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After all the excitement of last autumn and the computer shipment we are now at the point of looking at what is happening with all the opportunities that have opened up as a result of that initiative. Nothing ever seems to stay still at Hope And A Future as we strive to help improve the lives of some of the poorest people in south America and we are really excited to write this update and say that actually, more has happened than you would expect. The work moves on at a pace thanks to all our supporters here and abroad and this is not just an opportunity to update you but also bring you up to speed on our new developments. It has been an unsettled time in Guyana recently with social and political controversies and two very disturbing massacres of innocent people by a notorious criminal gang. The local carnival (called the Mashramani) was very quiet this year as people hesitated to gather for fear of more trouble. A reminder that Guyana still walks a knife edge.
The HOPE Centre (West Bank Demerara) March sees the start of a new semester for the HOPE Centre and the opportunity to offer new courses in addition to the Literacy and Numeracy, Dressmaking, Food and nutrition and Carpentry. Understandably we have been able to start ITC classes with two classes filling to capacity as soon as they were offered. We have the opportunity to start training in welding and fabrication with a local tradesman offering work placements at his work shop.
Also being developed is a course in household appliance repairs, this is absolutely in the vein of Guyanese economics where people will get their equipment repaired rather than replace it, like we tend to do in the west. We would like to start to run hairdressing courses as this is a good living for anyone who is good at it, training at college is expensive for the poor people of the West Bank Demerara. We are currently looking for the equipment to run the class.
All in all we are excited to report 64 new students with another 26 waiting for new classes, we feel this is overwhelming evidence of the value and local relevance of the HOPE centre.
The drug treatment service continues to build slowly with a number of new contacts and at least one person now in regular treatment. We need to be patient as there has never been a community based substance misuse initiative in Guyana.
Berbice (New Amsterdam) Work continues to see the work start in the Berbice area in and around New Amsterdam. The gift of computers and sewing machines was gratefully received and the work now goes on to put them to use. The New Amsterdam area does not attract much support and so everything tends to have to be built from scratch. We are placing our internet café in the village of Rosignal over the river next to the secondary school to help the students with homework. A class room for ITC classes is being built under the Local Full Gospel Church in New Amsterdam. The new building on the back dam is now complete and we are discussing how this can be best utilised. We hope to ship literacy and numeracy material along with school shirts and sewing machines in the near future. As our second initiative in community education and training this is our first decentralised version of the model and as an innovation is developing well.
Region 9 (Lethem) Lethem is a border town situated on the Takutu River which divides Guyana from Brazil. This has always been the route for a very large amount of contraband including arms and drugs. Lethem is a long and arduous journey from the City and so is not well resourced. The schools struggle to keep staff and to get equipment – we were happy to give 8 computers to the local St Ignatious Secondary School and to the 4 to the Primary School in the Amerindian village of Aranaputa.