The Countdown begins in Georgetown

Welcome back friends, family and followers!

As we sit around Rima's Guesthouse, our home away from home, planning for this upcoming week's teaching lessons we begin to realize that our journey is soon coming to an end. Keeping in mind our final two weeks in Georgetown we plan to make the most of our time here (you can't get rid of us just yet Guyana)! We have had an incredible adventure so far and we cannot wait to share this past week's events with everyone closely following our blogs at home.

To start off the week, we had a jam packed teaching day at Chase Academy where we taught Form 1, 2, 3 and 4. Chase Academy had been writing exams the previous week so we were thrilled to get right back into the classrooms and continue our lessons there. Since the beginning of our QHO teaching program here in Guyana we have modified our teaching style along the way. This past week we honed in on discussion based lessons. We find this method extremely effective because it removes the impression of "lecturing at students" and instead allows us to integrate the student's opinion on the selected topics. We like to organize the class by forming a circle whereby we can discuss the information as we teach the more serious topics such as drug abuse, alcohol abuse and mental health--we even had some students share stories which was great to see!  

Thursdays are one of our favourite/busiest days in Georgetown. We start off our mornings with our weekly television special on NTN This Morning where we taught about drugs, alcohol and substance abuse. Our first few sessions were difficult to get the hang of but we are getting much more comfortable in front of the T.V! Some of us still burst into laughter when the camera gets a bit too close... After NTN This Morning the crew taught at RBI and had a successful lesson on drug use. The students seemed to know a lot of information and had some great questions about the effects of drug abuse.

The four of us at the NTN This Morning station. 

Before heading off to David Rose Centre for an after-school lesson, the girls treated themselves to Brusters Ice Cream, our favourite treat yet! We have definitely been taking advantage of the ice cream here in Georgetown, especially on sweaty humid days. We are hoping for a Brusters to open in Canada but are realizing our dreams may not come true... David Rose Centre is an after-school youth space for low income families where youth can go to play with friends and stay out of potential trouble. We had a lot of fun getting to know the kids better, they have so much energy!

On Friday, when we usually have our separate Sophia classes with Marni and Colleen teaching one and Steve and Casey teaching another, we combined our class for the day. Marni and Colleen taught about the effects of drug use, abuse and addiction while Steve and Casey taught about alcohol abuse and alcoholism. It was great to teach all four of us together for a change, but we had a quite a big audience to impress this time! Friday ended with another successful day at Ruimveldt. We played games, read books and coloured. We continue to establish long-lasting relationships with the children at Ruimveldt and are dreading our good-byes next week as the days approach.

The kids at Ruimveldt getting ready for dinner. 

On Saturday Ali and Eric made their way to Georgetown where the six of us reunited! After a great lunch and catching up, the girls (Marni, Colleen, Casey and Ali) headed out to Region Street for some shopping and girl time, while the boy (Steve and Eric) shopped for themselves and "crushed a workout" or how the girls like to call it "stinking up Rima's". We then met back up at Rima's and went for a fancy dinner, realizing the next time we are all together is the Friday we leave Guyana.

Sunday morning was a slow start, though Casey and Colleen made the efforts to wake up for 7:30am church. What they didn't realize was that church mass was going to be 2 and a half hours (not the typical 1 hour mass in Canada). Around noon, we boarded the bus and headed for the local airport to head out to Kaieteur Falls. After a rocky hour flight, we finally made it! The hikes from one look out point to another were amazing. Steve conquered his fears of heights while Marni had no fears at all standing and looking over the edge. It was such a great adventure for all of us and we enjoyed every minute of it.

The six of us on the ledge of the falls!

Standing by the falls!

As Ali and Eric headed back to Berbice on Monday, the Georgetown team got right back into their weekly routine. We taught at Chase and went back to David Rose for a lesson on motivation and self esteem. We are so thankful to be able to share the knowledge and information with the children of Guyana.

We are taking it all in before we have to start saying our goodbyes next week. The girls have loved going for walks around the town and along the sea wall exploring the scenery. We are enjoying every last minute we have here while we can because we know we will miss Guyana when we're back home.

Marni, Casey and Colleen by the sea wall.

Sending all our love,

The Georgetown Team
Marni, Steve, Colleen and Casey

Berbice Feature Post: A Typical Tuesday

For those of you who wonder what we get up to minute by minute (Mom), this one's for you!

6:15 AM: Rise and shine! Ali and Eric wake up to the sound of their phone alarm and get set to take on the day.

6:45 AM: The Berbice pair starts their daily workout routine.  Running is no longer an option with the rainy season in full force, so they prefer to do some intense circuit training.

