Riverain community turns to NGOs for help

Feb 23, 2014 News

– FFTP and SFCD to streamline development

By Samuel Whyte

Seemingly neglected by the Government and other relevant authorities, residents of the riverain community of Barakara, some 75 miles up the Canje River, have turned to two prominent Non-Governmental Organiztaions (NGOs) for assistance.
Their call for help was answered by two of the leading entities in this regard. The St Francis Community Developers (SFCD) and Food for the Poor (FFTP) are set to assist the community in a big way.

Barakara residents during the land-clearing exercise.

The residents during 2013 approached President and founder of the SFCD, Alex Foster, and related their plight and the need for assistance to have something tangible done for their community. Foster who is also FFTP’s Berbice Coordinator, forwarded their concerns to the principals of the entity in Georgetown and after some more discussions, it was agreed that a number of initiatives would be undertaken.
The first project will be the construction of a Community Centre which is underway and should be completed within a month.
According to Foster, he was amazed at the interest, keenness and working ability of the residents of the densely populated community which has a school and a health centre.
He said that he started to work with the community during last year and it was in December that the residents approached him and expressed their desire to have the project with his assistance. He subsequently visited the area. “There were trees higher than buildings, and I said to them that they would have to remove this jungle.”
What happen next took him by surprise.
“I didn’t expect the ‘jungle’ to be removed so fast. The residents used whatever they had… chainsaws, axes, cutlasses and whatever else, and cleared away the large trees within two weeks. They took pictures and brought them out to me.”
Foster said that all of the materials have been acquired with the necessary funding available. He said that the supplier has promised to deliver them free of cost. The building will be painted and fitted with all the modern amenities including toilets, library and computers. The centre will also be equipped with a skills training centre. Solar panels which have already been bought will be installed to power the computers.
Foster and his team visited the area and have decided to assist the residents by donating 50 additional solar panels for the community which will receive electricity for the first time. He said that FFTP ‘is not done yet’. At the moment, a survey is being done to ascertain the number of legitimate houses in the community and after completion of the first phase, every household in the community will be fitted with a solar panel to provide them with basic electricity.