New Peace Corps volunteers to focus on environment, natural resources management

Eager to share their culture and learn all about what Guyana has to offer, nine Peace Corps trainees on Monday received their pins and certificates, and are now ready to take up their posts.

The 29th batch of Peace Corps volunteers was sworn-in before United States Ambassador Perry Holloway at the Umana Yana, Kingston, Georgetown.

The nine new volunteers, the first cohort of Peace Corps to focus on environmental education and natural resource management, arrived in Guyana on September 2 and have since undergone some 10 weeks of pre-service training at Laluni on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, developing skills to enable them to function effectively in the project areas of youth, environment, education, leadership, and community-based natural resource management.

Over the next two years, they will serve in Indigenous Communities in Regions 1 (Barima-Waini) and 9 (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) including Whitewater, Mabaruma, Warapoka, Fairview, Annai and Shea.

While presenting an overview of the programme, Director of Programming and Training, Melanie Ingalls, encouraged the group to be open and urged them to learn from the communities they will be serving, so that the objectives could be realised.

Addressing the gathering, US Ambassador Perry Holloway said the Peace Corps forms an important part of the US mission in Guyana. He recalled that the programme was first welcomed in Guyana in 1966 and served the development interests of the country until 1971 when it left. Again in 1995 the Peace Corps was invited to work as community-based promoters of health and education.

“I hope you recognise that you will all be ambassadors for our nation in your communities. I know you will represent our country with distinction and earn the respect and goodwill of the people you meet. And when you return to the United States in two years, I trust that you will spread the word about the beauty of Guyana and its people to your friends and family, and promote the spirit of understanding that President John F Kennedy knew such exchanges would create among Americans and our friends, whether here in Guyana or elsewhere in the world,” the Ambassador told the new volunteers.

He also said that like so many who have served before, he believed the new group would find that their work will be challenging, as well as rewarding.

“As our volunteers have already discovered, thanks to their remote placements, Guyana is a country for nature lovers and adventure seekers. It has an irresistible combination of fascinating and breathtaking natural beauty, including pristine rainforests, incredible waterfalls, and amazing wildlife – which is joined to a vibrant culture, a diverse and rich heritage, and some of the most hospitable and friendly people in the world.”

It was on June 30 earlier this year that Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Peace Corps to support ongoing activities concerning environmental protection and sustainable use and management of Guyana’s natural resources.

Ambassador Holloway acknowledged that, although times have changed, the Peace Corps continues to adhere to the unchanged twin goals of its founding – helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women and helping to promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of peoples served and a better understanding by Americans of other peoples.

He said the Peace Corps generally provides the most attention to communities with the greatest developmental challenges and fewest resources with which to address them.

“I have always had great admiration for the extraordinary commitment and compassion that Peace Corps volunteers bring to supporting others and to building stronger communities by increasing human capacity to address development challenges. What is most gratifying to observe is the friendships that develop between the volunteers and their dedicated local counterparts, supervisors, and community leaders, who together have been able to help each other achieve their goals and vision for a brighter future for the people of Guyana. I would say that the future for Guyana could be very bright. Overall, the economy has been doing well for a few years and is projected to continue on this path,” the Ambassador said.