22 students each win $210,000 in Guyana-China Youth Competition

Twenty-two secondary school students from each educational district in Guyana were individually awarded $210,000 on Friday at the Chinese Embassy during the second annual Guyana-China Friendship Youth Leadership Development Competition Awards.
This competition is a collaboration between the Education Ministry and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Guyana, and it saw over 300 applicants from across the country.

Open to students from Grades Eight to 10, the competition focuses on three areas: a community-based project, critique of a work of art and participation in physical activities such as gymnastics, athletics or swimming.
Linden resident Ariel Mohanlall of Queen’s College emerged as one of the winners, with her community-based project being titled K.I.N.D. to stand for “Kindness Is Necessary and Deserving.”
This project, she relayed, involved distributing food hampers to vulnerable groups within her community after a survey she carried out found that rising costs led many community members to cut back on certain essential purchases in order to make ends meet.

She wrote letters to several businesses urging them to donate monetarily or otherwise, briefly presented on 104.3 FM to raise awareness of her project and engaged with residents of her community which she said taught her to be vocal on important issues.
“Through this competition, we’re hoping that we can create fine leaders – not only people who will live and live well for themselves, but people who live and want to serve others,” said Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Alfred King.
King added that leaders are required to be well-rounded and the competition, with its three components, provides a key opportunity for these students and future leaders to not only gain certain skills but also learn to recognise the need to help others.
Chinese Ambassador to Guyana Guo Haiyan also commended the students for their achievements and encouraged them to see beyond its scope.
“I believe that for the participants, you have not only won applause, built self-confidence, acquired skills and made improvements out of this competition, but also gained two meaningful rewards for your life,” Haiyan said.
These are self-awareness and appreciation of another civilisation, the Ambassador shared, adding that only by recognising their interests, aspirations, advantages and limits can the students unleash their full potential and truly contribute to the progress of our society.
“The competition includes [components] which are helpful to trigger or deepen your self-awareness,” Ambassador Haiyan said.
She added that as this year marks the 170th anniversary of Chinese arrival into Guyana, this initiative is also an opportunity to further expand on the pre-existing knowledge and cultural aspects that Guyanese have gained from their Chinese counterparts.
“Just as fried rice and fried noodles in local Chinese restaurants can barely speak for Chinese food, those cultural symbols are far from representing the entire Chinese civilisation,” Haiyan said, encouraging participants and others to explore China’s long history and modernisation achievements.
The first Guyana-China Friendship Youth Leadership Development Competition in 2021 saw 11 winners from each educational district, chosen from some 100 applicants.
The Chinese Embassy hopes to see this competition continue to grow over the years, with Counsellor Chen Xilai expressing the potential for some awardees in the future to travel to China and experience its culture directly.