Summary

Guyana is a culturally diverse society with six ethnic groups. That diversity in recent years has been further extended with the inflow of Venezuelan migrants seeking asylum as well as immigrants from other nationalities seeking to benefit from the new and developing oil and gas sector.\\ The ethnic diversity of the country has shaped social systems and together with the distribution of natural resources and the nature of governance systems, has influenced economic disparities in the performance of ethnic groups and geographical sub-systems. With the economic and social landscape of the country shifting, policymakers have been required to adjust to accommodate new sub-groups such as migrants, as well as to increase focus and reconsider policy needs of existing marginalized and vulnerable sub-groups such as persons with disabilities, children and indigenous communities.\\ This symposium is focused on papers that examine the challenges confronting vulnerable subgroups in Guyana inclusive of the protection of children in the care of the state, persons with disabilities and migrant children. All of the papers follow an interdisciplinary approach and seek to understand the current needs of the identified vulnerable groups. As Guyana is at a watershed moment in its development, the analyses are useful in identifying gaps that may need to be addressed to improve the general welfare of the sub-groups and professionals providing psychological and social support to such groups. This would help to shape social action, policies and academic discourses that can contribute to a more inclusive and equitable development going forward. \\ \\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

vulnerable, diversity, responsive, welfare, disabilities, children, professionals, migrants\ Note: Submission is being proposed as a Symposium that will include the following papers which have been submitted separately:Abstract Number 1:\ Theme # 17(a):Social Work/Social Development in Child/Family Welfare/Child Protection\ \ Revisiting the Madhia Tragedy: Implications for Social Work Practice in Guyana\ \ 1Mrs. Dionne Frank (MSc)2Associate Professor Craig Burns (PhD)3Mr. Julian Khan (MSc)\ \ \ Abstract Number 2:\ Theme # 17(c):Health/ Mental Health\ The Impact of Vicarious Trauma on Helping Professionals: The Mahdia Tragedy in Guyana.\ 1Mrs. Shonell Smith Enoe (MSc)2Dr. Paulette Henry (PhD)3 Ms. Latoya Beckles (MSc)4 Ms. Ornetta Waldron (MSc)5 Ms. Chelsea Halley Crawford (MSc)\ \ Abstract Number 3:\ Theme # 17(d):Disability\ Participation of Persons with Disabilities in Guyanese Society: Challenges and Setbacks\ 1\ Dr...\ Dianna DaSilva-Glasgow (PhD)2\ Mrs.\ Dionne Frank (MSc)\ \ \ Abstract Number 4:\ Theme # 17(i):Migration, Refugeeism, Asylum Seeking\ Language Barriers, Social Integration and Learning Challenges: An Exploratory Analysis of Venezuelan Migrant Families and Students in Guyana\ 1 Dr. Duane Edwards (PhD),\ 2\ Ms. Anjie Lambert (MSc)\ 3\ Mr. \ Jason Allicock (MBA)\ \ 

Summary

This paper\ is focused on persons with disabilities (PWDs). It provides a cursory situational analysis of the extent of disabilities in Guyana and assesses the current state of participation and factors posing limitations to effective participation of PWDS in Guyana. The paper employs a mixed method approach where qualitative data is obtained from interviews and focus group discussions with PWDs as well as a national cross-regional survey. Based on both approaches barriers are categorized along the lines of physical, organization, and attitudinal and practice barriers.\ In light of the current policy initiatives and the barriers identified, the paper undertakes a gap analysis to provide directives on areas where further policy guidance may be needed to position PWDs to more effectively participate in society, particularly in light of the evolving economic and social landscape of the country.\ Theoretical insights are drawn from Sen’s Capability Approach which had identified conversion factors as key to the ends people are able to achieve from the resources available to them. The results confirm that among the list of barriers considered, organizational barriers are more pervasive as well as physical barriers. The research recommends that more active steps be taken to have all PWDs registered with legitimate bodies that could support them through information dissemination and other forms of support. The research also recommends swifter implementation of the national strategy to support development of PWDs as it will help to address several of the challenges identified by PWDs.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Persons with Disabilities, participation, organizational barriers, physical barriers, policy\ 

