…mentor students at Diamond Special Needs School
By Ashraf Dabie
Just hours after the Guyana Amazon Warriors swept their way to the first home victory in this year’s CPL tournament, the local team on Monday morning took on the role of ‘Big Brothers’ to a batch of students attached to the Diamond Special Needs School.
A group of young sport fanatics currently enrolled at the Diamond Special Needs School were afforded the opportunity of their lifetime as they met with, and were mentored by, players of the Guyana Amazon Warriors cricket team.
Fresh off their victory following a record breaking win against the Barbados Tridents at the Guyana National Stadium on Sunday, the local squad kicked off their week by sharing light moments with students who are living with various forms of disabilities.
The event, hosted at the Georgetown Marriott on Monday, was the result of a partnership between Digicel and the CPL organisation. Vidya Sanichara, Digicel’s Communications Manager, expressed delight at being part of the Big Brother programme, and even outlined the objectives of this collaborative initiative.
She noted that following the tiresome efforts to secure a win within the past few days, “We are giving them (the players) the opportunity to meet some of the real hearts of Guyana, so that’s why we are doing this activity; to bring the players and Digicel a little closer to the people….”
Moreover, she indicated that given some of the students have never been exposed to the true wonders of the game, Digicel is happy to bring the CPL experience to the students.
On that note, the Digicel spokesperson relayed, “The guys won yesterday (Sunday), we know that. But today they are winning even bigger, because they are winning the hearts of the kids here from the Diamond Special Needs School.”
Adding to that, Sanichara pointed out that this is not the first time an event of such nature was being executed, as it is customary for Digicel to bring the sport festivities to children within the various CPL destinations throughout the Region.
Sharing in the excitement of participating in the meet-and-greet between the students and international cricketers was West Indian all-rounder Rayad Emrit, who is currently enlisted on the Amazon Warriors squad.
Emrit relayed the team’s experience in Guyana thus far, pin pointing their time with the children as one of their highlights. “Being in Guyana is always a good experience for us. The people in Guyana always treat us well. It’s always a pleasure to be there,” the Trinidadian conveyed.
Zooming in on the experience of sharing their morning with the students, the Amazon Warrior continued, “It’s always good to share our knowledge with the kids. Having played last night and coming out with a victory, the guys are excited to be here with the kids.”
Meanwhile, conveying her gratitude to both Digicel and the Amazon Warriors for taking the time out of their schedule to socialise with the students was Tracey Michael, a teacher attached the Diamond Special Needs School.
Michael relayed that for many of the students, meeting the local and international cricket stars is a dream come true.
“I think they find this is a great opportunity to get to meet the Warriors, because some of them are really interested in cricket,” stated the teacher.
The Diamond Special Needs School is an educational institution that currently caters for 58 students of varying disabilities.
The school has, over the years, seen the support of Digicel, with CPL now coming on board to add to their work of developing the young minds.
However, this is the second time the Guyana Amazon Warriors have taken the cricket cheer to the lesser fortunate Guyanese youth as a part of their home tour in this year’s CPL tournament.
