Parolees honoured for Father’s Day

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud on Wednesday attended a simple event organised by the Ministry’s Probation Department and Guyana Prison to encourage a number of parolees in observance of Father’s Day this Sunday.

The activity, at the ministry’s Cornhill Street location, was hosted under the theme, “Revealing Our Fathers – Eliminating Stigma and Discrimination.” The parolees were offered words of encouragement, along with Father’s Day care packages.

Minister Persaud, in addressing the parolees, made it a point to stress that they should use this new lease on life to reach out to young people and others who may be involved in questionable activities, using their own experiences to influence them to desist from lives of crime.

She urged them to be a force for good in the lives of youths and to encourage them to turn their lives around. She reminded them that many children live with “absentee father culture” and their own children had to suffer their absence because they did not think of their families when they engaged in unlawful acts.

Minister Persaud did not dismiss the wrongs that the parolees engaged in, but she admonished them not to go back down the same road again. She also directed the parolees to training that is available to them and urged that they find themselves in stable working environments.

The participants were taken from Regions Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), Four (Demerara/Mahaica), Five (Mahaica/Berbice), and Six (East Berbice/Corentyne).

Officers at the prison have observed that due to the absence of fathers in the home, single parenting is a reality in Guyana, which causes many homes to become dysfunctional as a result of parental involvement with the criminal justice system.

It is in this regard that the Prison, After Care and Reintegration Services Section decided to host the activity. The section has pledged to continue to make positive impacts on the lives of the parolees, who will in turn make a positive impact on their families, children and society. (Ministry of Human Services and Social Security press release)