The Give A Chance Foundation

Aug 29, 2021 News

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…The children and young adult charity making a case for emotional intelligence learning in schools

“One hundred percent of all the efforts made to assist us goes into the work we do and ensuring that the children and youth benefit from the work.”

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – When a person experiences stress stemming from the pressures of life, it is important that they hone a certain set of skills that will help them to successfully navigate those challenges and lead wholesome, productive lives.

This skill set is known as Emotional Intelligence (EI). EI is essential to helping a person develop adequate coping mechanisms to manage difficult times. Developing this particular skill set is especially important for children who are coming from difficult circumstances or dealing with challenges at home as it can directly impact their ability to focus on academic learning.
As such, the Give A Chance Foundation (GACF), a local charity that assists children and young adults in Guyana with finding long-term solutions to poverty through innovative education and livelihood projects is making a case for Social and Emotional Intelligence (SEL) to be taught in schools.
The local non-profit organisation was founded by businesswoman, Miranda Thakur-Deen, and her family has lead several education support initiatives in various communities across the country since 2008.
Thakur-Deen told Kaieteur News that the idea for GACF was born out of a need for education support initiatives that she and her siblings had identified while growing up in a little village called Noitgedacht, Wakenaam, in the Essequibo Islands.
She explained, “While growing up in rural Guyana, we understood how difficult it was for people of limited resources to get the necessary tools [text books and school supplies] for their children… And, as children, not having that support system prevented us, even if we wanted to, from pursuing higher learning at the University of Guyana…”
As a result, Thakur-Deen said she and her siblings made the best of the education they acquired and went into various fields of work.

However, after working for many years in insurance, she joined her siblings in their quest to establish, Atlantic Ventures Inc., a gold mining company that came on stream in 2006.
Then, as the business progressed, Thakur-Deen said that “the family decided to do something about the need we saw, starting with our community in Wakenaam.”
Since then, the foundation has led backpack and school supply drives to assist hundreds of children from various communities, particularly those in the hinterland, get ready for the new school term; assisted National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) students with bursary awards and also by donating supplies, computers, bicycles, and other items to them.
The GACF is also committed to providing basic health care to underprivileged children in rural and urban communities.
Thakur-Deen says the organisation is supported by the family business as well as friends and supporters of the charity. “One hundred percent of all the efforts made to assist us goes into the work we do and ensuring that the children and youth benefit from the work,” she pointed out.
In addition, she said that the education support, GACF has lead social initiatives aimed at helping youths from depressed communities navigate societal ills. One such project is the mentorship programme for young boys from ‘Warlock’ East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, a community plagued by crime and poverty.All of these efforts, Thakur-Deen says is in keeping with the four pillars of the organisation, which are: championing the power of giving another chance, providing access to quality education, offering a ray of hope for a good generation and advocating emotional intelligence for good health and wellbeing.
The latter pillar is where GACF, its staff, and stakeholders have been increasingly focused on promoting, especially in wake of the plethora of social and emotional challenges that arose out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last February, GACF launched a project to “promote and implement Social and Emotional Learning in Guyana.”
The course, which is titled ‘Wisdom through EQ [Emotional Quotient],’ was aimed at facilitating the training of teachers, psychologists and volunteers across the country.
Through an international partner, BYO Destiny, the foundation’s objective was for the participants to receive professional training in order to better equip them to join the movement of EQ and SEL in Guyana.
Practically, those involved in the course underwent four weeks of training with six-eight hours of instruction weekly, which is provided through written, video, and audio learning modules as well as two video conference meetings.
Thakur-Deen emphasised that it is especially needed given the stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
She explained that developing emotional intelligence is linked to better stress management skills and people are better equipped to avoid getting overwhelmed with responsibilities during challenging times.

Added to this, Thakur-Deen said that given the ongoing pandemic, SEL has become even more important because of children being placed into isolated and often, heavily stressful situations.
To this end, the organisation on Friday hosted yet another EI session that was aimed at training children ages seven to 12 years.
The session was facilitated by Barbados-based certified Personal and Business Development Coach, Georgia Inniss.
With her expertise and certification as an EI administrator, Inniss, a Guyanese by birth, hosted a session on exploring personality types and discovering strengths and stretches, with children from the GACF.
Thakur-Deen noted that the children’s session is part of efforts to further advance their mandate to promote EI learning.
The activity’s aim was to promote students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship, and responsible decision-making skills. These, in turn, provide the basis for them to be more successful at school, in relationships, at home, and beyond.
The GACF founder noted that her efforts to advocate for EI learning have been ongoing for a number of years.
She noted that the movement is silently growing as more people are realising the importance of mental health in their overall well-being. The foundation has lead several awareness walks and pop-up shops aimed at promoting SEL.
Additionally, on Social and Emotional Learning Day held on March 26 annually, GACF usually hosts activities, programmes, and events to highlight the importance of SEL. To further underscore the importance of EI, the charity has plans to embark on a social media campaign to raise more awareness by promoting and advocating for SEL.
The foundation’s overarching objective is for EI and SEL to become a regular aspect of learning in Guyana. In one of its previous statements issued to the media on the subject, the GACF stressed that EI is as important as academic learning since it teaches practical skills to overcome difficulties encountered in everyday living.
To this end, the GACF believes the onus is on the educators, be it parents or actual teachers, to first learn the skill of emotional intelligence so that the next generation can be given the necessary tools to implement these techniques into their everyday lives.
“The best part of EQ is that it is 100 percent teachable and learnable but it cannot be taught with the use of textbooks or lectures…it has to be practiced,” the GACF said in the statement. GACF can be reached on Facebook or via email at [email protected] or on telephone (592) 600-0044 or 592-231-8699.

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