Zury de Matos gets visit from Minister Vindhya Persaud as Palms’ oldest resident

The Human Services and Social Security ministry has continued to observe ‘Month of the
Elderly.’ Minister, Dr. Vindhya Persaud expressed happiness at being able to meet and interact
with Zury de Matos, who is the oldest resident of the Palms Geriatric Home. On Friday, Dr.
Persaud expressed appreciated at being able to interact with the other residents of the Brickdam,
Georgetown facility and shared in an interfaith service with them.
This included prayers, songs, poems and dance. “She’s 106 years old, healthy and loves
chocolates. After meeting her and listening to her saying that ‘alll’ she wants was chocolates, I
just had to send her some. She wanted nothing else! Bless you Ms. Zury,” Minister Persaud said
about her meeting with Ms. Zury. The 106 years old resident is said to be in excellent physical
heath and still does everything for herself. As a matter of fact, according to her medical reports,
she suffers from no complications or abnormalities, has no stress, has normal weight, and does
not use any medication. She has remarkably recovered from Coronavirus after contracting it last
year, and is now fully immunized with Sputnik.
Meanwhile, Minister Persaud promised that she will make tablets available to residents there and
teach them how to use them so as to lead them into the digital age. This, she said is in keeping
with her statement earlier this month to mark ‘International Day for Older Persons’ where she
encouraged the elderly population to embrace the digital world, especially during this time of the
pandemic. “The pandemic has emphasized the need for the elderly to enhance their knowledge of
technology to access services or connect with loved ones. Social distancing has taken a toll on
many older folks and many become depressed because of loneliness,” the minister explained.
Minister Persaud has continued to appeal to the public to report instances of elder neglect and
abuse through the recently launched 914 Hotline and has also called on elderly folks to be more
vocal about the abuses that they’re made endure.