Some 142 children from 10 homes and orphanages on Wednesday received necessary medical care through a collaborated effort by the Office of the First Lady and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Guyana.
The outreach exercise had 16 medical professionals as part of the First Lady’s ‘Adopt an Orphanage’ initiative.
The event, held at State House in Georgetown, saw the children receiving multiple medical checkups including eye testing, body mass index (BMI), lung and heart examination, mouth and teeth examination among other care.
First Lady, Mrs Arya Ali said the outreach paves the way for providing these children with support that the orphanages cannot do on its own.
“Children in institutional care require medical care and attention for a number of reasons and children in general have weaker immune systems. This, therefore, limits their natural ability to fight infections.
“Children in institutional care fight many silent battles that we do not know of; in many ways they struggle mentally, emotionally and physically on a daily basis and the fact that we know this, imposes a responsibility on us to act and that is what we are doing today,” the First Lady said.
In 2021, the Adopt an Orphanage initiative was launched to provide holistic support to vulnerable children at these homes. With the support of private sponsors, some 11 orphanages and homes were adopted.
Notably, on August 14, 20 children from Canaan Children’s Home in Port Mourant had their eyes screened and tested at Optique Vision Care through the First Lady’s initiative.
According to the First Lady, the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China has been a massive supporter and continues to respond to the needs of her Office and the nation. The exercise is also symbolic as Guyana and China are celebrating 30 years of the Chinese medical services programme here.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ambassador to Guyana, Guo Haiyan said that the team of doctors is part of the medical services that offer support to Guyana’s health sector.
“Last year, the embassy supported three orphanages and we will continue to support two this year and make some contributions to other projects.
“This year marks the 30th anniversary of Chinese medical service in Guyana. We have provided only high level medical service at hospitals but also traveled frequently to remote areas to provide free medical services to people,” Ambassador Haiyan said.
She also praised the Office of the First Lady for initiatives that cater to the needs of the nation’s children. As such, the embassy made an added contribution during Wednesday’s exercise.
The orphanages and homes that benefitted in Wednesday’s exercise are the Hope Children’s Home, Shaheed’s Boys Home, Joshua’s Children Centre, Ruimveldt Children Home, Bless the Children Home, Prabhu Sharan, St John’s Bosco, and the Red Cross Convalescence.
