Shade house project helps over 80 persons with disabilities learn gardening, income generation

By Telesha Ramnarine

Over 80 individuals with disabilities have acquired gardening skills through the ‘Shade House’ project, an initiative by the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD).

Recently, The News Room visited shade houses at the Resource Unit for the Blind in Alberttown and the Open Doors Centre on Thomas Lands. Shannon Forsythe, the project coordinator, explained that GCOPD aimed to provide people with disabilities with skills that could help them generate their own income.

“There are few employment opportunities for persons with disabilities in Guyana, and this is just another avenue we wanted to open for them,” Forsythe said.

“This was for persons in the Special Education Needs schools, those who are part of disability centres, and adults with disabilities—somewhere they can come out, get exercise, and socialize, because gardening is very therapeutic,” she added.

In addition to the training, participants received hand tools and seeds to practice at home.

This year, four shade houses have been constructed at various locations, with a new one planned for Schoonord on the West Bank Demerara.

Over seven weeks, participants from the Ministry of Education Resource Unit for the Blind and Visually Impaired and the Guyana Society for the Blind harvested more than 450 heads of lettuce.

This initiative is part of the “Climate Resilient Actions for Food Security for Persons with Disabilities (CRAFS 4 PWDs)” program, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and funded by SGP Guyana and the Global Environment Facility.