Cheers to Guyanese Food and Week Four!

Our third week of teaching has come to an end and we have begun the fourth. Last week we focused mostly on suicide and depression lessons, as well as STI and contraceptives lessons. Both are very important topics to discuss with our students, as puberty, maturation, and a changing social environment can give rise to a whole array of new feelings and challenges. At the end of each class we give the students a chance to write anonymous questions which we will then answer and discuss at the beginning of the following class. This has provided us with a very effective and honest way of gauging how the class is feeling, and what areas of the material need to be supplemented with more clarification. We are excited to be receiving a growing number of lesson-related questions and concerns, and we believe this indicates a growing trust and connection with our students. We have had multiple opportunities to discuss optimal solutions to student issues with the Head Teachers of the schools. This has allowed us to develop effective and culturally sensitive responses to student inquiries regarding questions surrounding sexual health, abuse, and suicide. Through conversation with members of the community and school staff we have also learned about more accessible resources for STI testing and contraceptives, and we were able to relay these permanent resources to our students.

On another note, we are proud to announce that we have continued to expand our Guyanese cookbook. We are officially capable of preparing traditional meals and dishes such as plantain fries, pumpkin and roti, and bagan choka. As in any culture, food makes friends. In Guyana, we have been blessed with new friends that have taught us how to prepare some pretty spectacular tasting dishes.

Walking through a typical marketplace in Guyana

This past weekend we ventured to Georgetown to visit the other half of our team and celebrate Independence Day together. This quality time was much needed for reflecting on our initiative experiences so far, and discussing and critically brainstorming how we might be able to improve our lessons over the next 3 weeks, and our role in future years. We enjoyed a change of pace spending the weekend in the city. During our visit we realized how different our experiences, challenges and opportunities have been, between the Georgetown and Berbice initiatives. We found our visit to Georgetown rejuvenating, and we’re ready to dive back into lesson planning and classes for the next three weeks of teaching. 


Part of the QHO Guyana team in Georgetown

Independence Day Weekend

            Wow, we cannot believe that it is already over half way through our stay in beautiful Guyana. Although it is rainy season we have not seen too much rain and have been able to enjoy the hot weather. This week was shortened in our classrooms as Independence Day, May 26, fell on a Friday this year.

            We started our week off with a mutual learning session with the GRPA (Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association) by leading a conversation on Depression and Suicide. Through our conversations we were fortunate to hear the insights from some Guyanese individuals regarding the struggle to engage in Mental Health conversations in Guyana. We cannot wait for next week to be able to have the GRPA lead a session concerning sexuality and gender in Guyana.

             For the majority of this week we were very busy with classrooms and lesson preparations. Now that we have been with some of our classrooms for 2-4 weeks we are able to start teaching more of the content heavy lessons such as Depression and Suicide, HIV/AIDS, and Healthy Relationships. Although we utilize our teaching manual to create our lessons, we ensure that we are teaching topics that are relevant to particular schools and students. In each classroom we provide the opportunity for students to ask questions through an anonymous forum, our question box, so that we are able to focus our lessons on concerns of the students and answer students’ inquiries.

            On Thursday we again appeared on NTN News for the Morning Show to talk about substances and substance abuse. Although it is sometimes challenging to condense this content into 5-7 minutes per topic we always ensure that we cover the most crucial and relevant topics. We have been incredibly fortunate to be given the opportunity to discuss important topics on a nationally broadcasted morning show so that we have the ability to spread information more efficiently.

            As Thursday was the students’ last day of the week they were naturally more restless and ready for the long weekend. We could definitely relate to the feeling of anticipation and excitement for the upcoming weekend as not only was it Guyana’s 51^st Independence Day, but our lovely other half were coming from Berbice to Georgetown for the weekend.

            It was amazing having Kate, Megan, Megan, and Robbie visit us in Georgetown so that we could enjoy each other’s company. During their time in Georgetown we made sure to walk to our favourite restaurants, get some much needed ice cream into their stomachs, and visit the worlds largest single drop waterfall, Kaieteur. While on our two hour adventure we learned from our tour guide Jamal that ‘teur’ actually means falls. This means when referring to it as “Kaieteur Falls” we were actually saying ‘Kaie falls falls’ and have made sure not to make that mistake again. Walking through the rainforest was incredible, and we even had the pleasure of seeing a golden frog, blue morpho butterflies and a more than slightly poisonous snake. Even though this excursion was a personally paid for venture, it was an amazing opportunity that we were able to have by being in Guyana with QHO’s initiative.      

          

Throughout Berbice’s stay we were actually able to engage in conversations regarding the complexities of volunteering abroad. Although we have enjoyed our experience immensely thus far we continue to ensure that we do not remain ignorant about our position as foreign volunteers. Through these conversations we have been able to synthesize what we have learned from interacting with Guyanese people, our observations, and learning opportunities in classrooms. Despite the fact that not every moment is positive, we have been provided with an incredible learning experience, and one that we hope will allow us to be able to continue strengthening the organization as a whole.

