…pushing through despite challenges, disappointments in 2022
The STEM Guyana team has appointed two new board members to their organisation, both of whom are women.
The new members are Diana Gittens and Elsie Harry.
Elsie Harry is a Community Development and Planning Professional, part-time lecturer, social entrepreneur, and spoken word artist. Harry believes in making full use of her many skills and talents to effect positive change.
Diana Gittens
This 30-year-old woman holds a Master of Engineering Degree in Urban and Rural Planning from Beijing Jiaotong University in China and a Bachelor of Social Science Degree in International Relations from the University of Guyana, where she was named Valedictorian back in 2017. For the past eight years, she has worked simultaneously in the fields of community development and advocacy, holding various positions across three countries: St. Kitts & Nevis, China, and Guyana.
She currently works in the Monitoring and Evaluation Department of the Ministry of Public Works, while her voluntary service includes serving as the Vice Chair (and immediate past Chair), of the Guyana National Steering Committee for the Global Environment Fund Small Grants Programme and mentorship of young adults.
In 2021 she founded the social entrepreneurial movement called “This is YOUR Life”, to promote the concept of intentional living and to provide services geared towards creating positive social change.
Excellence is her motto and way of life. Harry has won several awards, including, Commonwealth Youth Worker of the Year Finalist 2016, the Republic Bank ‘Power to Make a Difference Award 2018, 25 Influential Women Leaders-2021, and various literary awards.
She is also a One Young World Ambassador and a Royal Commonwealth Society Associate Fellow. She is development-minded and wants to see every sector in Guyana thrive and every citizen become productive.
The second new board member, Diana Gittens is also a woman with an exceptional track record. Gittens is the Product Manager for Mobile Money Guyana (mmg+), a subsidiary of the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT).
In addition to her role as Product Manager, Gittens serves as coordinator for GTT’s largest cancer awareness and fundraising initiative and manages the grant application process for cancer-related funding for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO’s) in Guyana.
Elsie Harry
Before her current position at GTT, she worked as Business Partner for Health and Wellness and served on the Board of Directors of the Dominica Cancer Society for five years, holding the positions of Secretary and President. Her work includes advocating for access to treatment, diagnostic screening, and psychosocial support for individuals affected by cancer. Gittens is a cervical cancer survivor and a member of the NCDA Our Views Our Voices Advocacy Committee and the Healthy Caribbean Coalition PLWNCDs Advisory Committee. She holds an MSc in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Technology in Jamaica and a BSc in Biology from the University of Guyana. She is also a trained teacher, with an Associate Degree in Secondary Education. Diana is passionate about using health promotion and advocacy to combat non-communicable diseases in the Caribbean and beyond.
Challenges
Meanwhile, the STEMGuyana in a statement said that it has been faced with many disappointments during 2022. In their monthly newsletter, STEMGuyana Chronicles, it was revealed that the organization has been unable to secure a space for students to work. This is a result of the National Sports Hall being under reconstruction.
The sports hall had housed STEMGuyana for seven years.
“Another significant disappointment was our inability to secure visas for our eight young engineers and mentors to participate in the first global robotics championship in Geneva, Switzerland. This was the first time in six years that team Guyana robotics was unable to compete and a crushing disappointment for our young people, who will play a crucial role in Guyana’s future development. It is important that we invest in our youth,” the statement said.
Despite the challenges faced, the team at STEMGuyana said it still has a lot to look forward to this year, including the renewal of their distribution partnership with the Guyana Learning Channel, the production of 10 additional episodes for their “Robin the Robot” show in 2023 and the expansion of the reading and robotics program to four additional libraries.
Additionally, STEMGuyana and its partners will be hosting a qualifying event in April 2023 to select the top ten teams from all regions in the country to represent Guyana at the International Youth Robotics Competition (IYRC) in August 2023. All schools, clubs, and individuals are welcome to participate in the qualifying event by organizing teams of five members each.
IYRC is an annual event organized by the International Youth Robot Association (IYRA) that brings together youth from around the world to compete in robotics, programming, and digital technologies. In the past, the competition has been held in countries such as Korea, Thailand, China, and Malaysia.
Last year, STEMGuyana sent 16 teams to participate in the IYRC, this year, over 100 teams have expressed interest in joining the competition.
