Making Moves!

Hey Guys!

This week flew by as every day was packed full of teaching and lesson planning! We we're happy to jump right back into things after our week in Berbice, and started by planning lessons on puberty and anatomy as well as STI's, contraceptives, and HIV/AIDS. As we were walking out of the Chase Academy on Monday morning, we happened to strike up a conversation with the coach of a table tennis team in partnership with the Red Cross. He was very excited about the topics we cover, and began asking if we could come in to talk to his athletes who often travel for the sport. After continuing meetings with him, this week we are going to begin teaching during after school practices, focusing our teaching on topics such as peer-pressure, goal setting, stress, and time management. We are excited to be partnering up with a new organization that is community-based in addition to teaching in schools.


On Tuesday, we taught our first classes at Reyaz Business Institute. This was an especially interesting class as it was our first on mental health, depression, and coping. We had the entire school divided up into two classes, so it was a new experience teaching to so many kids of all different ages. Many of the children at this school come from an orphanage nearby. Reyaz, the head master of the school, has organized time for us to go to the orphanage and cook dinner with them and spend time getting to know each other better.

This week was also our first time teaching on the National Television Network. Maddy and Anna taught a lesson on healthy diet and nutrition, while Jesse and Ali taught on physical health and fitness. We are really happy that we have this weekly segment to reach not just our peers, but to reach out to the rest of Guyana as it creates the ability to reach people in communities that we are not based out of.

Friday at Ruimveldt was the most wonderful mayhem. We brought a new basketball and soccer ball as well as two buckets of sidewalk chalk. The kids were so excited to draw and play. By the end of the afternoon, there were chalk drawings on every outdoor surface and the chalk had been completely devoured. It was so amazing to watch and see how happy and excited all of the kids were, it always rubs off on us in the best way!

We were also excited to have the Berbice team join us this weekend in Georgetown for a little bit of adventuring and taking in some of the natural beauty that Guyana has to offer. It has been a very busy and fulfilling week and we are excited to have so much in the works for this coming week!

Big hello's to everyone at home, stay tuned for more adventures!
Jesse, Ali, Anna, and Maddy

Getting Into the Swing of Things

Hello again from Berbice!

After a break from teaching due to school closures, we are happy to report we have completed our first full week of teaching! Jamie and Ben began the week on Monday with a lesson at Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary School while Erin and Vinyas started their week at Berbice Islamic on Tuesday. We have now begun our curricula in almost every school we have planned to teach. After meeting with the Headmasters, teachers, and other members of the community, we have shaped our teaching plan to include a focus on mental and sexual health. Our first lessons have covered an introduction to mental health and stigma surrounding mental illness. Thanks to training provided by the Jack Project, we entered classes prepared with a variety of activities helpful to develop students' understanding of the potential negative impacts of stigma on the individual and the community. Through our anonymous "question box" (a method used to receive feedback from students at the end of each lesson), we have witnessed wonderful growth from our students' regarding awareness of their own mental health. We have also learned the most effective methods to engage our students. Their participation in our activities and enthusiasm for learning health continues to surprise us each day.

Jamie and Vinyas with a few students from their Lower Corentyne class! 

Jamie and Erin taught QHO's first lesson of the year at the Letter Kenny Youth Space to the kids of the local community. After speaking to the youths in the community, we have developed some ideas for topics to cover over the remaining weeks. It has already proved interesting to adapt our teaching to such a diverse group of experiences and interests. We look forward to the coming lessons with them!

On Tuesday, the community members surrounding the Letter Kenny Youth Space organized a birthday surprise for Jamie's 21st. We learned the Guyanese tradition of each guest feeding the guest of honour a bite of cake. This event emphasizes the incredibly warm and welcoming hospitality we have received from the members of the community. Whether it involves a game of cricket, being invited to a ceremony at their local temple, or participating in extra lessons at the youth space, it is humbling not to be treated merely as visitors, but to be so seamlessly integrated into the community.

Surprise Jamie!!! 

After a nice visit with the Georgetown P.E.'s this weekend, we are excited to see what the next week holds! 

That's all, folks!!!!

Erin, Vinyas, Ben & Jamie

We're back from Berbice!

Hello Everyone!

Wow time has flown since we last posted, yesterday marked our two week anniversary in Georgetown- we can't believe it!

Last Saturday we left for Berbice making the two hour car journey through the beautiful countryside to the rest of our team. We spent most of our week there while we waited for elections and the results to be finalized and released- the opposition is now the new party in power, We find it very exciting to be in Guyana while the country is experiencing it's first regime change since 1992.


It was so lovely to meet some of the Letterkenny kids that the Berbice team spends their time with. Last Sunday they took us all to the seaside to show us their beach, we had so much fun trying to race them through the sinking clay sand that afternoon! Through the rest of the week we lay low and spent lots of time together lesson planning, and preparing an agenda for our upcoming workshop on Mental Health. We will be partnering with the Guyana Foundation to train a group of young professionals from Georgetown on how to talk about and teach mental health to their communities. We're super excited about this project, as it allows us to pass on the resources we have to continue the conversation and break the stigma that surrounds mental health. In helping to initiate a support system here we hope to contribute to the sustainability of the QHO Guyana initiative during the rest of the year when we are not present.

On Friday we made it back to Georgetown in the early afternoon, just in time to experience the beginning of monsoon season in the city. We witnessed our first major rainfall in Georgetown, and since then it has become quite a frequent yet spontaneous occurrence! No amount of rain could keep us from Rumveldt though, it was so wonderful to see and play with the kids on Friday. Even after such a short period of time, we feel so strongly connected to them, and are happy to be back to our regular schedule.

