Friends & RPCVs of Guyana is a non-profit, service based organization dedicated to supporting education, health, social, economic, and environmental programs in Guyana through a network of RPCVs, Guyanese nationals, Guyanese-Americans, and all others concerned and interested in the Guyanese Community.
Name: Mark Hejinian
GUY Group: Guy17
Guyana Site: Affiance, Essequibo Coast
Type of Volunteer: Health (and whatever else came my way)
1. What have you been up to since you finished Peace Corps?
After COSing in April 2008, I started law school at Georgetown University Law Center. I’m about to start my third and final year this fall.
2. What do you miss most about Guyana and your Peace Corps experience?
I definitely miss my friends and the slow-pace of life. I know in Guyana it could be frustrating having so little to do, but now I sometimes get caught up in school and work so much that I’m not seeing my friends enough or having down time. Plus, how could I not miss roti and pumpkin! Thank god I can find 5 Year in the states now.
3. How did your experience in Guyana affect your post-Peace Corps experience?
Like many RPCVs, it has given me the ability to deal with stress, challenges, etc. But more importantly, it has really focused my work interests. Though I’m in law school, I’m trying really hard to stay focused on international human rights. My time in Guyana has given me the demonstrated experience to get legal opportunities in that field.
4. Describe a challenge you worked to overcome while in PC Guyana.
After one of my fellow volunteers left unexpectedly, I took over her project for a hydroponics greenhouse, which had just been approved for funding. Of course, many delays meant that I had three months to execute a project that had an original timeline of about six months (or, let’s be serious, longer). But with some help from another volunteer and some firm delegation to the partner organization, we got it done. And it was still going after I left!
5. In 5 words, describe your Peace Corps experience.
Books, rum, work, jus’ now.
6. What is your favorite Peace Corps Guyana memory?
So many! But one my favorites was when three of us PCVs joined a group of Johns Hopkins doctors doing medical outreach on the Pomeroon for a week. Accompanied by an HIV/AIDS tester, we did education, testing, and condom distribution. The interesting part was when I had to go to Georgetown and get a carton of condoms, which ended up being about 5000 condoms! Getting that on mini-buses and speedboats to the Essequibo Coast was a bit tricky.
7. What was the hardest part of readjusting to post-Peace Corps life?
I didn’t suffer from much reverse-culture shock that Peace Corps spends days warning us about during the COS conference. Travelling afterwards through South America definitely helped with that. But I remember really wishing I were back in Guyana when I had to take my first set of final exams in law school. The studying was not fun at all, and I remember staring out the library window, trying to figure out why I was here and not in Guyana in a hammock.
8. Which lessons from Peace Corps have you applied in your post-Peace Corps jobs/life?
Don’t sweat the small stuff. Things come together (magically). You lose years off your life stressing about all the little things.
9. What advice would you give a future or current Peace Corps Volunteer (Guyana or otherwise)?
Really enjoy your time there. You’re never going to be able to have an experience like it in America. And figure out the middle road between being flexible about your work and firm about your role as a PCV in the community – it’s okay to say no if the community is not involved.
10. Would you do Peace Corps again? Where, when and why?
I recently saw one Peace Corps Response invite for soccer coaches in Jamaica and thought “how important is third year of law school?” But I think I’m on a path that won’t give me an opportunity for Peace Corps for a little while. Maybe later in life? Hopefully Peace Corps will still be around…
Are you a Guyana RPCV who would like to be featured in our RPCV Highlight? Email kringer@guyfrog.org.
It is time to elect new board members of FROG, and we are now accepting nominations for board candidates. Elections will be held in October of 2010. If you, or someone you know is interested in joining the FROG board, we ask that you do the following:
Nominees must be (or will become) a member of FROG through the NPCA;
Nominees must submit their contact information to board@guyfrog.org no later than Sunday, October 18th; and Nominees are strongly encourage to fill out a Board of Directors Application Form at:http://bit.ly/hZcgb. Feel free to pass this letter to a candidate you feel might be interested.
