GGDMA rolls out $6M back-to-school drive with 1,000 school packages

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) has launched a $6 million back-to-school initiative that will see 1,000 school packages distributed to children, including those of workers in the mining sector, across Guyana. The first distribution was held on Saturday at the GGDMA Secretariat, where approximately 150 students from communities in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) received school supplies. The beneficiaries included children from Buxton, East Coast Demerara (ECD), Sophia, Georgetown and families supported by the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Women Across Differences (WAD). GGDMA Managing Director Avalon Jagnandan said the initiative is part of the Association’s corporate social responsibility programme and its efforts to support education.

“Kids are the future of our country, and as a sector, we want to ensure that our kids are well equipped so that they can receive a proper education. This initiative will continue across the other mining regions and districts over the next week,” Jagnandan said. According to Jagnandan, the initiative follows other social responsibility efforts undertaken by the Association. He said while the GGDMA assisted small miners with returning to work last year, its management and executive team decided to focus on children as they prepare for the new school year. “We have 20 miners on board who contributed towards this project. The project is valued at over $6 million, and we are looking at over a 1000 school packages which will be distributed across the length and breadth of Guyana,” he said. The initiative comprises 500 primary school packages and 500 secondary school packages, which will be distributed in communities across the country.

Among the beneficiaries of the first phase was WAD, which works with women and youth, particularly young girls and teenage mothers, in several regions. WAD Coordinator Clonel Samuels-Boston welcomed the support, saying the organisation was grateful that the children of the teenage mothers it assists were included in the programme. “I know this is just the beginning, and we look forward to working together and supporting each other in the future,” Boston said. Community organiser from Buxton, Devon Adams, also thanked the GGDMA for assisting children from the community. The GGDMA said the initiative is intended to help ease some of the financial pressure on parents and guardians as they prepare for the new academic year. The Region Four exercise is the first phase of the distribution, with additional school packages expected to be handed over to children in other mining regions and districts over the coming week.