Overseas-based Guyanese give back to their homeland

Jan 21, 2018 News

Being a humanitarian is a noble undertaking, but persuading others to join a humanitarian drive is by far a more demanding task. It was just such a role that Asia Alli has been playing for some years now. She has been able to agitate a movement that has been allowing for many vulnerable Guyanese to truly experience what it is to be remembered, even some who have been forsaken for far too long.
Although Alli hails from Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara, she migrated to Canada close to three decades ago. However, she has been returning for a number of years, sometimes twice annually.
But her return here hasn’t merely been to reunite with family members and friends, and enjoy the tropical weather. Rather, her mission, together with her husband Sheraz Alli, has been of a compassionate nature.
You see, Asia Alli was long inspired to give back and thus reached out to a number orphanages in this regard. It was something she found satisfaction in doing, along with her husband. But Asia’s decision to post photos from such activities soon started to inspire others.
Before long, she was a member of a group of Guyanese friends residing overseas [Canada and United States] all of whom were driven by the need to give back to their homeland.
With Alli in the forefront, the friends, amounting to about 20, have over the past few years been pooling their resources to cater to orphanages across the country.
“At first, we were sending the stuff in barrels, but before we sent anything we called them to find out what they needed and we would send just that for them,” Alli related.

Giving to the less fortunate

But during the past few years, Alli has been personally doing the distribution with her husband.
The distributions are usually shared on the friends’ Facebook page – Gaff Corner.
And there is no end in sight for the noble mission. In fact, towards the end of last year, Alli and her husband were in Guyana again engaging in the humanitarian venture. They left Guyana a several days ago after a few weeks of even more activities.
But instead of merely focusing on the orphanages this time around, Alli said that the focus was on some elderly homes this year. This new venture was crystallised by Alli, who shared this with her contributing friends.
“In my mind, I feel the orphanages have gotten a lot, so we decided to branch out and include the elders…I told my friends about it and they were all on board,” said Alli, of the recent mission.
The mission took on a feeding outreach which saw elders at the Dharm Shala, the St Vincent Women’s Home and the Palms Geriatric being catered to. More than 200 homeless people between the Bourda and Stabroek municipal markets were also fed, during an outreach.
“The homeless people really touched me…we weren’t giving them much, but they had the nicest things to say… “thanks so much”, “God Bless you”. This really moved me,” said Alli in a sombre tone.
During the recent visit, too, Asia Alli and her husband also prepared and shared meals to the children of Mon Repos. It is her hope that others – even those [who are] right here in Guyana with the wherewithal – would also be inspired to reach out to the needy too.
According to Sheraz Alli, “this is a good feeling…I would want other people to feel how we feel when we see the faces and how they appreciate the little things. When I finish, I just wish we can start all over again.”
“We want people who can afford it to come out and reach these people; you don’t have to wait for tomorrow or next week or next year… or even for somebody to come from overseas…What you can do today, do it today,” urged Sheraz Alli.
The couple is expected to return in July, at which time a donation of beds will be made to the Dharm Shala. It is their expectation that even more will be done for the less fortunate in their homeland in the future.