A FROG board member will take a leadership role in an organization designed to enhance the lives of Guyanese nationals through micro-grants to organizations throughout the country. Opportunities also exist to spread awareness of Guyana and its people throughout the U.S. with fundraising events, T-shirt sales, newsletters, and a number of online tools.
The FROG board of directors meets every few weeks to plan and execute the activities, policy, and general direction of FROG. The meetings are held using Skype in a teleconference setting approximately once every six weeks, or when necessary to conduct FROG activities. The board consists of four main positions (the Executive Committee) and auxiliary positions created by the board when it is necessary to do so. The executive committee will be elected once the new board members have accepted their nominations and have been voted on to the board. The four main positions are as follows:
President. The president is the chief executive officer of FROG, presides at all meetings of the members of FROG, the Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee, and has general and active management of the business of FROG. The president sees that all orders and resolutions of the members of FROG and the Board of Directors are carried into effect. He or She executes bonds or contracts which the Board has authorized to be executed, except in cases where the signing and execution thereof shall be expressly delegated to some other officer or agent of FROG by the Board of Directors. In general he or she performs all duties incident to the office of president and such other duties as may be prescribed by the Board of Directors.
Vice President. In absence, disability, or refusal to act by the president, the vice president performs the duties and exercises the powers of the president, and has all the powers of and be subject to all of the restrictions of the office of the president. The vice president may, from time to time, perform such duties and have such powers as prescribed by the Board of Directors or the president.
Secretary. The secretary keeps minutes of all meetings of the membership of FROG, the Board of Directors, and the Executive Committee. He or she sends a copy of all minutes to each member of the Board within two weeks of such a meeting, and files a copy of the minutes in an electronic database maintained for that purpose; sees that all notices are duly given in accordance with these Bylaws or as required by law; be custodian of corporate records; keeps a record of the email address, post office address, and phone number of each member who furnishes such information to the secretary; and in general perform all duties incident to the office of secretary or as from time to time may be prescribed by the president or Board of Directors.
Treasurer. The treasurer is the custodian of all corporate funds and securities and shall keep full and accurate accounts of all receipts and disbursements in computer programs or books belonging to FROG. The treasurer deposits all money and other valuables in the name and to the credit of FROG, in depositories so designated by the Board of Directors. The treasurer disburses the funds of FROG as so directed by the Board, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements and submits to the presidents and Board at its regular meetings or when requested by the Board or president, an account of all transactions made as treasurer.
FROG Board members also take responsibility for additional roles. To successfully operate a non-profit organization, everyone’s participation is crititcal. New board members will be expected to join or take over one or more of the following roles:
Membership Coordinator
Community Outreach Coordinator
Projects Manager
Chief Fundraiser
Technology Chair
Program/Task Manager
Serving on the Board of Directors for the Friends and RPCVs of Guyana can be a richly rewarding experience. The small, yet focused nature of our organization allow us to move quickly and flexibly in order to accomplish our mission. Please share in our success by becoming a nominee, or nominating someone you feel would be an appropriate fit.
Nominations can be sent to board@guyfrog.org, or nominees may fill out the application form at http://bit.ly/hZcgb. Thanks, and we hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
The Friends and RPCVs of Guyana Board of Directors:
Mike Geurink – President
Kati Ringer – Vice President
Eric Terpstra – Treasurer
Louise Stenberg – Secretary
Scott Stadum – Web/IT Coordinator
Aimie Mims – Outreach
Joanna Knueppel – Asst. Treasurer
On September 17th, 2010, Friends and RPCVs of Guyana will hold a screening of the short narrative film,”The Seawall” by Cal Arts School of Film and Design graduate, Mason Richards. The event will be held at the Goethe-Instutit in Washington, D.C. and will also serve as a fundraising event for our FROG Grants program. Hope to see you all there and stay tuned for more details!
