29 Peace Corps volunteers sworn in

Twenty-nine young American volunteers will spend the next two years living with Guyanese families to execute community projects geared at fostering education, health, and protecting the environment.
The 32nd group of Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Guyana was sworn in on Wednesday by United States Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch at her residence.
The 29 volunteers underwent 10 weeks of training to prepare them for their deployment. During the training sessions, they learnt about Guyanese culture, creole language, technical theory and practical training on model school programmes, all while living with a Guyanese host family.
Peace Corps Country Director Kury Cobham said that the 29 volunteers were committed and ready to take on the assignments with the utmost professionalism, commitment, and passion.
“A group of Americans from dynamic and varying backgrounds –- all coming to give of themselves and of support to where they are most needed. Today marks the culmination of their 10 weeks of pre-service training. This time was not only meant for the training team to educate them on Guyanese culture, giving them a foundation in Creolese and drill in key technical skills relevant to their sectors, it was also a critical time for them to reconfirm their commitment to fulfil the expectations placed upon them by Peace Corps,” Cobham noted.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Lynch, a former volunteer herself, spoke of the work Peace Corps has done over the years in Guyana. She noted that Peace Corps Guyana has fielded 1400 volunteers, who have served and lived in Guyanese communities, working alongside the people, sharing their aspirations, helping them address their challenges and celebrating their achievements.
“The Peace Corps’ special ingredient in Guyana and globally is a people-to-people approach to learning, reinforcing, and building capacity at the community level. And 53 years later, volunteers are still serving the people of Guyana, having lived and worked in all 10 regions of this country,” the US envoy noted.
Turning her attention to this current batch, Ambassador Lynch highlighted the task ahead of the new volunteers as they head out to serve in eight of Guyana’s 10 regions.
“You are being posted to eight of Guyana’s 10 regions, and 40 per cent of you will be serving in some of the neediest Indigenous communities… But let me remind you that you are committing to two years of service – service to your country, the United States, and service to the Guyanese citizens in your communities and beyond. As with those before you, we expect excellence; we expect professionalism; and we expect commitment during your two years of Peace Corps Service,” the Ambassador said to the volunteers.
This batch consists of 10 volunteers in the education sector, 10 in the environmental sector and nine in the.
Addressing the volunteers, Education Minister Nicolette Henry recognised the sacrifices they had to make to be able to work in communities in Guyana.
“I urge you to feel free to explore and enjoy what we have to offer, so that the exchange may be balanced in many respects as you interact with our teachers, students, parents, communities, and the nation by large. I trust the experience will contribute, in a large way, to your personal as well as your professional growth,” Henry posited.
The 10 volunteers assigned to the education sector will serve at 26 schools throughout the country, working to improve the literacy programme from Grades One to Four.
Meanwhile, the health sector will see volunteers working with young persons to improve their health and well-being outcomes by educating them on the harmful effects of alcohol and drugs.
Wednesday’s swearing-in ceremony for the 32nd batch of Peace Corps Volunteers was attended by First Lady Sandra Granger; Minister of State, Dawn Hastings-Williams; Junior Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Minister Valerie Garrido-Lowe, officials from Peace Corps Guyana and partnering stakeholders.