Tablets, printers given to Short story winners

The Human Services and Social Security, Dr. Vindhya Persaud, met and congratulated the 10
winners of her ministry’s short story competition on Monday.
She disclosed that from the 220 entries that were submitted, 10 children were selected and were
all presented with Amazon fire tablets and printers for their exceptional stories. During a simple
ceremony held at her office, Minister Persaud said; “We launched Every Child Safe campaign
because this is a commitment by me to all the children of Guyana, to keep them safe. We want
children right across Guyana to be safe at all times, we want children to be aware of what’s
happening in our country, to let parents know that they have a responsibility to keep children
safe. So, congratulations.”

Some of the children shared the inspiration behind their stories.
Twelve-year-old, Rachel Davis, based her piece on a real-life incident, titled Fire, Fire! The
young writer from Region Nine is also the captain of a cricket team in her community.  She said
she participated in order to send a message to other youths across the country. “I feel great, I can
finally share my insights with other children in Guyana and help them to overcome whatever
situation they’re in,” Davis said. Aradhya Ramjag, whose story is titled ‘Aaila Runs Away’, said
she was motivated by her parents and books she reads.
“My parents inspired me to write this composition. They are responsible for my high
motivational levels and I give lots of credit to them. My story was about a girl named Aaila, who
ran away and was found a couple of months later by an old woman. She believed that the world
was unfair to her, her parents were alcoholics, her classmates hated her and her teachers ignored
her,” Ramjag said.
‘Veronica’s Father’ by Shaquana Richards, who drew inspiration from alcoholics and child
abuse, said her story will enable young children to be aware of the challenges faced by others. “I
feel very excited because there will be kids around the world reading my story and knowing how
other kids struggle with their parents,” Richards said.
Additionally, Uvana Mohabir, a teacher from Number Eight Secondary, encouraged 20 students
from her community to participate in the competition. She said she wanted to shed awareness on
child safety and the dangers in the world. “There is a lot of poor children in my community, so
basically many children are unaware that child safety is something important they have to know
about. Also, they are unaware that there are many dangers in the world. So, I just wanted them to
know more about child safety and to help them to be part of society,” Teacher Mohabir noted.
Minister Persaud stressed that the storybook competition centred on the “Every Child Safe”
campaign which was launched by the ministry to harness issues surrounding child abuse in
Guyana through the eyes of children. She added that the winning stories from the competition
will be compiled to create a book for children across the country.