The Peace Corps Response program (formally known as Crisis Corps) has two open positions for Volunteers in Guyana.
ICT Teacher at the Yakusari Primary School -The ICT teacher will work in close collaboration with the school to develop a new computer lab and work with students and the wider community to teach basic computer skills. To achieve this goal, the PCRV will: develop and implement a curriculum for the computer course; start a computer lab; monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum; and distribute all materials and documented practices to the teachers and relevant computer club members for further use. Start Date: September 2010
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer at the Guyana Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS - The Monitoring and Evaluation Officer will work with the staff and board of the GBCHA to build the capacity of stakeholders to develop and utilize monitoring and evaluation tools that provide relevant and valuable information on the outcomes and impact of workplace policies and programs. The PCRV will seek to ensure that staff members have a monitoring and evaluation plan and appropriate systems and tools in place to track progress towards the achievement of program and project level results. The PCRV will also work with GBCHA directors and staff to provide technical support to all programs in the design, data analysis, and reporting of qualitative and quantitative research and evaluation. In addition, the Volunteer will collaborate with local and international agencies in the design, implementation, and analysis of evaluation activities related to HIV prevention and care in the region. Start Date: September 2010
For more information on these and other Peace Corps Response Volunteer positions, check out the Response Volunteer website.
Name: Kristen Hare
GUY Group: 8
Guyana Site: Johanna Cecilia, Essequibo Coast
Type of Volunteer: Education
1. What have you been up to since you finished Peace Corps? I’m a journalist, currently writing and producing video stories for the online news site The St. Louis Beacon. I’m also married, the mother of a 3-year-old boy, with a little girl on the way.
2. What do you miss most about Guyana and your Peace Corps experience? Naps in hammocks and mangos.
3. How did your experience in Guyana affect your post-Peace Corps experience? In many ways I brought Guyana home with me. I married a Guyanese who keeps my home smelling of curry and my ears filled with reggae. We’ve been back three times and it really does feel like going home when we’re there. More practically, I also think having PC on my resume got me my first newspaper job when I got home. It showed I had life experience, I was told, and boy did I.
4. Describe a challenge you worked to overcome while in PC Guyana? How about just living? It takes time to understand a culture, to get used to what people mean when they say certain things, like how Guyanese will agree with you even if they don’t really. It takes time to read the undercurrents, and then learning to cook, to clean, to wash by hand, that was the hardest, I think. Until then, I felt like a very competent, well-educated young woman. Guyana showed me that I had book smarts, not street smarts. But I learned.
5. In 5 words, describe your Peace Corps experience. The best, hardest, hottest adventure.
6. What is your favorite Peace Corps Guyana memory? I used to sit on my verandah in the morning and drink my coffee, and in the evenings, I’d walk through the rice fields for exercise. I found out later that my neighbors all thought I was nuts walking every day, but I got in great shape and loved the red dirt under my feet and the green paddy growing all around. It was something I did for myself, and didn’t involve any initiatives or goals or peer education groups. On one of my very last mornings before leaving, I sat on my verandah having coffee and saw a group of women in T-shirts and tennis shoes walking by. I thought it was odd, and mentioned it to one of my students. “They’re exercising,” she told me. “Just like you.” I think I laughed until it hurt. And it was a great lesson — for all you try and teach, who you are and what you do is just as important. If not more.
7. What was the hardest part of readjusting to post-Peace Corps life? The pace! And winter. Missouri winter’s are not kind.
