Into the Wild in Lush Guyana

By TARA MULHOLLAND

Published: February 7, 2010

Guyana’s stunning scenery and abundant wildlife make it a haven for adventurers and eco-tourists.

The Peace Corps website recently featured Ashley Benson, who served as a Peace Corps Response Volunteer in Guyana. Working through the Catholic Relief Services, Ashley provided 6 months of much needed support to the “Program on Abstinence for Guyana”. Working with the goal of prevention in mind, Ashley found the experience to be rather rewarding. ” With this opportunity, “Ashley wrote, “I was able to include topics regarding not just the message of abstaining from sex; rather, abstaining from anything that could affect you in a negative or unhealthy way. This broader message developed into a 15-session curriculum encompassing topics such as self-esteem, goals, healthy lifestyles, discrimination, peer pressure, violence, sexuality, volunteerism, and much more.” Click the link above to learn more about Ashley’s experience.

On a trip to collect information on the giant river otter, an endangered species, a group of researchers ended up in Rewa Head. “In just six weeks the expedition recorded an astounding variety of life: 158 species of birds, 22 species of medium to large mammals, and half of Guyana’s known endangered species.”

They also found that “this pristine wilderness—still free from the impacts of the modern world—may not remain so for long. Both a massive logging concession and an even larger oil drilling concession overlap the wilderness.”

Read more about this topic at: http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1129-hance_pickles.html
and more about U.S. timber firm Simon & Shock International’s involvement with Guyana here: http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0221-guyana.html

Come to our DC fund raiser!  This Thursday, November 12th at Garretts Restaurant and Railroad, 3003 M St, NW Georgetown, Washington, DC from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

There will be a raffle with great prizes, drink specials, good people, and great conversation.  A $5 donation is suggested at the door with all proceeds going to the non-profit.

For more inf0rmation about Garretts please visit, www.garrettsdc.com.

See you there!

Vacancy Announcement for Training Manager (TM)

United States Peace Corps in Guyana

Basic Functions of the Position:

Manage the design, delivery and evaluation of competency-based training to prepare Peace Corps Trainees for two years of volunteer service in Guyana. Coordinate and manage the development and implementation of the training curriculum, which includes Pre-Service Training, as well as all in-service trainings for Volunteers throughout the year.  Manage relevant staff and budgets associated with training programs.

Major Duties and Responsibilities:

• Guides program and training staff in the design, monitoring, evaluation and revision of a comprehensive set of technical, core, language, cross-cultural, sector, and personal health/safety competencies which will prepare Trainees and Volunteers to effectively serve with their community counterparts.
• Develops and implements a community-based training program based on competencies that integrate technical areas, language, cross-cultural, and core topics.
• Manages a team of trainers, resource persons, resource volunteers, and staff in the implementation of training curriculum and goals.
• Develops and monitors a training budget in collaboration with the PTO and Administrative Officer.
• Oversees the planning and preparation of training activities and events.
• Oversees the development of all training documents/reports and provides quality feedback to the training team in a timely manner that allows for integrated planning and evaluation.
• Facilitates large and small group training activities, modeling a variety of non-formal, adult education techniques in the delivery of training.
• Conducts training sessions for many core competencies and selected sector/technical competencies.
• Guides/directs the evaluation of trainees’ progress, including written assessments, interviews, and staff roundtable meetings.
• Serves as member of the PC Guyana Team.

Qualifications – Education/Experience:

• University bachelor degree in adult education, human resources management, or a development related field OR 4 years of equivalent experience in adult, non-formal education required.

Qualifications – Required Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes:

• Experience researching, designing, and delivering a multi-component training program for adults.
• Demonstrated, management, administration, or coordination of a training program, including personnel management.
• Knowledge of train-the-trainer approaches, group dynamics and facilitation techniques for education programs.
• Must be a very resourceful and creative individual capable of designing flexible options to respond to training needs.
• Demonstrated facilitation skills and ability to make presentations comfortably in front of a group.
• Experience managing budgets and expenses in a high accountability environment.
• Must be computer literate and proficient in Microsoft Office products.
• Written and spoken fluency in English.
• Job requires brief to extended periods of in-country travel for training.

Desired Qualifications:

• Familiarity with Guyanese culture, communities, and geography.
• Licensed driver.

Position Salary: Salary negotiable based on previous experience and qualifications.

Position Duration: 1-year contract position renewable upon satisfactory performance.

Application Process/Deadline: Submit resume with cover letter and two reference contacts via email to pcgy_jobvacancies@peacecorps.gov no later than Wednesday, August 19, 2009, or mail them to: Peace Corps Guyana, TM Vacancy, P.O. Box 101192, Georgetown.  Proposed start date: Monday, September 14, 2009.

