GUYANA – Yesterday, sixteen-year-old Radika Tanesha Bissoon of Essequibo Coast received a laptop computer from GEPAN under our Support Education Campaign.
Feona Sukdeo delivers computer to Tanesha and her mother on behalf of GEPAN.
Tanesha is a fourth form Business Stream student who, along with her younger sister and brother, performs well in school. However, the low-income family has been under strain ever since an accident left her father partially disabled several years ago. Because they live in a rural community, her mother is only able to find work (domestic help) once a week. Despite the precariousness of their situation, it is the mother’s dream to see her children through school and if possible give them access to higher education – an opportunity she herself didn’t have.
Tanesha stands besides the trophies she has accumulated for outstanding performance in school, over the years.
In the past the Government of Guyana delivered small laptops to families under the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project, but that project ended and the laptops were instead donated to teachers. This is why Tanesha’s mother reached out to GEPAN in a plea for help so that her daughter could get a computer to help with school work, especially for the Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM) syllabus.
We were moved by this family’s struggle to educate their children and their desire to empower their daughters through education. And so were our donors.
In less than an hour of publishing a call for action, we received an out-pour of support from our donors who made this initiative possible. Thanks to their generosity, we secured a brand-new Lenovo portable computer with the latest version of MicroSoft Pack Office installed as well as an antivirus, all backed by 1 TB hard drive storage space.
We encouraged Tanesha and her sister then present to strive for excellence and reassured them that we will continue to monitor their performance in school to ensure that they have the tools they need to succeed. For this family like many others, education is key to conquering poverty.
We are presently seeking opportunities of employment for Tanesha’s mother to help increase the family’s monthly revenues and thereby sustain the children’s education.
To donate to our causes click here or contact us at gepan@hrpguyana.org. We appreciate donations in kind.
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