left his shack in a so-called “ghetto” area in the city, to sleep on the pavement, before the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) , an arm of the Ministry of Human Services, pulled him off, giving him shelter and food.
His mother, with five children, and no job and man in the house to bring in money, faced many days of feeding her children on water and “tennis rolls”.
Tears ran down her cheeks yesterday as she spoke about it. But there was some good news for her yesterday.
Government gave her a piece of land and then built a house. But it is still to be furnished and she still has no job.
And her son who slept for three years on the pavement and who is now 13 is in school.
Yesterday, Digicel, one of the country’s mobile company, made moves that may change the mother’s life…if she makes use of the opportunity.
Digicel with the media, the Ministry’s official and their models, descended on the home of the woman and surprised her with $500,000. It is the hope that the money will give her a start in life.
It is Digicel’s fourth anniversary in Guyana and according to the company, it is part of the company’s way of giving back to Guyana and four families benefitted as a result.
According to Ann Green, head of the CCPA, the mother, whose name the newspaper has decided not to publish for privacy reasons, had been knocking on her door at the Ministry for years now.
“The boy has issues… you have to understand the environment he grew up in. I am glad that they got the help.”
According to Digicel’s Public Relations Manager, Shonnet Moore, four families were paid surprise visits between last week and yesterday as part of the fourth anniversary celebrations.
Krishna Sohanlall, 14, of Patentia Housing Scheme, West Bank Demerara, suffered from a congenital heart defect and needed an aortic valve replacement. He received a $1M cheque to help pay for expenses of a surgery in India. He left Guyana on Friday.
Savitri Singh of Kingston, who begs for help in the streets of the city, was found by Digicel after the company wanted to assist somebody right in the neighbourhood where the head office is located. The mother of four received a cheque for $500,000. Sandy Accra of La Parfait Harmonie also received a cheque for $500,000. Leslyn Williams of Bare Root, East Coast Demerara, lives in a shack with her seven children.
According to Digicel, the mother has been a source of admiration by residents of her community who can be seen daily taking her children to and from school, despite her difficult circumstances.
The $2M presented to the family will be going to construct a new home for herself and her seven children.
Digicel also gave away $4M yesterday on a radio show. Digicel customers were selected randomly and once called they had to answer their phones “I love my Digicel”.
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