Charitable and humble…‘Leo’ Jaipaul Bharrat is a ‘Special Person’

Mar 30, 2014 News

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“For me, Lions is the only charitable group I would be part of. I am born a Lion and believe in helping those less fortunate.”

By Keeran Danny
Charity is indeed love. It has no boundaries and brings hope and relief to the underprivileged or distraught. Though many might have the means, only a few genuinely give their love voluntarily and without blowing a trumpet.

Humility, charitableness, dedication and capacity are four distinctive attributes of Jaipaul Bharrat that make him a standout and fitting to be this week’s ‘special person’.
I became aware of Jaipaul at his 60th birthday last year when family and friends praised him, particularly for his work in the Lions Club of Bel Air.
In his almost 28 years as a member of the Lions Club of Bel Air, Leo Jaipaul has had the privilege of providing food, clothing, and entertainment for the needy; undertaking developmental projects to help communities, and raising funds for countries affected by disasters, just to name a few initiatives.
Jaipaul Bharrat was born on July 27, 1953, and boasts he was born a Leo.
“I’ve got the lion spirit up in my head, here in my heart, and down in my feet. I’ve got the Lion spirit all over me. So when you understand that song you would understand what it means to be a true Lion.”
He strongly believes that the Lions Club is the main vehicle chosen by the Almighty for him to give selflessly.
“Liberty Intelligence Our Nation Safety…that is what Lions means. We serve the needy, underprivileged, the handicapped, and respond to disaster wherever it occurs. For me, Lions is the only charitable group I would be part of. I am born a Lion and believe in helping those less fortunate,” he said.
Growing up in a single-parent family, with his mother working hard to provide for five children, exposed Jaipaul to many hardships. He was not afforded a secondary education, but found joy in helping his mother to provide for his other siblings. But, even with their humble living, his mother was a charitable woman, undoubtedly one of her traits that imprinted on Jaipaul in the absence of a male role model.
“My mother had to take care of five children by herself. And despite that, she had the drive for charity. As a child I saw her going to the logies on Wales Estate to give charity to the elderly. She would wash their hands and feet, put them to sit and feed them…and give them a gift, either a dress or shirt,” he reflected.

In 1984, with encouragement from a good friend Jaipaul joined the Lions Club of Bel Air, where he was able to organize and mobilize resources to serve the underprivileged. That was the same year he became self-employed and created the stepping stone for his successful spare parts company located at Garnett Street, Georgetown.
As a Lion, he was given the opportunity to utilize his time, labour and financial resources to execute projects in the areas of health, finances, environment and education. But the work of the club could not be achieved without assistance from members of the public who contribute to various fund-raising activities, he added.
According to Jaipaul, fund-raising activity is one of the encouraging factors of being a Lion. Besides building camaraderie with peers, the awareness that a dream, whether building a slide for the David Rose School or upgrading a playground, would be accomplished is quite satisfying.
“Every project that you do is almost an enjoyment and satisfaction. We go into the Amerindian Mission and take items there. The club provides assistance to some young girls at a church on the highway. Seeing their faces light up is just fulfilling,” he said.
Jaipaul believes there is no limitation for charity, and while it may begin at home, there is no harm in extending beyond those borders. For a short period, he had stopped being a member of the Lions Club of Bel Air, but that did not inhibit him from helping the vulnerable.
In 2008, when Pakistan was hit by an earthquake Jaipaul, who was not part of any organization, opened a bank account and raised an undisclosed amount of cash to assist that country. He did a similar exercise when Venezuela experienced a mudslide.
Though he was still able to help others, he knew more could have been done with a team. And so when he rejoined the Lions Club of Bel Air, one of the first ventures he undertook was raising funds to contribute to the rebuilding

of Haiti, following the catastrophic earthquake in 2010. The funds raised were given to Lions Club International, which was one of the first organizations to respond to the disaster.
Like every organization, leadership is important, and Jaipaul’s skills to motivate, mobilize and push forward would have helped to develop the club and see him rise to be the club’s Vice-President and Chairman for several fund-raising committees.
In fact, he was responsible for raising funds for one of the largest ventures undertaken by the club. Jaipaul recalled when Lions Club International was observing its 50th Anniversary celebrations in Guyana, he moved a motion for all the clubs locally to cooperate in building a fence for the Blind Institute. He was the Chairman for that fund-raising committee that garnered over $1M.
As part of the venture, the club held a bar-b-que, domino, dance and softball competitions, and received donations from a variety of companies. The money earned was used to build a concrete and chain link fence and even carry out interior works.
“The Blind Institute is our baby. It used to be a journey for the blind, but we changed the name to a journey for sight. The Lions Club of Bel Air always had a relationship with the institute, where annually, we would organize an entertaining event for members of the institute and present them with hampers before taking them back to their respective homes,” he said.
Outside of this Lions team, for the past 11 years Jaipaul and some of his former villagers have been organizing a senior citizens day for the elders of Canal No. 2 Polder, West Bank Demerara. He said the idea is to give back to their community. For him, the programme allows him to keep his mother’s legacy in his heart.
Cognizant of the importance of education, three years ago, he began sponsoring trophies and incentives for the first, second and third place students for the National Grade Six Assessment of the two primary

schools in Canal No. 2 Polder.
“I wasn’t fortunate to get a secondary education, but I recognize how important it is, because I am now in business and you see the need for education. I believe our children need to be educated. While you are looking for people to work in your company now, you look at the problem you are getting to get educated people to work. So I have decided to invest in it,” he said.  What a special person!

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