8:00 AM: Breakfast is Ali's favorite part of the day. Oatmeal, bananas, eggs - a nutritious meal!

8:45 AM: After breakfast Ali and Eric take some time to look over their lesson plans for the day and cool off with a nice shower.

9:45 AM: Time to catch a cab! To get a short ride (our usual trip) it is custom to point down, where as a long ride is signaled by pointing upwards.  We have become well accustomed to the transportation lingo in Guyana!

10:00 AM: Ali and Eric get to spend some rare time apart as they teach a solo lesson at Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary. This past week we taugh about contraceptives as well as STIs and HIV/AIDS.

11:15 AM: The pair reunites at the local internet cafe.  It is a great chance to keep in touch with friends back home and to bring you these lovely blog posts.

12:30 PM: Lunch time! On most days we love to hit up our favorite spot: Sha'veh! The menu consists of 10 different items everyday. and the service is absolutely wonderful!

                                                       

1:30 PM: The groups heads back off to do some teaching, this time at Berbice Islamic School.  On Tuesdays we teach the younger Form 1 + 2 students.  The school is very welcoming and the students are a pleasure to teach.

2:45 PM: Ali and Eric head to the market to pick up some groceries for the week.

3:30 PM: Finally home for some precious minutes of relaxation.  Ali and Eric love to do some reading with their spare time.  We are both current reading the Game of Thrones series, and enjoying it thoroughly.

4:15 PM: The pair ships off to the Letter Kenny Youth Friendly Space to hold a short lesson and play some games afterwards.  Its always a blast hanging out with the kids!

6:00 PM: Once the group is back home, dinner is the first thing on their minds.  Stuffed eggplant seems to be a go to dish, which is easy to make and very delicious - don't forget the Parmesan!

7:00 PM: After dinner, Ali and Eric get some chance to relax as well as lesson plan for the following day. Its great to take some time to reflect on the past day and try to improve on lesson plans in any way possible.

9:00 PM: An early bedtime, but very welcomed.  

Time has flown by and we only have two weeks left. We can't wait to get back home and share more stories with our friends and family.

Ali and Eric

A Piece of Week 5 from Georgetown

Hello everyone!

It's another steamy night in Georgetown as we are all comfortably tucked into our cozy bug nets. The Georgetown PE's have had yet another fun-filled week of teaching, meetings, TV appearances, and lesson planning that we cannot wait to share with you! 

Marni and Steve with their St. Pius Primary School class! (try and spot Marni)

Last Thursday, we visited the Guyana Planned Parenthood Association in order to gain information on sexual health and collected male and female condoms to distribute to our older students. The meeting ended up being a great success and we were fortunate enough to get to know the management staff at the centre. We exchanged contact information and are looking forward to having them as a contact and potential partner for next year!

Last Friday, the Georgetown Team had a meeting with Dr. Anthony, the Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport. The Minister was very excited to get on board with us to help expand our project for next year and those to come. The focus of the meeting was to devise a concrete schedule for next year's incoming Guyana group. Specifically, this year's PE's are working hard at integrating a teaching schedule consisting of fewer schools with more visits per week (to cover more in-depth content) more TV appearances, hosting health workshops for parents, as well as implementing a Peer Educator program for Guyanese youth. A very promising meeting! 

This past weekend, Steve and Marni made the trek out to Berbice to visit Ali and Eric. Although it poured rain the whole weekend (the rainy season is amongst us now), the four of them kept busy playing cards, cooking meals and visiting youth spaces. Back in Georgetown Casey and Colleen enjoyed a sunny girls weekend that consisted of romantic walks by the seawall, collecting sea shells, and taking cheesy photographs-- much needed relaxation. In Steve's absence, Colleen grabbed the opportunity to sleep in his double bed by the horns (Colleen was outsized by Steve when calling dibs on the bigger of the two beds). 

One of the many cow crossing delays on the way to Berbice! 

We visited the David Rose Centre, an after-school youth space in Ruimveldt, yesterday afternoon to teach a mini lesson about sexual anatomy and puberty, followed by dividing the group up for Girl Talk and Boy Talk to answer any awkward questions the students may have. Boy oh boy, do we love awkward questions!

Marni and Colleen demonstrating the steps of condom use!

Casey and Steve teaching about the male anatomy!

Today, we visited our favourite stall at the market to buy pineapples and watermelons for snacks. The owner, Sunil, was sporting a Canada t-shirt just for us! It made us feel so welcome and at home here in Georgetown. We were also recognized at the market from our appearances on NTN This Morning! Almost famous? We think so. 

Colleen at our favourite pineapple and watermelon stand at the market!

