Hassanali: Our children need help

Zalayhar Hassanali, widow of late President Noor Hassanali, says helping a child is often not enough when it means an entire family is in need of assistance.

“It is very important that we get together and help these children and their families,” Hassanali said after the launch of Kids In Need of Direction’s (KIND’s) new website and National Kindness Campaign yesterday, at KIND’s headquarters, Eastern Main Road, Laventille.

She has been a supporter of KIND since its inception 20 years ago. Hassanali, who supports several NGOs, said most were not getting government subventions.

“Some used to get, but not any more, but these organisations are doing the good work.”

KIND works to help children, mainly in the Laventille area, with education and social programmes. At present, KIND is assisting 18 families.

Hassanali said, “Our children need help, their families need help and unless we do something, they are all going to go into gangs and run into problems. A lot of them can’t read and Government can’t do it, let’s face it, and a lot of people are volunteering. We are doing the work. Once you can help one child you can make a difference.”

Marketing and social media officer Mattieu Ramsawak said 2016 was a difficult period for the organisation, as some of its sources of funding had dried up.

“We were forced to stop some of our programmes and re-evaluate and try to figure out how to restart some of the programmes. This year has been one of planning and making connections, fund-raising, initiatives and drives. Our planning is taking a more holistic approach,” he said.

Ramsawak said in 2018 the NGO plans to start a circuit of community caravans and make connections with community groups, community leaders, social workers and organisations that worked in different communities.

Since its inception, over 15,000 people had been touched and felt a glimmer of hope from KIND.

The implementation of the KIND MIND initiative is slated to start in January 2018 and is intended to be a five-year programme, geared toward effecting holistic development in children, and will consist of literacy competency, including creative writing, martial arts and social-education sessions.

Exploratory learning sessions will be incorporated into the programme to encourage participants to find an outlet for creative expression.