Peace Corps Kelsi

Because of the generous donation from a Guyanese my school got a new playground for the Grade 1 and 2 students. The equipment was made locally in Guyana and was installed by two teachers at the school just in time for the new school term to begin in September. 

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) is a Peace Corps framework for leading camps focusing on empowering young women. Right after the school term ended me and 6 other PCVs went to a hinterland village to co-facilitate a week long Camp GLOW. 

The visiting volunteers stayed in the village guesthouse. The lower level has a kitchen and the upper level is bedrooms and a washroom. 

The camp had 38 girls ages 12-16, almost all the secondary school girls in the village. The girls were split into teams and led by a PCV. My team named itself The Strongest Elephants. 

The week consisted of sessions about empowerment topics such as leadership, careers, communication and health. For a session about self-esteem the participants made boxes with inspirational messages inside that addresses a self-identified issue written on the outside. 

The afternoons were a choice between an art activity and sports. One afternoon we made friendship bracelets. 

The camp was a lot of hard work and months of work leading up to it but it was a great week that hopefully will have a lasting impact on the community

A Peace Corps Volunteer who served in the Dominican Republic in 1989 created a guidebook for making a World Map mural. Students from Grade 6 worked together to paint the map on the side of the library using a grid method. Using rulers, string, chalk and pencils they created a grid that was 50 boxes wide and 30 boxes tall.

The World Map Project guidebook has templates showing where to draw each country according to the grid.

The guidebook also designates colors for every country: Red, orange, yellow, light green, dark green, light blue (for the ocean), dark blue, purple and white (for Antarctica). Painting supplies (brushes, cups, paint, tarp) were generously donated by Friends & RPCVs of Guyana (FROG).

Even the tiniest island nations were carefully painted by the students.

After the map was painted the students collectively decided what to label. They decided on the oceans, every country in South America, and the largest countries on each continent. Every student who worked on the project added their handprint and their name.

If you would like to learn more about or donate to Friends and RPCVs of Guyana please visit http://www.guyfrog.org

Grade 6 students takes a National Exam at the end of the Easter Term in April to determine what Secondary School they will attend. Before the school year ends in July I taught art lessons that incorporated geography. We learned about Greece and mosaics.

And about mixing primary colors to make secondary and tertiary colors.

We also learned about Japan and origami. But my favorite lesson was about the limitations of rectangular world maps that I demonstrated by dividing the class into teams and challenging them to cut a lime “world” into a flat rectangle. After lime juice going everywhere the teams realized it was impossible.

The lessons culminated in making a world map mural on the side of the library.

I moved into a new house and my host family coordinated a Jaandhi to bless the house before I moved in. A Jaandhi is a Hindu ceremony. 

The ceremony lasted a couple of hours and involved a lot of things I don’t understand. 

The Jaandhi ended with the blessing of flags that are now outside of my new home for the rest of service. 

Mabaruma is a town in northern Guyana near the Venezuelan border. 

Mabaruma is accessible from Georgetown by small plane daily. The landing strip iin Mabaruma is incredibly short. 

Mabaruma has a lot of development, including a radio station. 

While in Mabaruma we took an overnight trip to Shell Beach, about an hour boat ride away. 

Shell Beach is aptly named. 

A small village inhabits the beach and protects the giant sea turtles that migrate to lay their eggs. Three times a night patrols walk the beach and during this time of year help baby turtles make it into the Atlantic. 

Unfortunately we didn’t see any turtles during our night walk but it was still really beautiful and great to meet the people who have devoted their lives to protecting these giant turtles. 

GUY28 arrived in Guyana a year before GUY30 (my cohort). Seeing them finish their service was bitter sweet and motivational.

Forunately two are extending a year as PCVLs (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) and will be working in the Peae Corps office in Georgetown as staff support.

Guyana celebrates the major holidays of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism (the three major religions in Guyana.) The Hindu holiday Phagwah (also known as Holi) is the festival of colors and signifies the victory of good over evil and also welcomes in the beginning of Spring. 

Everyone across Guyana celebrates by “playing phagwah”, throwing water and colored powder at each other. 

I played Phagwah with the kids at school. Most people wear white or traditional Hindu dress for the holiday. 

My school celebrated Mashramani by having a parade on the Public Road. 

I helped make the banner that headed the parade. 

The week of Mashramani school’s across Guyana organize tours for the students (field trips). I accompanied Grades 1 & 2 on their school tour. The first stop was Demerara Distillery Limited where the students learned how the fruit juice they drink in school is made, processed and packaged. 

The next stop was the Lighthouse in Georgetown which was built by the Dutch and is one of the tallest buildings in Guyana. Most of the kids were brave enough to climb to the top. 

The last stop was the Guyana National Museum where the students learned why Guyana is called “The Land of Giants.” 

Kaieteur Falls in Guyana is the tallest single drop waterfall in the world. It is located in Region 8 and is accessible by either flying in and out for a half day trip or trekking by land there and flying back. The later option gives you the opportunity to spend significantly more time at the falls including overnighting.

The day started at 6:30am when our driver, Ian, and our guide, Tony, picked us up in Georgetown. We drove up the LInden Highway to the ferry crossing, stopping at #58 for lunch. The road is red dirt and it was raining on and off but Ian made good time.

We were lucky to barely make it to the ferry before it left (we would have had to wait an hour for the nexother hour for the next one.)

After crossing the Essequibo River we got to Mahdia where we said goodbye to Ian and got in a 4x4 to the Potaro River.

From there it was an hour speedboat ride to Amotuk.

After breakfast we boated from Amotuk upstream to a series of rapids. 

Those with upper body strength liften the boat onto the shore and carried it past the rapids. 

Then at a landing point the hiking began. 

Tony is making us all walking sticks so we won’t slip and kill ourselves. 

Most of the hike was very wet. 

The hike was beautiful but some of the plants were scary. 

We hiked up these steep, slippery rocks to the base of Tony’s Falls. Hiking in socks gave the most grip against the slippery rocks. 

New Years Day was the steep hike up to the top of the falls on OMG Trail. But first Stanley had to kill a snake found in the grass. 

Then we were ready to go. 

We stopped half way up for a quick swim in a smaller waterfall and a snack. 

Finally we got to the top. 

The Kaieteur Guesthouse had a couple of bedrooms and plenty of space to string up hammocks on the veranda. 

Stanley showed us where to climb down on the falls to take a shower in the falls. 

Day 4 was a well deserved leisure day. We explored the different viewpoints of the falls starting in the early morning when the canyon was filled with fog. 

In the afternoon we walked up stream to swim in the river.