NGO launched in Berbice; to provide scholarships to underprivileged students

By Malisa Playter Harry

A Non-Governmental Organization was this week launched at the J.C.Chandisingh Secondary School with the aim of providing financial support to students facing dire circumstances which consequently affect their need to continue their education.

According to its founder,  Mr. Mohabir Persaud, the Mohabir Mookerchand Persaud (MMP) Foundation of Excellence “will accept students who are struggling financially but is doing well academically”.

The overseas-based Guyanese and former student of the J.C.Chandisingh Secondary School posited that he is “hoping to inspire the diaspora and bring change to the lives of children who are going through hardships”.

The first recipient of the Scholarship, Mahendra Phagwah, a 5^th form student who will be writing 16 subjects in the upcoming CSEC examinations, tried to contain tears as spoke of the hardships he endured in his younger years. “I attended the Berbice High School, I had to ride to school everyday,” he said, but his days of riding to school from his No. 2 Village home to Berbice High School was cut short after he was diagnosed with a heart condition. He was forced to leave the school in 2014 after his parents could not afford it financially, “I went to bed in the nights with very little, while my friends had the best bags or books, I had to use whatever little I had”.

After leaving school Phagwah decided to find a job to assist financially but in late 2015 a door of opportunity opened for him to attend school. This he noted was made possible by a teacher of the J.C.ChandisinghSecondary School and the Education Dept in Region 6.

He underscored that “no child should ever be turned down, no child should be deprived of an education” as he told those gathered to not take what they have for granted.

Phagwah was provided with a scholarship for his upcoming CSEC examinations along with other assistance he may need. Ten other students were also the beneficiaries of certificates of commitment to assist financially as they prepare to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination in 2017.

Students from grades 7-11 can submit a letter highlighting their plight and desire to further their education via mmpfoundation.com. in order to benefit from assistance. Students must also have a 65% grade and up to be considered.

A plaque was also unveiled in the school’s compound in honour of Persaud’s initiative to give back wholeheartedly to his former school and to the children going through poverty.