A husband and wife of 53 years, Ivan and Juliet Bennet, were among some 166 persons from Region One (Barima-Waini) to receive free tested spectacles from the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, through the Difficult Circumstances Unit (DCU).
A team from the Ministry, led by subject Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud visited the communities of Mabaruma and Moruca on Friday, March 24, 2023 to provide these lens to those in need, particularly children, pensioners and single parents.
Juliet said, “it was challenging [without spectacles], I’m not young to work anymore and depending on old age pension so I can’t afford it. It is going to improve my life because although I am old, I am doing needle work, making pillow case, table cloth and so on and this spectacles will help me to see the needle eye because I punish to thread the needle so it would help me in every way and when I go to church it would help me to read because I couldn’t read without it.”
Ivan noted, “For me, I am happy, we used to get visit from the doctors and they didn’t come in a very long time, then was the first time I got my eyes checked and I got spectacles that didn’t last very long and I am happy the Ministry came in because we had to travel out two or three times if we wanted to get. I must thank the Ministry of Human Services for these spectacles, I am happy to be able to see very clear.”
Minister Persaud said, “It is all about making sure that you have good vision, so you are able to study harder and better and be able to do all the work you want to do, especially if it involves reading.”
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 problem 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, several assistive aids were also distributed in these communities to help persons with permanent disabilities to improve their quality of life.
“In line with our policy as a ministry to ensure persons with permanent disabilities have a better quality of life, we are directly contributing through Government’s budgetary 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 wondering how can they afford a wheelchair or walker, it was a lot of difficulty 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 impacts 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 shortest possible time, 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 offences 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.
