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I have two $50,000 school vouchers to give. Please call me

Sep 16, 2015 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

An aging philanthropist from a prominent Guyanese intellectual family has asked me to be the conduit for an annual presentation of two school vouchers each worth $50,000. I currently have the vouchers.
They are tenable at Austin’s Bookstore. They are immediately available. This gentleman has been doing this type of excellent work for a long time now. The conduit has passed on and he asked me to be the go-between. I will select the two school children.
These vouchers are for the purpose of school materials for students entering the first form of high school. They are meant for two high school kids that are from low income parents who are unable to raise the funds that are required to buy books and school related materials.
I believe I am more than capable of determining who are in dire need of these vouchers. I can smell poverty from millions of miles. I grew up in it; in the worst form of it. So I am quite capable of doing the assessment.
Unfortunately, I will limit the applicants to Georgetown and neighbouring areas. On contacting me (and I hope that is done immediately), I will visit the address and talk to the parents to make my assessment.
Once I am satisfied that I am seeing poverty in front of me I will hand over the voucher. I will only use the criterion of class. Race and religion will not be criteria.  The school term has already started so I hope I can do this by Monday using the weekend to do the visits.
I have made that geographical limit because I simply do not have the resources to travel to distant Regions to do the interview.
This is a Georgetown project because of the modality – I have to make the selection and do the inquiry. I will not be able to operate outside of Region Four. I will confine the geography from Georgetown to Better Hope and from Georgetown to Peter’s Hall.
I am absolutely certain that there are poor kinds from those far off regions who deserve to have these vouchers but I am also certain that the Georgetown area and villages up the East Coast and East Bank have such needy children too. There is no formal application. Please make contact with me. I will come and visit your home. I don’t think I can easily be deceived.
I mean, if you give me an address and I meet you and your kid there, but that is not the surrounding you belong to, I will check the school to ascertain the address.
I know this methodology will not meet with positive reviews from many persons but as a one-man band, I cannot travel to the Regions of Guyana to ascertain who are more qualified because of class dispossessions to have these two vouchers.
I am open to giving the vouchers to an organization that thinks it is in a better position to assess the needs of the two students. I have no problem with that. I concede that there are organizations that work in the area of poverty alleviation and they may be more strategically placed to make the assessment. In that case, I trust their judgement and will hand over the two vouchers. The Austin Bookstore personnel are available to facilitate these two kids.
I will ask my friends not to ask for the identity of the donor. This gentleman has been engaged in this work for a very long time now. Hundreds of school kids, including Queen’s College students, have benefited from his generosity.
He has jealously guarded his identity since then. Some people are like that. I am married to a woman like that. She does not like publicity, guards her privacy, gets upset at me when I cause her to be in the limelight.
I remember reading what Bob Woodward said after the identity of Deep Throat was revealed. He told his wife in 1974 that he cannot tell her who Deep Throat was. Woodword kept that secret from 1972 until the real name Deep Throat was made known in 2005. I have sworn to secrecy and I will never reveal the gentleman’s name.
I always have animated conversations with the widow of former Police Commissioner, Laurie Lewis (deceased) whenever I see her. The last time was last Thursday at the non-religious funeral service for Dr. Frank Williams, father of Andaiye.
She said Laurie never told her his secrets. At the wake for Mark Kirton’s mother-in-law, I asked her if Laurie told her who killed Monica Reece. She said no. I told her who it was.

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