Nirvana extends helping hand to Guyanese in Venezuela, Canada

By Natasha Waldron Anthony

Members of Nirvana Humanitarian Foundation in Venezuela(Photo courtesy of NHF)

Nirvana Humanitarian Foundation Inc. (NHF), which is built on the premise that service to humanity is service to God, continues to reach out to the less fortunate in Guyana through its charitable works. NHF is planning a series of concerts and shows in Guyana during August, when it is expected to raise funds that will be pumped back into bettering the lives of Guyanese.

The charitable organization, founded some 13 years ago in New York, has established the Nirvana Learning Resource Center, where life skills, computer training including information technology and PC repairs and programming are offered to youths in the areas surrounding Meten-Meer-Zorg, West Coast Demerara. The center has also partnered with the Labour Ministry’s “Single Parent Project” to provide IT training to that targeted group.

Guyana Times International spoke with NHF Public Relations Officer Ramesh Deochand, who said: “Over the years, we also had programs to assist poor people with groceries, but we stopped that to promote literacy; so we adjusted those programs to concentrate on literacy. We are now sponsoring reading competitions for schools.” The organization also has a very prominent library housed within the center, and has started a book drive here in the United States to continue promoting reading among the youths within the community.

The youths have access, through the library’s resources, to the most current CSEC text books and other pieces of literature. The Nirvana committee also facilitates the Nirvana Annual Reading Competition at the library. That event seeks to stimulate reading among children between the ages of five and 13. Top performers have received trophies and prizes in their respective categories.

Additionally, the foundation is extending its reach to assist certain Guyanese in Canada and Venezuela. A Venezuela arm of the charitable organization has been officially launched in January, and the NHF will seek through fund-raising activities to assist the some 100,000 Guyanese living in Venezuela. And regarding those Guyanese living in Canada, Deochand said: “There is a group in Canada that wants to establish a branch of Nirvana in Canada. So we are going, during the Memorial Day weekend, to establish that group and have a fundraiser.” Memorial Day will be celebrated on May 30th.