            This was yet another amazing week in Guyana and we cannot wait to continue learning throughout the next three!

Peace and love,

Shannon, Manny, Shannen, Haylee

A toast to the halfway point

We can’t believe week three is already over! It has been a great week of second and
third lessons in most of our classes, and we have started to get deeper into
topics surrounding sexual and mental health. Our students have been quite
engaged and enthusiastic about our puberty, sexual anatomy and pregnancy
classes. We’ve had a lot of great discussions with our students, and our
classroom peer-educator-to-student dynamic has started to become more open and comfortable.
With that comfortability, we’ve started to move into more heavy content, which
has come with its fair share of challenges, but has also been a great
opportunity for mutual learning. Continuing to build relationships in our
community and the youth in the schools we work in has been rewarding as well. 

We had the opportunity to attend a Christian Gospel Church early in the week, which was a unique experience for
all of us. We learned how to make pumpkin curry and roti, one of our Guyanese favourites;
with one of the locals we have formed a connection with in our village. The people we meet on a daily basis have continued to be very welcoming and generous.

This weekend our Georgetown colleaguesjoined us in Berbice. We enjoyed showing them around where we live, and
reflecting on our past couple of weeks as a team in our different locations. On
Saturday we visited 63 Beach, the longest beach in Guyana, along with some of
our friends from our village. Even though we prepped our skin with 50SPF, and
wore sunglasses and hats we all ended up being toasted from the sun. Regardless
of our sun exposure, the adventure was a highlight. With full days and busy
schedules our time in Guyana has been flying by, after this week we will be
more than half way! We’re thriving getting into the swing of things and embrace
whatever the next weeks have to offer. 

Week 3: Yipee!

Hi everyone, we are just finishing up our third week here in Georgetown, Guyana! We started our week off by celebrating Manny’s 20^th birthday on Monday. He was able to celebrate his day with a delicious breakfast made at our accommodations and finished it with Churches Chicken that night.

After a full day of classes on Monday we were able to meet with Susan Isaacs, the managing director at the Guyana Foundation to discuss a future collaboration. The Guyana Foundation is a charitable organization that maintains community-based centers located in various regions with a high incidence of suicide. They work with local hospitals to make counselling readily available as well as provide 3-month skills training to improve access to economic opportunities. We hope to work with them in one of their centres for a couple weekend sessions.

             

On Tuesday two of our peer educators, Shannon and Haylee worked with the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA) to discuss mental health, depression and suicide at the Guyana National Shipping Corp Dock. It was an amazing opportunity to reach individuals outside of our regular classrooms.

            We finished off our classes for the week and were lucky enough to travel to Berbice on Friday afternoon and visit Megan E., Megan B., Kate, and Robbie, our peer educators located there.  We were all very excited to see each other for the first time in 3 weeks and got the chance to discuss our separate experiences in this culture. They were amazing hosts and cooked us the best meals while we stayed with them. On Saturday we were lucky enough to meet Ravi who greeted us with kindness and generosity and drove all 8 of us to beach 63 and fed us the most delicious food. Overall, we had a fantastic day swimming in the ocean and spending the day in the sun.  We loved to see another region of Guyana and cannot wait to see our friends again this Friday to celebrate Independence Day in Georgetown!

                

Best,

Haylee, Shannen, Shannon, Manny

Week 2!!

Though we were sad to say good bye to Cora, our Program Director, at the beginning of this week, we have had a successful first week of lessons in our classrooms. We have been facilitating discussions surrounding physical, mental and sexual health in seventeen different primary and secondary schools. This week, our lessons primarily focused on self esteem, healthy relationships, peer pressure, and mental health. The teachers and school administrators continue to be welcoming and supportive of our health curriculum. On Friday evening we had the pleasure of teaching in Guysuco, a trades academy for young adults, where we had rewarding discussions about consent, and sexual anatomy. We also attended a youth space in the Blackbush region, where we facilitated conversations and interactive activities about communication and leadership with some of the community’s youth leaders.

            We have been focused on getting involved in the community we live in, in doing so we and have formed relationships with many of the people in LetterKenny. They have been so welcoming to us and we are very grateful. One amazing experience we had this week was attending a Hindu service at the local Mandir. It was interesting to see how the service was run by the youth in the community- we look forward to the cultural experiences ahead of us in the next 5 weeks.

            So far we have killed one cockroach and befriended another, who has found a new home in Robbie’s room. The heat is something that we have learned to embrace– our laundry dries so quickly! Our excursions to the Saturday market has provided us with the opportunity to try new fruits and vegetables, however we do have a few favourites. The pineapples and mangos have added a delicious sweetness to our experience – while (sneaky) spicy peppers have kept things interesting. They are small but mighty, Meg B and Robbie tried a bit of one and were feeling the effects for a couple hours after ingestion. Needless to say we have learned to respect those tiny hot peppers and to proceed with caution when cooking.

            We continue to be surrounded by the warmth of the Guyanese people, and face everyday with an open mind and an open heart to everything Guyana has to offer. 

