| For years Kamlawattie Harrilall, 36, her husband and four children eked out a living in a single room mud floor apartment in the bottom flat of an Enmore house.They cooked their food on a fireside in the yard, which was also where they emptied their stomachs.Mosquitoes, rats and roaches shared their modest dwelling, and although she applied for and was granted a house lot, Harrilall’s family was in no position to erect even a small house to take them out of their miserable existence.Harilall’s husband worked in the sugar industry and his meager wage,Cheap Jerseys Free, which was sometimes supplemented by the sporadic small piece from Harrilall’s work as a domestic, was just enough to provide the family with food and to ensure that the children attend school at the Enmore Primary, regularly.Pandit Sugrim with Harrilall (right) and two of her children in front of the place they presently call home. But hope did not elude the housewife, who searched desperately for a way to lift herself and family from abject poverty.And the hope soon turned into faith and the faith, into reality as the New Jersey Arya Samaj Humanitarian Mission, which has a Guyana chapter, made her dreams come through.The organization, through the efforts of Pandit Suresh Sugrim,Kyle Korver Hawks Jersey, has commenced building a three-bedroom house for Harrilall and her family in the Haslington New Housing Scheme, East Coast Demerara.She said that for five years she was trying to build her home, enduring promises after promises.Her perseverance paid off when four years ago, she met a woman by the name of Dhanranie Dan, whom she told of her plight.The woman listened and pledged to find help to build a house for Harrilall and her family.Initially Food for the Poor was approached and Harrilall was placed on a waiting list.“She try, she write letters, she send me in (to Food for the Poor). I go, I try very hard. They tell me next year, next month, this month and the other month,” Harrilall said in an interview last week.But although officials from that agency inspected her place and promised to assist her, she was made to wait for several years.Then last year, she met Dhanranie Dan again and this time she was told about the Arya Samaj organization. Harrilall’s hopes again soared.The woman went ahead and made representation for Harrilall and within months, arrangements were put in place.Harrilall’s present dwelling was visited and Dan became so overwhelmed that she immediately doubled her efforts to assist.The Arya Samaj was contacted and the motion to build Harrilall’s house was put in train.“Pandit Sugrim,Marlon Humphrey Jersey, he come and he see de place where I living and he say he going back and raise funds for me,” Harrilall told this newspaper.She said that when Pandit Sugrim made the pledge she was sure that he would have made good on it and she would not have to wait in vain.But the house was not coming absolutely free; the arrangement was that Harrilall would repay $10,000 per month, which she gladly agreed to do.“That’s fair,” she said. “I am proud of the Arya Samaj,” she added. Her next step is to start buying some furniture, since her previous dwelling could not accommodate “these luxuries”.“I don’t have a TV, I don’t have chairs but my children are very proud because then gon own dem own home. Me husband very glad too,” she added.Speaking with the media at the site of Harrilall’s new house, Pandit Sugrim explained that the Arya Samaj’s latest gesture is just a continuation of the work it has been doing to help people to emerge from the fangs of poverty.The organization has been working in Guyana since 2005 and has spent millions of dollars assisting persons throughout Guyana.However, this time it’s more about empowerment.“As of 2010/2011 we talk about empowerment and education, and the only way we can break the cycle of poverty in this nation is through the power of education…we try to help families who are willing to help themselves,” Pandit Sugrim stated.He said that in this particular case, he was overwhelmed by the poverty level in which the family was living.“I have travelled to so many countries internationally, and the thing about this family is that they are living below the poverty level but they have the vision of educating their children,Cheap Sports Jerseys, which is the key to the success. These children go to school every single day, regardless of the poverty,” Pandit Sugrim said.He said that the reason for having the family pay back for the house interest-free, is to empower them by giving them the scope to work, to earn and to have and feel a sense of ownership.“Sometimes when you tend to give everything free, people do not appreciate it,” Pandit Sugrim said, adding that the organization has already built a number of houses free of cost to the owners.He said that somebody from the Enmore community where Harrilall lives, had contacted the Arya Samaj, having seen the work that it was doing, and made representation on her behalf.“He said that after examining the situation during a previous visit to Guyana last year, he was convinced that Harrilall and her family desperately needed assistance to build a house.“I’ve seen a lot of families who were not sending their children to school. But this family here, education is their priority,Artemi Panarin Jersey,” he said.He explained that as a Hindu organization, the New Jersey Arya Samaj, does not discriminate and deals with all ethnicities.Funding for its charitable work comes from Guyanese living in the USA,NFL Jerseys From China, who are much more fortunate than their brothers and sisters back in their homeland.“The benevolence of the Guyanese/Americans is what we rely on. Nobody gets paid for anything we do,” Pandit Sugrim explained.He said that some Guyanese who would have migrated decades ago are surprised at the level of poverty that exists in Guyana and are inclined to lend a helping hand.“When we show them certain facts and certain figures and the way people are living and the standard they are living, it was amazing for people to see that certain things still existed at home,” he said. The home for the Harrilall’s is expected to be completed within a few weeks. |
