Couple of 53 years among 166 benefitting...

Samantha Matthews, a teacher from the Santa Rosa Primary School where over 50 students benefitted from the programme said, “We are very happy for this initiative, I know the parents would be very happy because it is very costly to go on the coastland to get these things done and now they get it right in their own area. First of all, some of the children have problems with their eyes and when they do tests and in school, they would complain about the pain in their eyes, and I think now they will have better results and see better.”

Through the DCU, sev- eral assistive aids were also distributed in these communities to help persons with permanent disabilities to improve their quality of life.

“In line with our poli- cy as a ministry to ensure persons with permanent disabilities have a better quality of life, we are directly contributing through the Government’s budget- ary allocation in bringing these aids to you in the form of wheelchairs, walkers, white canes, and more. When I first came here as a Minister, people were won- dering how can they afford a wheelchair or walker, it was a lot of difficult to access this and I can say from 2020, people do not have to wonder, you can request it and it is brought to you and if you live in close proximity to the Ministry, you can uplift it,” Minister Persaud said.

Head of DCU, Jashudra Seeram explained, “We are elated to see how our programmes positively impact the lives of our citizens. This is in keeping with fulfilling the Ministry’s mandate of service to the people, we were here a few weeks ago to do the testing and assessment in the short- est possible time, and we are back to fulfill our commitment to ensure persons get the much-needed assistance. As a Ministry, we are happy to be able to see the lives of people improved.”

Meanwhile, over 500 persons across the two locations benefitted from sessions that enlightened them about the services offered by the Ministry such as childcare and protection, trafficking in persons, sexual offenses, and domestic violence and gender affairs.

Persons also utilized the opportunity to seek out advice and clarification on their old age pension and public assistance.