Additional Information: For additional general information regarding the Peace Corps, please visit our website at: www.peacecorps.gov.

In a recent Kaieteur News article, well known Calypso artist, Lurlene James highlighted the potential demise for the art form. In an attempt to raise awareness of the issue, Ms. James spoke with the newspaper about issues regarding the art form.

“The calypso art form will die altogether if it is not given the deserved attention, sponsorship and recognition it so truly deserves.”

Over the years, calypsonians have all complained of the lukewarm response given to the art and still today many such artistes are lamenting that their pleas and observations have all fallen on deaf ears.
Yesterday, the veteran calypso queen noted that the art was indeed brilliant and artistic. She however declared that despite the rich traditional value of calypso, the public and relevant authorities, for some strange reason, have turned blind eyes on the need for the development of calypso.

Beneficiaries:

Congratulations to Philip Chan, an RPCV from Guyana, who won our hearts – and our first small grant – with his proposal to assist a small villiage in Guyana in their effort to obtain clean drinking water.  Please take a moment to read his magnificent project report below.

PROJECT REPORT FROM PHILLIP CHAN

(Slightly abridged by FROG)

Summary:

The purpose of the trip was to implement a small scale clean water project in the Amerindian village of St. Monica.  The decision to conduct this project was based on ongoing communication I had with my village since COS-ing regarding the rise in gastrointestinal complaints (vomiting and diarrhea) reported at the health post and village concerns about the increasingly polluted waters of the Pomeroon.  Prior to the trip we conducted research on applicable clean water applications, including portable filtration systems, Life Straws, water purification packets, and river bank sand filtration.  We consulted with the local Philadelphia chapter of Engineers Without Borders (regarding the river bank sand filtration method) and with Dr. Andrea Thorpe of the Miami Chapter – Rotary International.  We also invited a guest speaker, Dr. Christiaan Morssink-president of the United Nations Associations of Greater Philadelphia to come to our school and give a lecture on water security in the developing world.  Dr. Morssink had previously lived in Suriname, where he was head of the Department of Planning and Project Management in the Ministry of Health.  Ultimately, we settled on rainwater collection as the application for use in our project, primarily for three reasons:

• Turbidity and conductivity data collected by a 2006 CDC team to the Pomeroon indicated rainwater as the cleanest natural source of water in the region.
• Village leaders identified rainwater collection as the desired source for clean water in the community, and already possessed resources to support the set up of a rainwater collection system on the central village compound (including four 450 gallon rainwater tanks).
• In conjunction with Rotary International, a successful larger-scale project to set up rainwater tanks had already been conducted in the neighboring village of Kabakaburi.  Assessment plans to expand this project to St. Monica and Karawab were already underway, and our efforts would complement those of the RI team.

We arrived in Guyana on the morning of Sunday, March 22, and arrived in St. Monica the following day on Monday, March 23.  On Tuesday we traveled with the tushao to Karawab at the request of Dr. Thorpe, who wanted to collect population and resource data for expansion of Rotary’s clean water project to this community.  We were also planning on setting up a second water tank stand at the Karawab village compound, near the primary school and health post.  However, due to time limitations we were restricted to setting up a single water tank stand at the St. Monica compound.  Wednesday and Thursday were devoted to clearing the work site area and gathering materials for the stand, including 384 BMs of lumber donated from community members, representing nearly half of the necessary resources for the project.  Construction commenced on Thursday, and was completed the following afternoon.  Friday evening we had a sendoff dinner and party at the village community center.  Paiwari was shared.  I danced the Worm.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rupununi - Photo by Kati Ringer

I came across a great website one day for the Rupununi Learners. The organization is made up of two non-profit organizations – the Rupununi Learners Incorporated (RLI) and Rupununi Learners Foundation (RLF). RLI is a registered non-profit in Guyana, founded in 2007 and RLF is a registered non-profit in the USA that started in 2001. Together, these organizations come together to collaborate on environmental conservation, wildlife research, education, economic development and cultural preservation efforts in the southern region of Guyana.

Check out their great website, http://www.rupununilearners.org, to learn more about these two organizations and the wonderful programs they offer!

Give It To Me Right is just now hitting the radio stations in DC. I love it – and if you’re into great music – I think you will too. I’ve got to admit, knowing Melanie Fiona’s (Canadian-)Guyanese makes me love her more.

You may have first heard her on Reggae Gold 2008 – the stunning voice behind “Somebody Come Get Me” – but she does right by R&B.

Plus she has her own Wikipedia page. Which means she must be going somewhere.

So take a listen, and when it comes out in the Spring get your hands on a copy of her first album “The Bridge.” You can borrow mine…