How one family turned a Christmas tragedy into triumph

Dec 25, 2013 News

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By Leonard Gildarie
For Guyanese, Christmas in the homeland is like no other. Whether you are living in the cold of North America or the sunny Caribbean of Barbados or St. Maarten, the taste of the garlic pork, the ‘clean-up’ for the holidays, the ginger beer, the downtown madness of GT, the traffic jams … all form part of a unique package. It can never taste the same or feel like Guyana.

And who can forget the blessed rains that come with the season?
It is the biggest of holidays. It holds special significance for many…the end of a hard year of work, and celebrations for the beginning of another.
But for one family, the holidays would represent something else.
On Christmas Day, in 2005, one man was on his way home to his family at Grove Housing Scheme, East Bank of Demerara but he never made it. The mangled remains of the pickup of Adrian Rodrigues were found at Herstelling, a village a few miles away. It was a terrible time for his wife, Nafeeza, and two children, Avian and Anissa. Avian was just 12, and his sister one year younger. That Christmas Day would forever be remembered by the three.
Nafeeza was left with the responsibility of taking charge of the funeral arrangements and worrying about the future of her two children.
It was a tough time; a working mother faced with explaining to her children that Christmas will never be the same again.
Over the next few months, Nafeeza or ‘Nafo’ as she is known, went about picking up the pieces.
The next Christmas came around quickly. The hurt was still raw, but the mother was determined to show her two children that life continues and that adversity is no excuse for not helping others.  She went about putting her plans into motion. Several boxes of stuff were bought and she insisted that the two children be part of the arrangements.
That Christmas, 75 children from the village were selected and the two children were busy helping to prepare gifts.
“It was the joy that I saw on their faces that made me decide it was something we had to continue.”
2006 was the beginning of something that has grown and taken on a life of its own.
“The next year, children kept reminding us to invite them to the Christmas party and then we included the children from Kaneville and Samatta Point; areas behind where we live.”

Though she was a single mother, Nafeeza was not daunted with the expense that came with such a venture. An aggressive person by nature, she went to her relatives, neighbors, friends, workplace and even business entities, asking for help.
She cajoled, begged and continually pestered everybody on her list to ensure that the hampers were completed on time.
And so it went on the next few years. It was in late 2009 that Nafeeza and a few of her close friends decided that the community had many other needs.
There were many children without clothes, shoes and basic school necessities.
It was that year that she, along with her friends established the Guyana Pride Foundation.
Nafeeza, in her trademark style, converted her garage into a storeroom. Throughout the year, with items donated from Food For The Poor, the Bernice Mansell Foundation, the Demerara Lioness Lions Club, friends and family, she opened that garage and placed notices of regular distribution exercises.
The crowds came. “Every little thing that one can do to better this world, it helps. My friends and I saw the difference that these little actions made and decided that it cannot be stopped.”
Within the last two years, the Christmas hampers and gifts have grown to benefit more than 200 children and senior citizens.
“Last week, a family that suffered a loss of a loved one reached out to us and sponsored over 50 children who received meals in the area of Kaneville,” Nafo said.
The Guyana Pride Foundation has since established its own facebook page and has been attracting the attention of quite a number of other charitable organizations.

“We are hoping that early in the New Year we will fully take this organization to another level, registering it as a Non Governmental Organisation. I could not have done it without my family, special friends and neighbours, and of course the people who always came for the support despite how small it was. We are of course doing the hampers and having a Christmas party this year for over 200 children and senior citizens.”
For the little lady of Grove, her work to grow the foundation is a passion.
“Yes, we put God in-charge of everything, since all good things are possible through him.   We experience the pain associated with loss every Christmas, but we also feel the joy of knowing that the occasion will make a difference and bring joy to many.”
 

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