From a yearning to do her part in helping the needy in her beloved homeland, US-based Guyanese Natasha Prakash, founded Helping ‘U’ Guyana (HUG) in April 2010. The registered non-profit, humanitarian relief and development organisation focuses on areas of health and education, community development and skills development.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Natasha said she spent her formative years in Land of Canaan on the East Bank of Demerara. About 18 years ago, she and her family migrated to the U.S.
The philanthropist stated she spent ten years in the NGO arena as executive assistant to the president of Joint Aid Management (JAM) servicing the continent of Africa and Europe. Prior to working at JAM, she landed the title of Miss District of Columbia Teen USA, representing the nation’s capital at Miss Teen USA 2003 in Palm Springs, CA. During her reign as Miss District of Columbia Teen USA, Natasha travelled to the tri-state area and spoke about issues such as HIV/AIDS, homelessness and gun violence, and the importance of staying in school. She also travelled to South America and the Caribbean to implement the Miss Universe platform: HIV/AIDS.
Additionally, she worked closely with former Washington D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton and thirteen council members on “taxation without representation”. Natasha has also been a member of World Vision, an international Evangelical Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice, since 2002 sponsoring three children.
As president and CEO of HUG, Natasha manages the affairs of the organisation and enacts timely programmes. Her in-depth knowledge of different industries serves as a crucial resource for pursuing entrepreneurship, and helps her to effectively implement humanitarian programmes that are of crucial benefit.
“HUG was established for numerous reasons. One very important reason is to help Guyana help itself by contributing towards the improvement of education. We strongly believe that without education, there can be no development. Effective education is only attained through the quality of schooling and, most importantly, adequate nutrition which allows a child to effectively focus, retain and apply what is being learnt,” Natasha explained.
HUG’s programmes
In outlining the organisation’s programmes, Natasha noted: “Clean water is essential for life, but one in eight people do not have it. As a result, more than 4,000 children worldwide die every day from easily prevented diarrheal diseases. Millions of women are unable to work because they spend so much time caring for sick children, or collecting water. Together with local organisations, HUG’s water aid programmes uses practical, sustainable solutions to provide safe water, effective sanitation and hygiene education to the poorest people in developing countries in South America. We’re changing one community at a time.”
HUG also plans to provide seeds, tools and agriculture training for rural communities in the country, enabling families to help themselves to earn a living.
In order for children and young people to be able to successfully live independent and financially stable lives, HUG believes that the capability to create their own income and generate their own livelihood is invaluable. In this vein, HUG is committed to increasing the capacity for students to learn life skills and trades, which can be used in the “outside world” for income-generating purposes.
