Amerindian children need separate home

Oct 25, 2010 News

STANLEYTOWN, NEW AMSTERDAM – The need for a separate location to house children of the Amerindian Residence at Stanleytown, New Amsterdam was highlighted by the house mother, Verley Lindie.

House mother Verley Lindie

The woman explained that the upper flat of the home accommodates the children from Riverain areas such as Kimbia, Wiruni and Sand Hills on the Berbice River. The lower floor offers free shelter to persons from those and other Amerindian reservations. Lindie noted that with this arrangement, the children are exposed to bad influences.
“Look, to my observation, this place is not suitable for children. You got all kind of people coming here, girlfriend, boyfriend and so and the children seeing all kind of things. It is not good for them, they complained to me. Then sometimes the children carry news and it causes a friction here.”
She has two of her children staying there. “They even got drunk people coming here and cussing up. They got people does come and buse out and all kind of things going on here. The children should be in a separate house and not here with this going on. Is not good for them.”
The facility is home to 18 children between the ages of 11 and 16. The system in place is for the parents to take turns in being house mother each month. Her stint is for October.
The house mother noted that the home is a comfortable one and is much needed by the children if they are expected to be of value to the nation.
“In terms of education, they need it so they can come out to town to get a proper education. They ain’t got secondary school in those areas so many of the children would drop out after primary school. But with this hostel, the children can come out and get a good education. They have all the facilities except a computer.”
Ms. Lindie said there is need for grocery items and the matter was raised with the Regional Administration. According to her, no help can immediately be had since they are not included in this year’s budget.
But Chairman of Region Six, Zulfikar Mustapha said this is not the case. According to him, although the children are from Region Ten, his administration and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs have been taking care of their needs. He said the Region Six Administration donated $163,000 worth of food stuff to the children in September.
Recently, the Region Six Administration presented the children’s quarters with a dining table, two writing desks, a suite, a bunk bed and four double beds. Renovation work is also in progress on the plumbing system and the roof. Mustapha said that both the donation and the repairs are being executed to the tune of $1million.
According to him, in 2008 some $2 million was expended on the Amerindian Hostel. The entire structure was re-painted; repairs were done to the roof and plumbing fixtures. Prior to that, work was done in 2006.
Mustapha said that the issue of the children’s well-being was never raised with him and he would look into the matter. But the only thing he can do now is to place a security guard at the home from November 1st.