Former CHWs Still looking For light At the end Of their tunnels

THREE MONTHS AFTER the incumbent government opted not to renew contracts of several
Community Health Workers (CHWs), many still feel betrayed by the previous claiming it hid
their temporary status and its implications for their job security.
“No one told us that we were being employed temporarily. This should have been said to us as
the former administration gave us the impression that we were being taken on a full-time basis,”
one of the affected former CHWs explained.
“When some of us in Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica) enquired about our contracts, we were
told that this would be addressed after the (March 2020) elections as they were busy but
promised that everything was ok!”
After it became clear the A Partnership for National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC)
lost the National and Regional polls, the CHWs were still assured security, since as employees
‘we were fully employed,” a teary-eyed former CHW recalled being reassured.
Now suddenly in the ‘bread line’, the devastated ex female CHW said the public sector job was
her first after three disappointing years of job hunting. While she was employed, she and a
brother were the main breadwinners in the family, and her shocking, unexpected exit from the
local labour force has thrown the family into crisis.
“Things are extremely hard it’s like all I am left to do is prostitution as it seems like no one
genuinely cares. I spent enormous (amounts of) monies and time and after all of this to be told
that we were temporarily employed based on our letters is unacceptable.”

The former administration owes us an explanation,” another chimed in.
President Irfaan Ali needs to make good his promise that he will be a president “for all” by
rectifying the hardship faced by hapless former CHWs some of the group told
www.aroundtheregions.com
One of them, a mother of two, had her elation as a trainee-CHW turned into nightmare: first
waiting 10 months to receive her first salary, then the manner of the shocking exit from the
labour force after trying for four years to enter the training programme.
In December 2020 they were paid in full. But the 10-month wait meant they incurred a long list
of necessary expenses. When these were cleared “we were back to square one,” she recalled.
What looked only like the beginnings of a terrifying dream at the end of last year was in full
manifestation when government confirmed their contracts would not be renewed.
An official of the Region Four Democratic Council (RDC) under whom the CHWs were
recruited, tried softening the blow felt by the former workers explaining there are no longer
vacancies for such positions nationwide.
“We knew that they were taken on because of COVID and despite the fact that the process of
their employment was severely flawed, a decision was taken to ensure that they were paid for the
services that they had rendered. In many of the Regions there were no documentation and/or
information regarding the CHWs. But, as a caring and responsible government, the
administration took a decision to ensure that all those who had provided services in the
respective Regions were paid. However, in moving forward things have to be done in a more
responsible manner as its tax-payers’ monies and accountability must be seen in how it's spent,”
the official explained on conditions of anonymity.
“This programme was executed, but unfortunately several of those who thought that they had
completed the programme were never officially registered. They were lured and made to believe
that they were being trained as CHWs when in actuality they were being used for political
mileage and gains. It’s unfortunate and unfair but it is the reality,” a Regional official said.