Teacher brings yearly cheer to underprivileged children in the spirit of Christmas

Dec 25, 2022 News

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By Malisa Renada Playter Harry

While millions of children will be finding presents under their Christmas trees, there are also millions of children worldwide who have never gotten a gift on Christmas Day. These children live in dire circumstances as their parents are not capable of providing the most basic needs due to extreme poverty.

Here in Guyana, Christmas time is an important holiday and is celebrated by persons from all religious and ethnic backgrounds. It a special time of year where persons, particularly children, also look forward to gifts. And while many are fortunate enough to get their heart’s desires, others are left wondering where their next meal would come from, and if their parents can afford to buy them toys for the holidays.

There is one woman though, who hopes to make a change in the lives of less fortunate children, mainly because of her humble of upbringing and what she faced when she was a kid too.

Naressa Drijodhan, a 37-year-old mother of one from Albion Estate Road and a teacher at Belvedere Primary for over 16 years, has vowed to make a difference within her community and the hearts of underprivileged children, who she engages with on a regular basis due to her job.

Naressa had an idea to bring cheer to children by giving gifts and delicious food during the holiday season, all of which she does personally with the help of generous donors and her daughter.

“Christmas Cheer” as she has officially named it was conceptualized in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses were shut and people lost their jobs, so Naressa was of the belief that toys etc were not on the priority list for their kids, “it was more of people ensuring they had a meal and we know that it’s a tradition that kids get toys and goodies, especially in the areas I work, the squatting areas of Hampshire and Belvedere…”

She noted that those communities are the closest to her heart particularly because she teaches in that area and also grew up in Belvedere.

“A lot of the children are from impoverished homes and by teaching in that school majority of the children come from poor families…”

So during 2020 she decided to take advantage of her Facebook following since she had thousands of persons following her. She posted that she will be doing a “Christmas Cheer” and she indicated that she would be giving out toys and goodies with a target of 50 children.

“I posted it and when I posted it, persons from overseas, they checked in with me and asked me what is it I was actually doing and I said what I was gonna do and people came on board and I ended up doing it for 100 kids”

This she said was even more motivation for her to make her “Christmas Cheer” an annual feature in her life. She added that coming from a home where she did not have much, she feels for children who are struggling now and what she is doing is just bringing some form of happiness to them during the holidays.

What is even more admirable is the fact that Nareesa doesn’t only depend on donors, in fact, when there is less that what is needed she churns out her own finances to contribute.

“Sometimes the money I collect is far less than what I need but teachers are actually lucky because we normally get our percent money at the end of the year so I can afford to put some towards the project…” she said happily.

Many of her packages include toys and goodie bags with tons of sweet treats with cupcakes. In most cases the value of the goodie bag is approximately $2000, and that makes her happy.

“When you go into those squatting areas, you can give those children the smallest item and it will brighten up their day…”

Neressa said it’s their smile and the look on the faces of the children who receive her goodies is what makes her day and makes her look forward to every Christmas.

“I feel as though I am giving back. A lot of people don’t believe me when I tell them I come from a shack, four of us in a single bedroom house and Christmas time use to be so sad because my parents were very poor and it breaks my heart knowing some children still live like that today,” she revealed.

Neressa also hosts a little Christmas party at her house for the kids where they can have lunch and receive their gifts, but for those that can’t go she takes her car and drives around with her daughter to share out to the needy children.

She noted that what makes it even more special is that her daughter is involved and hopes that she can value what she has, “I want to inspire her to continue and do this for generations to come.”

Her target this year is 100 children but notes that there will be more. She hopes to continue every year and eventually expand to other areas but is thankful to many of her donors including SC Imports, N&S Algoo and Payless Variety Store along with a few of her Facebook friends both local and overseas for making her initiative such a massive success.

Mahatma Ghandi once said “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”. For Naressa, she is well on her way.

 

 

 

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