8. Which lessons from Peace Corps have you applied in your post-Peace Corps jobs/life? Two come to mind: The night I returned, my mom took me out to dinner and told the waitress I was just back from the Peace Corps. The waitress said, “Oh, how sad their lives must be, they’re all so poor.” I never thought of it before that moment, but the people of Guyana taught me that there are different kinds of poverty. They might not have Wiis or iPhones, but they always have more than enough food, time to spend with anyone who wants it, space and generosity that wealthy Americans rarely show. The second came from being a minority for the first time in my life. In Guyana, I was literally the only white girl for miles. It showed me what it was like to be considered different. Strangers on the minibuses used to touch my skin and my hair because they’d never met a white person before. It also taught me to to see and appreciate different cultures, both there and here. That’s carried over both to my personal life, where I’m married to someone of a different ethnicity and religion and am the mother to a multiethnic child, and to my work, where I primarily report about race and immigration. I think Guyana helped me develop a perspective that allows me to look around my own experience and see what else is out there.
9. What advice would you give a future or current Peace Corps Volunteer (Guyana or otherwise)? I had a fantastic two years. I loved my school, met the love of my life and made terrific friends, both volunteers and Guyanese. There was a lot to be upset about, from social justice issues to feeling helpless to make real change to the bureaucracy of the PC, but I was happy. I think the truth is, your experience here will probably be your experience there. If your professors or supervisors stand in your way here, they will in Guyana, too. If you have a lot of drama here, you will in Guyana, too. Having said that, I also have no doubt that the experience made me grow up very quickly and stop taking myself so seriously.
10. Would you do Peace Corps again? Where, when and why? Definitely. Travel is amazing, but really living in a place, peeling back the layers, it’s like nothing else. My husband and I would like to return to Guyana with the Peace Corps when we retire (his idea, not mine, but I’m game.)
Are you a Guyana RPCV who would like to be featured in our RPCV Highlight? Email me at kringer@guyfrog.org.
Name: Hope Wall
GUY Group: 11
Guyana Site: Wakapoa
Type of Volunteer: Health
1. What have you been up to since you finished Peace Corps?
Working with Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres – MSF)
2. What do you miss most about Guyana and your Peace Corps experience?
Without a doubt my community – I have visited twice and it felt like going home and reconnecting with people with whom I had grown close in a family sort of way.
3. How did your experience in Guyana affect your post-Peace Corps experience?
The PC experience was a stepping stone – I had always wanted to work overseas and this gave me the experience I needed on my resume. I have really enjoyed keeping up with RPCVs – it is a special and unusual bond.
4. Describe a challenge you worked to overcome while in PC Guyana.
The cross culture experience was without difficulty as I had grown up in a similar culture. Social isolation was probably the most difficult part of the experience in the beginning
5. In 5 words, describe your Peace Corps experience.
Gratifying, satisfying, frustrating, peaceful, worthwhile
6. What is your favorite Peace Corps Guyana memory?
Sharing major life events with people – births, weddings, school achievements, deaths – it was a privilege to be integrated enough where I was included and could participate in, at times intensely, personal experiences
7. What was the hardest part of readjusting to post-Peace Corps life?
Realizing that the Peace Corps experience doesn’t really enhance your resume in many ways – although after 6 months it finally paid off. In the short term – adjusting from being a very active member of a community and returning (not to original homebase) and having to rebuild a life from scratch where it was a struggle to realize a sense of purpose.
8. Which lessons from Peace Corps have you applied in your post-Peace Corps jobs/life?
Just now!!!
9. What advice would you give a future or current Peace Corps Volunteer (Guyana or otherwise)?Of the countries of service, in my estimation, Guyana is one of the easier ones to work in. Advice: the PC experience is what you make of it, it is a good idea to look at why you want to do the PC and what you want to gain from it – believe in those things and let that carry you through the tough times.
10. Would you do Peace Corps again? Where, when and why?
NO! as an older volunteer – it was very difficult to enter into a situation where I had to prove myself – which may be a culture set up by the CD – but I entered the Peace Corps with 18 years of professional experience, more education than most of the national PC staff and suddenly I felt I had to prove my value and commitment…I almost left because this was so disturbing. But I realized that as an older volunteer I could work ‘under the radar’ and fill a need in the community and essentially pay no attention to the PC administration.
