200 Guyanese to benefit from American University scholarships

Two hundred Guyanese will, in the coming days, benefit from scholarships offered by the American University of Peace Studies, located on Sheriff Street, Georgetown, to boost their knowledge in the area of Domestic Violence.
This was announced by the University’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Eton Simon, on Friday during a Domestic Violence conference.
The programme being offered locally at the University is deemed ‘Trainers of Trainers’, and is geared towards changing and empowering minds to cope with, and provide counselling to, domestic violence victims.
Dr. Simon noted that the programme has no requirement, but is limited to those who are passionate about making a difference in their communities. The programme begins on August 15 for persons 18 years and above.
“We are going to give out 200 scholarship grants to 200 persons from around Guyana. We’re going to give 100 to (persons in the) Georgetown area and the other 100 will be divided among Berbice, Bartica, Essequibo and so on,” the CEO

noted.
Some $10 million in grants are being distributed to interested persons.
“The grants will be given to anyone. With this training, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist, you don’t have to be a scholar; all you have to do is to have the urge and the desire to make a difference. That’s all you have to do to get on board this training programme,” Dr. Simon added.
He further noted that the six months’ training will be very helpful in bringing about the change of mindset which is much needed. “This Trainers of Trainers programme…runs for six months, and within the Trainers of Trainers programme, it is very comprehensive and covers all aspects of transformation that any human being can embrace to bring about the shift in consciousness,” Simon pointed out.
As he explained the ‘shift in consciousness’, the Psychologist detailed that he is certain no one suddenly wakes up and wants to hit their spouse or family member. According to him, those actions are done in an unconscious state of mind, which that persons enters due to severe aggression.
Often times, he said, it is after the damage has been done that the perpetrators of domestic violence become conscious of their actions. It is against this backdrop that the programme was created. The six months’ training will seek to raise awareness and consciousness of domestic violence.