By Lakhram Bhagirat
In January of 1994, then President, the late Cheddi Jagan called a meeting with Yvonne Hinds, the wife of his Prime Minister, where he flouted the idea of her taking over the realms of the Guyana Relief Council (GRC).
That meeting happened on January 10, 1994, and though she felt that it was just a discussion, Hinds would later find out that rather it was already decided that she would be in charge for the affairs of the GRC. On January 17, 1994, Hinds was given her formal mandate as the head of what was then called the Guyana Fire Relief Council or the National Relief Council.
The Council was headed by Mavis Benn who was at the helm from the inception in 1986.
When Hinds took over and the National Relief Council became the GRC they were being housed at an Office on Camp Street in Georgetown.
“When I visited the Office there on Camp Street, there were about 20 staff including a cook. At that time the Relief Council was under the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security. The office we had to work with had nothing. Very little equipment and then it was the days of typewriters and there no working typewriters. We had to start from scratch so I told Minister Henry Jeffrey that let him take back the staff and I would just keep the most senior person and the cleaner. So we did that and then we started all over,” she remembers.
As the GRC was now transforming itself and getting back on its proverbial feet, tragedy struck. A tenement yard on Hadfield Street was destroyed by fire and over 108 persons were left homeless. With its mandate being the assistance of all in need, the GRC was obligated to provide some form of assistance to those in need.
Strapped for finances and resources, Hinds took it upon herself to put out a call for aid and approached many of her friends for assistance. Then-President Jagan also donated a number of items to assist the victims of the tragedy.
“It had these people that would send stuff for Dr Jagan back then they would send like oil, flour and rice and he told me when they send he will send it over to us so we could help those people. At the time the Relief Council did not have a bank account and we had no money so when people would donate we would take that money and buy things and pack hampers and send it to the people. We kept a note but we got a bank account until later,” she noted.
The GRC formal bank account came about after they would have held their first fundraising ball, which remains their biggest event on the calendar to this day. The fundraising ball was held at the Pegasus Hotel and raised $1 million which gave the GRC the much-needed footing back then.
However, just as they were finding their balance and establishing themselves as an organization that was ready to provide assistance at any given time, the owners of the office space at Camp Street came back and requested they pack up and move on. This led Hinds and her staff to Lot 228 South Road, Georgetown.
Tragedy came knocking at GRC’s door once again on February 3, 1995, when the South Road location went up in flames. The fire, believed to be of electrical origin, left the GRC homeless and they had to start from scratch all over again.
Dejected but not willing to give up, Hinds moved the operations to the Prime Minister’s official residence and they operated there for over a year. The GRC has previously found a Cabinet document which revealed that they were given a piece of land in Festival City, North Ruimveldt. But they did not have the finances to rebuild at the tie after the fire.
So, a GRC member noticed an unoccupied government building at Lot XX Public Road, Ruimveldt and it was then that Hinds began making representation for the GRC to be given that building. She wrote to the Minister of Communications and Works and was given the go-ahead to occupy the building.
“The Minister told us that they have no money to fix up the place and that we have to fix it up. We agreed and we did the repairs and through donors, we furnished and repaired.”
The following year, in 1996, the GRC became an autonomous nongovernmental agency and Hinds was elected to remain at the helm and to date, she still occupies that spot.
After they became an independent body, the GRC then began its preparations the construction of a Secretariat at its Festival City location. However, due to its mandate and the funds were diverted to all sorts of relief missions.
The GRC then began negotiations with the Government of Guyana through the Works Ministry in collaboration with the Housing Ministry for the plot of land at XX Public Road. They traded the Festival City plot for their current location.
The Shelter
After the acquisition of the plot of land, the GRC then proceeded to make a plan for the construction of a shelter so that they can provide better relief to those in needs. In August of 1999, they approached the Japanese Embassy in Venezuela and discussed their request for funding for the Emergency Shelter.
The discussions lasted over six months and in the end, the Japanese government through its Grass Roots Programme gave the GRC US$60,000 for the shelter. The shelter cost the GRC some $30 million and was completed in March 2002. In addition to the Japanese Government, several other agencies and foreign governments pitched in with aid.
The Shelter provides relief to victims of disasters.
Now the GRC notes that finances are tough. Donations are not coming in as it used to and managing the day to day operations is becoming increasingly difficult.
However, it has been 25 years and according to Hinds they are nowhere near finishing or giving up.
