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"Forever paying
it forward and
Always giving back"
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A new promise
and a new opportunity for a happy life
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Our primary task
is to help and to give hope to those
in need
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United to restore, to empower,
to lift up, to share -
Replace the struggle of today
with new hope
for tomorrow
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Just when you think that no one cares enough,
you find out that we do!!
About Us
In December of 2013, Mrs. Leila Albertha Perry who was residing in Georgetown, Guyana became suddenly ill, and was rushed to the hospital. During her first of several hospital stays, it was discovered that after over 20 years of well managed diabetes (she only took tablets), that her kidneys were rapidly failing. Her doctor determined that she needed dialysis as a regular treatment to try to normalize her life. Keeping in mind that she was 86 years old at that time, normalize is relative. It was during my visit to Guyana to see her and care for her for a while, that I discovered that sad and painful truth of the dynamics surrounding dialysis in that South American country.
Guyana does not have any public healthcare system that allows the population the choice of any and all healthcare. The Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation does provide free healthcare to those that cannot pay, but in most cases the conditions are unacceptable, and not all services are available. Anyone with the ability to pay does not go there, but rather to other privately owned hospitals. The ability to be treated with any high level of professional medical care and the corresponding equipment and technology, greatly depends on the ability to pay at costs that eliminate most of the population.
Leila Perry, my mother, began her dialysis treatments at the Doobay Centre in Guyana, which is a privately owned and funded business that actually tries to provide this critical care at a relatively affordable cost, considering the cost of living and socio economic dynamics in Guyana.
Here are some of the financial statistics to allow for a better understanding: The average person in Guyana receives an Old Age Pension of $22,000.00 Guyana currency monthly. The cost of one dialysis treatment even at the Doobay Centre is $9000.00 per treatment and many require multiple treatments weekly to survive. (The current average currency rate it $200GY to $1US). This simple example is at the core of what touched me greatly as I heard of many having to make the choice to pay for treatments or to take care of their dependents and sacrifice their lives.
continued......
Basically, they had to make the choice to die. And many, that face this choice are as young as 19 years old.
I was very impressed by the members of the board of directors and medical staff that I met, and they took very good care of my mother until she passed away in March of 2014. They told me of a patient that could not afford to pay but they kept giving her dialysis treatments so she would stay alive. At that time, her outstanding bill was over $800,000.00 Guyana and climbing. Also, when my mother was required to have a fistula surgically inserted so that she could receive the dialysis treatments, that procedure by itself cost my father $60,000. Thankfully, my family had the means to pay.
On one of my visits to the Doobay Center, I “ran into” a friend who unknown to me, had been on dialysis for a while and was in the process of receiving three treatments weekly. He praised that facility for keeping him alive and his life somewhat normal. Sadly, when I returned to Guyana a few months later, I learned that his body had rejected the fistula that he had been using and within 2 days he was dead. If I remember correctly, he was about 42 years old.
I was very impressed by the members of the board of directors and medical staff that I met, and they took very good care of my mother until she passed away in March of 2014. They told me of a patient that could not afford to pay but they kept giving her dialysis treatments so she would stay alive. At that time, her outstanding bill was over $800,000.00 Guyana and climbing. Also, when my mother was required to have a fistula surgically inserted so that she could receive the dialysis treatments, that procedure by itself cost my father $60,000. Thankfully, my family had the means to pay.
On one of my visits to the Doobay Center, I “ran into” a friend who unknown to me, had been on dialysis for a while and was in the process of receiving three treatments weekly. He praised that facility for keeping him alive and his life somewhat normal. Sadly, when I returned to Guyana a few months later, I learned that his body had rejected the fistula that he had been using and within 2 days he was dead. If I remember correctly, he was about 42 years old.
These experiences and more stirred a passion in me to establish The Perry Foundation charity in honor of my mother and to help in this humanitarian crisis to pay for people in Guyana who are faced with the choice of paying for dialysis or paying their bills and guessing how long they would live. It is the intention of the foundation to start with this health crisis and then to expand to others around the world.
Sometimes, many of us who are fortunate to live in a country with options, or to be born to a family with financial abilities are unaware of what many other decent human beings may face in other parts of the world. It is my hope that many will join me in this humanitarian effort that starts with Guyana and expands to other types of crisis and to other parts of the world.
Sincerely,
Julian Perry,
Chairman/C.E.O,
The Perry Foundation
Sometimes, many of us who are fortunate to live in a country with options, or to be born to a family with financial abilities are unaware of what many other decent human beings may face in other parts of the world. It is my hope that many will join me in this humanitarian effort that starts with Guyana and expands to other types of crisis and to other parts of the world.
Sincerely,
Julian Perry,
Chairman/C.E.O,
The Perry Foundation