Pres. Obama lauds young Guyanese for work in community health care

Nov 21, 2016 News

United States President Barrack Obama has lauded Guyanese entrepreneur, Abbigale Loncke for her efforts in the area of community health care.
Loncke is one of the top performing participants of the 2016 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) which was hosted in the United States last month.
YLAI is a project drafted by President Obama to empower young people around the world.
The programme aims to ensure that young leaders have the necessary tools, skills, and network to tackle shared global challenges.
The Guyanese entrepreneur was among the few finalists selected to meet with President Obama, in Peru during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.
Loncke is the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Community Health Care, an agency which delivers home care needs for the elderly, sick, disabled, and children in the comfort of their homes. The agency also helps to train women, who are in need of employment and second chances by offering them work as care-givers.
During an address to the (YLAI) participants and other guests in Peru on Saturday, President Obama highlighted Loncke’s work.

An elated Abbigale Loncke during her trip to Peru.

“We need leaders like Abbigail Loncke of Guyana; Abigail are you there? So after struggling to find her own grandfather a home care, Abigail realized there is a problem for so many other families so she started Community Healthcare, a home care agency, and she started out as a service to help families take care of their loved ones but now has a social movement that also provides training and job opportunities for young women in health care so thank you Abigail for the work that you are doing,” the President Obama said.
An obviously stunned Loncke stood as the crowd cheered loudly. She later wrote on her social media page “that moment when you are in the crowd and President Barack Obama talks about you during his SPEECH!”
“In the crowd minding my own business, when out of nowhere, President Obama calls my name! This was the best day ever! Still trying to find some smart words to say… So forgive me right now!”
Loncke who studied Psychology at the Open University in the UK, operates her service out of the Lot 228 Cummings Street Bourda, Georgetown, Community Health Care, agency.
The agency provides home care for the elderly, babysitting and cleaning services for home and office. Earlier this year, the young CEO was among four Guyanese chosen to represent the nation at the YLAI.
At the conclusion of the five week programme, Loncke was amongst 21 finalists to participate in the YLAI pitch competition, where she showcased some of her entrepreneurial skills.
During a recent interview with Kaieteur News, Loncke spoke of her YLAI experience and expressed gratitude for the opportunity to represent Guyana and showcase her skills.
The YLAI programme commenced on October 5 in Dallas and culminated with a summit in Washington, D.C. in early November.
Over the five weeks, participants shared their experiences in start-ups, small businesses, non-governmental organisations, and similar entities in cities throughout the United States and in partnership with community groups and American universities. The participants further developed their business or social venture plans through an entrepreneurship curriculum and workshops, and by working alongside their American counterparts.
The YLAI initiative was launched to build linkages between young leaders across the hemisphere and to expand opportunities for emerging entrepreneurs and civil society leaders.
In October, the YLAI brought together 250 young leaders from Latin America, the Caribbean, Guyana and the United States for an exchange programme that involves internship and skills-building workshops.
The candidates were successful, having demonstrated “the energy of this generation to build stronger, more prosperous and more secure communities throughout the hemisphere.
Their areas of interest included agriculture, clean energy, consulting, e-commerce, education, entrepreneurship development and support, food and beverage, food security, health care, hospitality, LGBTI rights, marketing and branding, mobile applications, and women and youth empowerment.