This upcoming week we will be focusing on puberty on TV and in many of our classes, so we are lesson planning the day away in preparation for classes that will starting up again tomorrow. Looking forward to a busy week ahead, and being reunited with the Berbice team next weekend for our day trip to Kaiteur Falls!

Happy May Long Weekend to all of our friends and family back home!

Anna, Maddy, Jesse & Ali

Back In Berbice For 2015!

What an exciting couple of weeks it has been! We have finally arrived in Berbice and found our home away from home in Letter Kenny. All four of us arrived last Monday with Ali at our side. Our first day was spent getting settled in our new surroundings and meeting the local kids in Letter Kenny. On Tuesday, we explored our new surroundings and were invited by one of our local contacts to visit a celebration for the Guyanese holiday Indian Arrival Day. We viewed some traditional Indian dances and music, while also meeting our local contacts in Berbice.

Home sweet home! 

As Wednesday rolled around, we were busy visiting schools and discussing with Headmasters where we can be most effective teaching over the next few weeks. Thursday was more of the same, which made for two persistently busy days. With most of our schedule solidified by Thursday, we were able to begin teaching on Friday! Vinyas and Jamie visited Lower Corentyne Secondary and Vrymans Erven Training Center where they delivered introductory lessons in general health and mental health. Ben and Erin were able to contact a few new schools and develop weekly teaching times there. In the afternoon, they taught a different class at Lower Corentyne. The Berbice crew was very excited to get in classrooms and in front of students! Unfortunately on Friday we had to say good-bye to our wise and endlessly patient Program Director Ali as she headed back home to Canada. She left us with so much wisdom and we are eager to carry on the Berbice initiative!

The PE's from Georgetown have been in Berbice for most of this week because the majority of schools were closed due to elections. We have enjoyed each other's company and have been hard at work on a few new projects. We are hoping to develop a training day for Guyanese volunteers to instruct mental health as well as a commercial to promote mental health awareness. These projects have provided an opportunity to stay engaged in our work here while schools have been closed.

On Wednesday, the Berbice PE's were glad to be able to resume teaching. Ben and Erin headed to Skeldon for a full day of classes at Massiah Primary, Tagore Secondary, and Number 59 Primary. Vinyas and Jamie also had a busy day as they instructed a class at Lower Corentyne and solidified their curriculum for Rose Hall Primary.

Today has been a rainy day with schools closed again, but spirits are high amongst the Guyana PE's as we look forward to a new beginning next week and developing a steady schedule. We have had brief glimpses of our teaching impacts and are looking forward to what future weeks will hold!

Ben, Erin, Jamie, Vinyas

QHO Georgetown: First Week Flying Solo

This week marked a lot of firsts for the Georgetown team. Our first time without Colleen, without the Berbice kids, our first classes, our first time ordering roti by ourselves, and our first time being on TV. We've spent the week acclimatizing to the heat and learning our way around Georgetown and into the different classrooms. This week alone, we've taught in 5 different classes in 3 different schools. We focused our lessons on introducing ourselves and gauging what each of the different students knows about health. So far, it has been a very eye opening process as we've taught a broad age range, from 11-21 years. Many of these students are interested in learning but have not yet has access to the resources that we are here to provide. We have been in many positive meetings with the head teacher from St. Pius public primary school as she would love for us to provide our services to her children. This is a groundbreaking experience for the Georgetown team as we are hoping to set the standard for years to come and permanently open the door for teaching in public schools. Just another on the list of firsts this week! The approval process has meant dealing with the Ministry of Education, which has taken longer than we would have liked, largely due to the upcoming election. The city has been abuzz with activity, and while it is a super exciting time for Guyana, we will be heading to Berbice to take advantage of the national holiday for Election Day on Monday and the fact that schools aren't in session until Wednesday. In other news, we've spent lots of time dedicated to making new friends, both through playing with the kids at the Rumveldt Children's Aid Centre and playing/feeding the manatees at the national park. We're excited for a second week of new firsts, wish us luck on our journey to Berbice today.

Georgetown out,

Anna, Maddy, Ali, and Jesse

QHO Guyana 2015 is Underway!

We have touched down and gotten settled in Georgetown, Guyana! Our flight arrived at 8:00 am on Saturday and we were all greeted by our two excited Program Directors (Ali and Colleen). A short bus ride later and we arrived at Rima's Guest House in the heart of Georgetown. The Berbice and Georgetown crews have spent the weekend bonding at Rima's and acclimating to the somewhat warm weather.

Over the weekend Ali and Colleen have shown us the ins and outs of Guyanese living and we are all extremely excited to get started with teaching. There has been fresh fruit galore and we sampled some of the local cuisine at Shanta's, which consisted of roti and a feast of delicious curries. We couldn't get enough and all love the food down here thus far. We also toured the town and familiarized ourselves with some of the major landmarks.

Jesse, Ali, Maddy, and Anna are all planning for their first lesson, which is tomorrow at Chase Academy. The Berbice crew (Ben, Vinyas, Erin, and Jamie) are heading out to Berbice tomorrow to get settled with their permanent accommodations. We will be sad to split up, but we are eagerly anticipating helping each of our communities wherever possible. We cannot wait to continue the proud tradition of QHO Guyana.

More to come soon!

Ali, Anna, Ben, Erin, Jamie, Maddy, Jesse and Vinyas

The Guyana team at the airport, ready and excited!!