Summary

Guyana's contemporary history records Monday, May 22,\ 2023,\ as one of its darkest days, following the incineration of the Madhia Secondary School Dorm and the resultant deaths of twenty indigenous children from four remote communities. While\ the tragedy evoked rapid responses from\ governmental and non-governmental agencies, the\ public discourse focused on the\ state's failure to follow\ occupational and safety standards in\ state-controlled buildings,\ the\ plight\ of\ parents who enrol their children in "dorm schools" to facilitate their access to education and\ the vulnerability of Guyana's indigenous peoples.\ As social work educators and\ practitioners, Guyana's limitations in realising the rights of children in state care and\ the\ gaps in the national response were obvious. Further, our deconstruction of the universal response to the tragedy highlighted numerous areas of mitigation and prevention where the social work profession is uniquely situated to provide guidance and leadership to prevent such tragedies.This\ paper\ uses a critical lens to interrogate the responses to the Madhia tragedy. It is based on the content analysis of global news publications, reports, and a disaster response framework.\ Using the 2019 fire at the Jamaica National Children's Home as a case study, we examine the role of a comprehensive disaster framework in protecting institutionalised children before, during and after a disaster.\ Further, we recognise the need for Guyana to embrace one of the historical foundations of social work practice, the person-in-environment perspective, based on its integration of systems theory. We conclude the paper by\ identifying\ areas where social workers and the social work profession as a national entity\ in Guyana\ can change the practice approach.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Madhia Tragedy, Guyana, Disaster Response, Social Work Practice, Person-in-the-environment perspective\ 

Summary

The ongoing economic, social, and political crises in Venezuela have pushed over 6 million migrants and refugees out of the country since 2014, large cross-sections of which are entering neighboring Guyana. Consequently, Guyana is now home to more than 24,000 Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Three factors have influenced the influx of migrants into Guyana: geographical proximity and a porous border, historical links with Guyana, and the fact that Guyana has emerged on the international scene as a major oil producer with projections of significant economic wealth. Venezuelan migrants are coming as entire family units with parents and school aged children. This paper is focused on the academic welfare of migrant children. It provides an exploratory analysis of the experiences of Venezuelan migrant students as they attempt to integrate into the local school system in a different cultural context from what they are used to Understanding the experiences of migrant children is important to position Guyana to more effectively support the children displaced by this humanitarian debacle who have sought the country’s aid through relocation. The paper employs a mixed method approach using descriptive statistics and thematic analyses which focus on the nature of the challenges faced by migrant families and students, the educational challenges and performance gaps between migrant and local students and the opportunities to create an inclusive environment. The study finds that the main challenge affecting migrant students is the language barrier. It therefore centers the analysis around this core issue and analyses the main strategy being currently employed to remove this barrier.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Venezuelan migrants, Venezuelan students, immigration in Guyana, refugees in Guyana

Summary

\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Twenty young lives were lost in a fire in an Amerindian village -Mahdia- in Guyana. Social workers, psychologists, and other helping professionals (SPHP)\ were galvanized into action as they were moved into Mahdia to counsel and provide psychosocial support to survivors, family members, and other bystanders within the community. As is customary with most helping professions, every effort was made to provide service beyond self.\ Although our helping professionals have been addressing trauma, the magnitude of the Mahadia tragedy was unprecedented. This has placed a heavier burden of care on our SPHP.\  This study uses vicarious trauma which evolves from the Constructivist Self-Development Theory (CSDT) in the conceptualization of the trauma experienced by SPHP. Several explanations of vicarious trauma point to its detrimental impact on professionals based on their exposure to second-hand trauma.\  The literature has shown that helping professionals experience vicarious trauma resulting from the traumatic experiences of their clients. While the emphasis is on vicarious traumatization, other forms of occupational stress resulting from the interventions of the SPHP will be discussed, the primary questions that this study seeks to answer are: (1) What were the experiences of helping professionals during the intervention processes with the survivors of the Mahadia fire? (2) How were SPHP affected by these interventions? (3) What formal and non-formal frameworks are in place to\ support SPHP? Data for this qualitative study is garnered from debriefing sessions and key informant interviews with SPHP. The findings will be useful for social work educators and professionals at both the teaching and practice levels in supporting curriculum reform geared towards exploring how SPHP address or cope with vicarious trauma and the impact on SPHP if left unattended. It would also be important for policymakers to understand how trauma impacts\ SPHP so that they can receive the support needed.\ \ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Helping professionals, vicarious trauma, Mahdia, tragedy