Love,

The Berbesties 

Week 2: We're Ridin' Solo

            Hello again! We cannot believe that it’s already been two weeks, but time flies when you keep busy. This week was off to an exciting start as we were approved by the Ministry of Education to teach in public schools! With our approval we quickly started approaching schools regarding the possibility of engaging in health based discussions in classrooms.

The same day that we received our approval, we were luck enough to be interviewed by Kaieteur News about our purpose and goals while in Georgetown. It was interesting being able to tour their facilities and see where newspapers were made daily. It was also very exciting to see a feature of us in the Kaieteur Newspaper the next morning! Here is the link to the article if you're interested! http://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2017/05/09/queens-health-outreach-contributing-to-guyana-over-30-years/

Tuesday was yet another busy day; with our Ministry of Education approval we continued approaching more public schools before Cora arrived from Berbice. We had the opportunity to meet the Deputy of the Ministry of Education and got to learn more about what the Ministry of Education does throughout the country.

After our busy morning and afternoon at Ruimveldt Children’s Aid Centre we had the opportunity to be featured on “Reality Check”, a segment on NTN’s radio station. We spent the full hour feature discussing topics of stress and positive thinking.

Sadly Wednesday morning we had to say goodbye to our amazing Program Directors. Despite being sad about having to say goodbye to Rebecca and Cora, it was our first day being able to navigate solo. We spent the day continuing approaching more schools and organizing our teaching schedules for the upcoming weeks, which kept us busy for the day.

The rest of the week was filled with teaching, meetings, and another afternoon at Ruimveldt Children’s Aid Centre. On Friday we got the chance to attend the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association’s (GRPA) Youth Advocacy Movement (YAM) meeting where they announced the launch of Guyana’s #Idecide campaign. This campaign emphasizes women’s reproductive rights to awareness and accessibility to contraceptives and sexual reproductive health. This movement has spread globally and we got the opportunity to witness the launch of Guyana’s branch of the movement.

Overall it has been an exciting week being approved by the Ministry of Education to teach in public schools, saying goodbye to our program directors and being able to navigate on our own. We cannot wait to see what the next week’s holds as we have many more classes planned.

                  

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!

Best,

Shannon, Shannen, Haylee, and Manny

Week One and the Fun has Only Just Begun!!!

After flying to Georgetown, and spending the morning exploring the city, the team headed to Berbice. We arrived late afternoon in the village that we will be calling home for the next 7 weeks. Our accommodation is a cozy apartment above a shop owned by a very nice man named Ravi. Omeshwar, who works closely with the Ministry of Youth, Culture, and Sport, has kindly offered his help and assistance for any matter that requires it.

On Monday evening Cora introduced us to some of the adults and kids that live in the local village, that she had spent time with last year on initiative. We spent the early evening getting to know their wonderful personalities. To be honest, travelling to a new place, where you are used to different social norms, have a different skin tone, and speak a different dialect than the majority of people, can make it challenging to feel comfortable. However, meeting these kids shortly after arrival truly broke down this feeling. We shared interests, played games, ran around, and laughed. After an hour, we could all agree that we felt the warmth of this culture.

Throughout the rest of the week we visited 20 schools, introduced ourselves to the Head Teachers, and talked with them to try to accommodate our lesson plans into their class schedules, where possible. We experienced very welcoming interactions with the Head Teachers, and other school staff, and received approval and teaching time slots from all 20 schools. The teachers seemed passionate about health education, and were very helpful in communicating the unique needs of their students to us. Kindness, and relaxed, down-to-earth nature have been consistently reoccurring traits of the Guyanese people that we have had the pleasure of meeting.

Only one week in, and we are already developing a growing love for this special place! Looking forward to getting into the schools and teaching on Monday!

Week 1 Complete!

Hi everyone, this is Manny, Shannen, Haylee and Shannon, and we are just finishing up our first week here in Georgetown, Guyana! After arriving in Georgetown from the red eye flight out of Toronto, Ontario, we travelled to our new home for the next 7 weeks.

This week we mainly focused on obtaining approval from the Ministry of Education to engage with youth in the public school system. We also all got a chance to teach our first lessons in the classroom, which was incredibly exciting! These lessons were primarily introductions about ourselves, the organization, and mental health topics.

We also had the opportunity to begin collaborations with the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA). The GRPA has an established volunteer peer education program, and we have planned several training sessions with them to engage in mutual learning experiences.

Not only did we start discussions about physical, sexual and mental health with youth, we also got to participate in the ‘NTN This Morning’ news segment where we discussed the topics of stress and physical activity. Despite our nerves, we had a lot of fun with our first experience on national television and we look forward to improving as the week’s progress.

On our Tuesday and Thursday evenings we have, and plan to continue, spending our time at Ruimveldt Children’s Aid Centre. There we are able to engage with youth at the centre and assist the incredibly hard-working staff wherever possible.

This Sunday we had the opportunity to attend a sporting day in Georgetown where Manny got the chance to play with Georgetown’s regional cricket team! We had an incredible day watching track, cycling, football and cricket. We cannot wait to see what the next weeks have to hold!