I would however strongly recommend the PC – especially for those who have little travel experience and centric view of the world. In this way the PC opens your eyes and sets up the possibility for appreciating the world and the plight of the underserved, the disparity between the haves and the have nots, the income gap…we are all better off for having this opportunity. But it is not all about what one can get out of the experience it is an amazing opportunity to learn the giving side! Giving yourself, through grass roots efforts contributing to a community in some way! Completing the service in a community is incredibly meaningful especially from the community perspective – so often in the beginning I was asked ‘why do you give up everything you have in America to live here. You have no comforts. You separate from your family’.
Are you a Guyana RPCV who would like to be featured in our RPCV Highlight? Email me at kringer@guyfrog.org.
Joan Eichner (GUY 14), is one of two finalists for a $15,000 grant from the Pittsburgh Foundation / Grable Foundation initiative. Below is more information about her project, but we ask that you help out and vote for her project called DocYOUmenting Hope: The Stories of Young Learners.
About DocYOUmenting Hope: The Stories of Young Learners
Community Issue
Early childhood is a fascinating time of discovery intertwined with rapid learning. Young children are incredibly hopeful, parents have big dreams, and the future seems unbounded. Yet many of us don’t appreciate our role in early learning. The Office of Child Development (OCD) sees a need for creative communications that portray the hopeful nature of childhood and integrate research with the voices of children. DocYOUmenting Hope will use video created by youth filmmakers to capture children’s perspectives as they use play and relationships as vehicles to learning. Their voices will be woven with those of parents and early childhood professionals to convey children’s dreams and parents’ hopes, linked to the science of cognitive and social-emotional development. Our goal is to increase public understanding of early child development, while inspiring adults to recognize that they have – through their interactions with young children – something worth giving to nurture that youthful hope
Social Impact
DocYOUmenting Hope will increase appreciation for the process of cognitive and social-emotional growth of young children and share their stories of hope. It will engage youth as documentarians, parents as a child’s first teacher, and researchers to share the science of early learning. Parents, community members, and other viewers will feel inspired and increase their public and political support for early childhood programs. OCD is exploring Pittsburgh Filmmakers as a potential partner and source for youth filmmakers. In the past we have partnered with organizations that document children’s voices and they would partner with us again. We will identify children and families through the programs with which we have relationships (e.g. family centers, Early Head Start. We will distribute the video through local media outlets, public showings, all partners’ websites, and statewide via OCDEL’s network. DocYOUmenting Hope will be evaluated by test audiences or web-based survey after viewing.
Plan for Change
We will identify a youth filmmaker and participants through our network of community contacts. The video will pair interview-style voice segments with footage of young children learning and interacting. The voice segments will interweave the perspectives of children and parents with brief, understandable descriptions of the science of child development. We will distribute the video to target audiences and the general public using deliberate and viral marketing strategies. The video will link viewers to a website called the Wall of Hope where they can post their stories as “graffiti”. Families who participate will be fully informed of the purpose and uses for the video. Many parents have an ongoing relationship with us, so we expect to be successful, but this is a risk. Another consideration is effective dissemination. Working as a team, OCD staff, the filmmaker, and the families who participate will identify target audiences and effective methods of dissemination.
Innovation
The juxtaposition of perspectives, the authentic voices of young children, and the focus on the hopeful, unbounded feeling of early childhood learning are what makes this project unique. Images and voices of young children, woven with the science of early development, will create a vivid and moving tool for public education. Secondly, the communications philosophy behind the project is fresh. It supposes that effective communications strategies about children are simple, positive, and meet three criteria. They evoke compassion, inspire hope, and show the audience that he or she has something worth giving or doing in support of young children. Almost every person loves a child, their own or one they know. This project puts a new spin on the scientific evidence of early childhood development and inspires viewers to become engaged with a young child in that hopeful time of exploration and discovery.
