The spirit of giving

By Dillon Goring

IT has been the practice that whenever you are enriched with good things and have benefitted from things that make a great person, you always want to give back to the community.

These were the sentiments expressed by former media operative, Toriana Bryan Grandison, as she recently disbursed scholarships to students and pupils in the community of Mocha Arcadia, which is situated on the East Bank Demerara, through the Roy Wilson Memorial Agape Scholarship fund in memory of her late grandfather Roy Wilson.

Its main purpose is to assist students and pupils who are successful at examinations, such as the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examination (CSEC) and the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

The Roy Wilson Memorial Agape Scholarship, totalling one million dollars, is a Scholarship Award designed to honour Grandison’s grandfather Roy Wilson, who invested in the lives of young people in the village of Mocha Arcadia.

Grandison‘s grandmother told the recipients that “Education is very important; without education, you are nowhere; we will continue to support you.”

The former journalist explained the purpose of the fund.

“………….. it is so prophetic that [this activity] is being done at a church because it was at this church that I was raised, and when I first desired to attend the University of Guyana, my tuition fees were sponsored by Shilom Gospel Hall to do the pre-law programme; so now that I am back in Guyana, I am moved to give back, because I believe that my life is one of service, so I am announcing a scholarship fund of one million

Guyana

Bryan and Recipients

According to Grandison, the fund aims to assist two students who would have excelled in technical or vocational studies or in the sciences.

Toriana made mention that once the students can prove that they have done really well in school, recipients would be chosen from among applications submitted.

Toriana noted that someone did it for her and she wants to give those students who are struggling financially.

This year’s award focused on students receiving a scholarship to attend the University of Guyana, the Guyana School of Agriculture, and various secondary schools across the country.

The awardees include Saskeia Liverpool of the Eugene Dupuch Law School-Bahamas, Shontell Major, who will be studying for a degree in accounting, and Trevon Barker, who wants to give back to his community by pursuing a Diploma in Agriculture at the Guyana School of Agriculture. Eleanna Joseph of the Covent Garden Secondary School rounded off the list of secondary and tertiary students.

Keyng Lee Bryan, Donovan Smith, and Josiah John, the top performers of the recent National Grade Six Assessment at Mocha Primary, also received monetary bursaries as they prepare to head to the St. Stanislaus College, St. Roses and St. Joseph’s High School, respectively.

The community of Mocha Arcadia will never be the same and, according to Bryan, there are plans to do more and make this event an annual one.

Several overseas organisations have contributed to the lives of students and pupils of various institutions, including primary, secondary, and tertiary.