Mental wellness and an increase in suicides are at risk during the coronavirus epidemic; however, the Caribbean Voice will be pushing for more research on the mental health in Guyana, even as it calls on all Guyanese to take part in its virtual candlelight vigil at 20:00hrs on September 10 in observance of World Suicide Prevention Day.
TCV Managing Director, Bibi Ahmad – Photo Credit (Guyana Chronicle)
The vigil will be held alongside a virtual suicide prevention programme, which will be aired on all the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) social-media pages. The event will be held under the theme “Working Together to Prevent Suicide.”
“We will also be talking about suicide because it’s everybody’s business. It’s about bringing awareness and counselling persons here in Guyana, and further afield, and one of the things we want to advocate for is a comprehensive study of mental health,” TCV Managing Director and Secretary, Bibi Ahmad said.
The event is organised to support suicide prevention efforts; remember suicide victims; offer support to persons left behind to deal with the hurt of losing someone from suicide, and show support for persons who have attempted suicide but were lucky enough to survive.
The TCV vigil is held annually on September 8 since the establishment of the Guyana Chapter in 2014. However, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the programme will be held virtually. It is expected to include performances by several singers, dancers, spoken-word artists, poets, drummers, and comedians. Several officials are also expected to make remarks during the programme.
“It’s a virtual programme where we will have key remarks by the minister of health and some key personnel will also be there. And we are hoping that civil society could send us some short videos that we can play,” Ahmad explained.
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TCV was formed in Guyana, following the country’s rise as having the world’s highest suicide rate. Aside from focusing on suicide awareness, the organisation also does work that focuses on other social ills such as child abuse, sexual abuse, and gender-based violence.
TCV President, Annan Boodram – (Guyana Chronicle)
“We reach approximately 500,000 people every month. We focus on suicide, sexual abuse, child abuse, and gender-based violence. We have a team of professional counsellors, all of them have either their masters or doctorate and have years of experience,” TCV President Annan Boodram said.
Earlier this year, the organisation partnered with various U.S. universities to provide much-needed access to free study materials for students who were preparing for the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
The NGO had hoped to have two national campaigns across Guyana this year involving a counsellor training programme and a domestic violence awareness campaign that would include focus groups with males; however, due to COVID-19, that had to be postponed.
The NGO is also involved in Project Turnaround, a collaboration with the Buxton Youth Developers, an institution established for students who dropped out of school or never attended school. It has also been working with other donors to improve the infrastructure, both internal and external, and boost its academic and co and extra-curricular programmes.
In August 2015, the organisation held a National Conference on Suicide and Abuse, which was attended by over 75 organizations across Guyana.
TCV has conducted numerous workshops in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica); Five (Mahaica-Berbice); Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); and Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), reaching over 5,000 persons from all walks of life.
In 2016, the TCV launched its community outreach and students’ self-esteem workshop in Demerara, which was geared towards reaching out to communities from where suicide emanates and within which suicide potential is potent, and investing in sessions that enable such communities to voice their fears, concerns, experiences, and suggestions.
The outreach provided the communities with strategies and information to help them be proactive first-responders for their respective communities.Over the years, the organisation has also been continuously advocating for the government to establish a registry of sex offenders and raise the age of consent to 18 years.
[Extracted and Modified from Guyana Chronicle]