Sustainability
DocYOUmenting Hope is part of OCD’s larger strategy to improve the effectiveness of communications about children. The video can be used indefinitely for various audiences through multiple dissemination pathways. Similar videos could be created that focus on other aspects of child development or target different audiences. The Wall of Hope will be an ongoing repository for hopeful messages between children, parents, community members, and child advocates. Many local partners exist, so support is strong and the opportunities to are many. A small part of the funding will be used to rent filming and editing equipment. Some funds will pay for a young filmmaker. An OCD staff will act as project coordinator and some funds will pay for her research, video design and implementation, website design and maintenance, and video distribution. Interviewees will volunteer to participate but will receive appropriate reimbursement for their time and insight.
Beginning June 15th (and ending July 12th) Friends & RPCVs of Guyana (FROG) will compete in the Chase Community Giving challenge on Facebook, in the hopes that we will be one of 200 nonprofits to share a $5 million donation or 195 with a $20,000 grant. Most of you are familiar with FROG by now, but if you're new to us, we're a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to continuing the work of Peace Corps volunteers in Guyana by funding small projects through microgrants. Our goal -
FROG will provide assistance in the form of small grants and resources to support community driven projects that volunteers are involved in. In addition to this we will conduct Guyanese cultural events and awareness activities in the U.S., both as a part of the Third Goal of Peace Corps and as a means to strengthen support for the people of Guyana.
All of the money we raise and any money we gain from Chase will fund projects as FROG consists entirely of volunteers, incurring no overhead costs. With this funding we'll be able to continue projects like the Karawab Clean Water Project, the Canal #1 Learning Center Project, and Mason Richards’ Narrative Short Film Project on immigration. If you'd like to help FROG fund more projects, there are a few things you can do:
One final note – Persist! Email contacts a few times, to tell them, nudge and remind them; post to Twitter and FB and other sites daily; ask your networks to do them same for their networks. We can win this! Thank you for your support.
By signing an agreement, the United States and Sierra Leone governments
agreed to reestablished a Peace Corps/Sierra Leone program. Sierra Leone hasn’t had a Peace Corps program since 1994.
“I am honored to celebrate the volunteers returning to Sierra Leone,” said Peace Corps Chief of Staff Stacy Rhodes (Bolivia, 1968-1970) at the send off celebration. “It is with their enthusiasm, commitment and compassion that the Peace Corps continues to carry the torch of President Kennedy’s dream and responds to President Obama’s call to service.”
FROG is very pleased to introduce our very
first intern, Alan Ince. Recently, as FROG was discussing our need for more assistance and the possibility of starting an internship program, Alan contacted us about his interest in Guyana and helping our organization during the summer. Being a great opportunity for both FROG and Alan, we welcome him and look forward to collaborating with him over the summer.
Tell us about yourself:
I am a graduating senior at George Mason University, August 2010. My degree is in Communication with a concentration of Public Relations. I am a first generation American, with Guyanese parents and I was raised in Virginia Beach, VA.
You’ve made several trips to Guyana. What were your experiences like?
I’ve been to Guyana twice and my first experience was pretty much along the lines of, “It’s hot, get me out of here!!!” Then again I was under 10 years old! I went back in 2008 for a family reunion and that is when I gained appreciation for the country. The way everyone finds beauty in little things, or to make the best out every situation seems so right. Some of the things that bothered me were the conditions of some of the country, somewhat heart breaking.
How did you become interested in working with FROG?
I knew I wanted to do some type of nonprofit work while I was in school and one of our PR projects was working with Relay for Life. That gave me somewhat of an insight and then I researched nonprofits relative to something that is close to home. Through research I came across FROG. It seemed perfect, so I shot Mike and email and the rest is history. Here I am, making an attempt to learn about the nonprofit sector.
How do you hope to contribute to FROG during your internship?
I hope to help organize the fund raising event, fund raising in general, increase membership and assist in implementing any plan in action.
What do you want to do after you graduate in August?
As far as after graduation, I am applying for jobs in PR and writing/editing.
How can people find you on LinkedIn?
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/alan-ince/20/a81/496
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