By Indrawattie Natram
It is often said that a single act of kindness can change someone’s world. This statement is indeed true, and has been displayed by Zara Realty Donor Team, an overseas-based Guyanese company that has indeed defined what serving humanity is about.
The company, which comprises many Guyanese, has pooled its resources to help other Guyanese in the Information Technology field. Today, many persons from Essequibo, Berbice and Demerara are reaping the benefits.
The company’s recent commitment to Guyana was the opening of its third state-of-the-art computer\video audio centre and library, in Georgetown. It was opened Nov 30, 2013 with the aim of keeping persons updated with technology.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Zara Realty vice president, Jay Sobhraj, said their commitment to the Guyanese population came about after the Zara Reality Donor team realized that IT is accelerating very fast.
He said that it has been proven over the years that many day to day activities have changed, and more focus is heading to more advanced training. He said too that a number of things have changed that is believed to have accelerated the pace and change in every field. As such, persons need to be trained to cope with these changes.
He noted that this is where Zara Realty Donor Team saw it fitting to assist, and has partnered with the Guyana Police Force to help equip persons with IT skills in this fast-track field. He revealed that Zara Realty Donor successfully opened its third state-of-the-art computer\video audio centre and library; this one at Eve Leary in Georgetown.
Serving compassionately
Shedding some light on the company’s achievements, the vice president pointed out that in less than two years, Zara Realty donor team has successfully built three such state-of-the-art centres and libraries in Berbice, Essequibo and Demerara.
All three centres provide training for law enforcement divisions, including immigration, drug enforcement and traffic. The centres are equipped with 60 high-end HP computers, servers, Internet connectivity and an advanced video/audio theatre system for video training and video conferencing. The centres serve to provide sufficient internet bandwidth and video conferencing, linking all three centres for training/communication between management and divisional police groups in the three counties.
Subhraj made the commitment that Zara Donor Team will continue to provide back-end support and training for the staff and students.
He said the projects, which required major planning, finance, infrastructure work and commitment, were supported by the Zara Donor Team. The team is made up of Jay Sobhraj, Zara Realty senior vice president, his wife Sylvia Sobhraj; New York businessman Sravan Budhu and New York IT consultant Nardeo (Naresh) Singh. The group used their own finances and technical resources to build more than seven state-of-the-art computer centres and libraries throughout Guyana, and another three in New York.
Apart from the Guyana Police Force, the donor group worked with the Cove and John Ashram (Hindu College), the Central Islamic Organization of Guyana, and the SVN Secondary School on the West Coast of Demerara to spread IT. They also made a contribution of computers and books to the Enmore community group.
“It is Sewa , and that is to serve our fellow man compassionately without any attachment. Some consider it the Art to Happiness,” Sobhraj reiterated when asked why such a huge commitment.
The first centre was the GPF-Zara computer centre, built at Number One village, Adventure Village, Berbice, which commenced in June 2012, and, as of today, they have trained more than 600 people of all ages excluding cadets, police and police management.
The second centre was opened in June 2013 and, as of today, they have trained more than 300 civilians. A similar centre was opened at Suddie at the Richard Fiakall College also, where persons are trained. The group also made donation to Zamina Rasheed and Yogeeta Persaud, the two top CSEC students, for their achievements. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
