Region Three REO charges councillors to learn how to co-operate -at Diversity Education and Inclusion Workshop

Georgetown, Guyana – (September 20, 2017) Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Essequibo Islands – West Demerara (Region Three) Mr. Denis Jaikaran, today, charged councillors of the Neighbourhood and Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to co-operate for the benefit of the region and wider country and to capitalise on the opportunity to learn how to appreciate each other’s individuality. He was at the time speaking at the Ministry of Social Cohesion’s 42^nd Diversity Education and Inclusion Workshop where 37 stakeholders, including overseers and administrative staff from the RDC and representatives from the Ministry of Communities and Public Health are participating in a two-day workshop. This event is being held at the RDC office at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.

“Ensure that you take away from this workshop [the] best practices, so that as you go into your different communities, you cause that change and you cause that promotion of social cohesion, that is the way forward,” Mr. Jaikaran said. The REO further urged the participants not to disregard the Ministry’s efforts to teach them how to deal with the challenges that are inherent in Guyana’s diverse population as it would hamper other efforts at nation-building. “We cannot afford to be back-biting. We cannot afford to work against each other. We cannot afford [to not want] to co-operate. We have to be able to live as a people so that this country can be developed,” he said.

Several stakeholders said that they were committed to participating in the workshop, with the view of learning how to nurture better relations within their offices and communities.  Office Assistant at the RDC, Ms. Faye Browne, said that she believed that keeping Guyana’s motto at the forefront of one’s mind would be useful during these sessions.  “If we really take the motto seriously, and live as one people and one nation headed [toward] one destiny, I believe [that] Guyana will be such a great country. In this session, as we learn more, we will learn to love, respect, and work in the kind of harmony to bring that togetherness [described in the motto],” she said.

Principal Assistant – Finance Department Region Three RDC, Ms. Elaine Hamilton said that she manages a staff of 20 unique individuals and she hopes that the workshop will equip her with the skills that she needs to help them to perform at their best. She expressed a desire to host a training session with her staff on completion of the sessions and to “take [the workshop] to their different communities to see how best they can [bring about] positive [changes]”.

Accounts Clerk at the West Demerara Regional Hospital, Mr. Deopersaud Lalta, said that he hoped to learn how to alleviate tensions in the country by educating those around him. “The information that is filtered down to us, we can [take it] back to our community, and [teach] the community about the information [that] we gained here,” he said.