MP Khadijah Ameen Distributes 600 School Bags To Families In St Augustine
With the new school term just around the corner, a back-to-school outreach effort is underway in several communities within the St Augustine constituency.
TTT News caught up with Member of Parliament for St Augustine and Minister of Rural Development and Local Government Khadijah Ameen as she distributed approximately 600 book bags filled with school supplies to students in her constituency on Sunday.
The MP said she had been working with a group of volunteers early on Sunday morning to distribute the school supplies.
« What we’re doing today is not a today-initiative. We have been doing it for some time. So we try to supply the school supplies to who we know are vulnerable, vulnerable children, vulnerable families. But it is not just about a handout. It is about continuous work, working with the family to ensure that whatever support they need, we could give it. »
She said on Monday that 200 more packed school bags will be distributed in another part of the constituency.
The MP added that the supplies were donated and the bags were packed by volunteers.
« We also had with us today the Helping Hands group. This is really an initiative of the TTPS and some years ago, when the Train Line had a lot of murders, I started working with the Helping Hands initiative and this is a group of police officers who do social work in the constituency of St Augustine with us. And they have been able for us go into areas like the Train Line, the Dookiesingh area, Monte Grant, Macoya Settlement, areas where children may be vulnerable to criminal activities. »
MP Ameen also had a word of advice for parents who may not be able to meet the deadline to provide everything their children need to start the new school term.
« I know what it is like as a mother to be worried about different aspects. I know what it is like to grow up without, and September is coming, and you’re not certain if you’re going to have all the books. But I also want to tell you that the biggest thing you could do for your children is to be there for them. I started A-Levels with four copybooks. I had no textbooks, and I finished all my A-Levels; I graduated, I went to university, I completed my master’s. So my advice to you is, whether your children have all their books or not, be there for them, make sure they go to school. »
The MP said the book distribution will continue throughout the constituency to ensure that as many needy families with children will be able to send their children back to school with the supplies they need.