We cannot believe we only have two and a half weeks left in this beautiful country that feels very much like home. To our fellow PEs on other initiatives who are wrapping up their projects this week, congratulations! We can't wait to see all of you back in Kingston in September to trade stories. 

Sending out lots of QHO love,

The G-town Crew, also known as The Fantastic Four 

(Casey, Marni, Colleen and Steve)

A Classroom Feature and A Visit from Georgetown

Hello, hello!

We are deep into our fifth week here in Berbice so it's about time that we provide a little more insight into what we've actually been up to in the classroom. This week we want to talk about the lessons we have been running in some of the public secondary schools: Corentyne Comprehensive, J.C Chandisingh, Port Mourant and Lower Corentyne.

We have been focusing a lot of our teaching on Sexual Health because this is the topic that the students we are teaching have expressed the most interest in. In these high schools we are teaching Form 3 classes (Grade 9) and they are bursting with questions! Now that we've been talking about what sex is and why people choose to (or not) have sex, the giggles have (for the most part subsided) and we have begun to have discussions about pregnancy, contraceptives, condom use, and STIs as well as HIV/AIDS.

Ali explaining pregnancy at Tagore Secondary School

This week as part of our lesson different groups chose different methods of contraceptives and then had to present the information they knew (or learned) in front of the class. The students discussed how condoms, birth control pills (tablets) and injections, diaphragms/cervical caps worked, what the advantages and disadvantages of each were, how effective they were and whether they prevented pregnancy and/or STIs. The students are very engaged and we are excited to play some HIV/AIDS jeopardy in many of these high school classes next week- maybe even with some prizes involved!

Eric starting off a lesson with a ball game

Our QHO related activities don't just take place during the week! On Friday afternoon, two wonderul visitors, Steve and Marni, arrived from Georgetown. We met them at the Smythfield Drop-In Centre, which is wonderfully run and well organized. We taught a lesson on mental health and the importance of keeping a good balance between physical and mental health. We had a group discussion with the older students and allowed the younger children to draw their favourite health activity. During the debried we highlighted the connection of mental health in the various physical activities (e.g. stress relief by going for a run). It was a good lesson to introduce mental health and it allowed us to learn a few personal things about our students. \

On Friday night we made stuffed eggplant and shared each others company late into the night. Saturday morning involved a trip to the market and Ali and Eric showed off their favourite hang-outs. In the afternoone the group went to the Camal Shelter where Marni and Ali taught about contraceptives and the steps to condom use with some of the older girls while Steve and Eric held some fitness activities and games for the younger children. That evening we visited the Letterkenny Youth Space and Steve and Marni got to meet the kids whom we talk about so frequently. After a long afternoon of games the group headed home where we shared a meal and played a long game of poker- Ali came out victorious.

The team playing Ladders at the Letterkenny Youth Space

Sunday morning came quicker than expected and after a few workouts it was time to say goodbye to our Georgetown friends. it was great to see them this weekend and we hoped they enjoyed Berbice as much as we do!

Love,

Eric and Ali

Week 3 from Berbice and beyond!

Good afternoon everyone!

In the schools this week we continued our introductory lecutres on sexual health, adapting our lesson plans for children as young as grade 6 in Massiah and 59 Primary Schools to young adults at the Vryman’s Erven Training Center.  We’ve loved getting a number of inquisitive questions both in our anonymous question box and in person.  We hope it continues for the remainder of project!

Eric teaching about menstruation at 59 primary School

Ali hanging out with Junior at the Letter Kenny Youth Friendly Space

Eric and Varsha posing for a pic!

Ali taking the kids through a lesson at the Youth Friendly Space

On Friday we left for Georgetown and made it just in time to join our fellow peer educators at the Ruimveldt Youth Center.  It was an energy packed start to our weekend in Georgetown and quite a contrast to our Berbice country livin’.  Later that night we had the opportunity to cheer on Steve as he made his amateur cricket debut.  We had a great time enjoying some local Guyanese food and great company.  The rest of the independence long weekend flew by and we even got to spend some time apart for a change.  On Saturday morning, Eric had to chance to catch up with Steve on a mandate as they got authentic Guyanese haircuts and grabbed a vegetarian lunch.  Ali also spent some time walking the seawall with the ladies of the Georgetown crew.

Ali teaching a Form 2 class at Tagore Secondary School

We are finally back home and feel re-energized and feel ready to take on the unofficial 2^nd leg of our project.  Our week has been off to a great start as we wrap up some sexual health lessons.  Just this morning we had our first lesson at a new school – Lower Corentyne Secondary School.  This is an exciting addition to our schedule and we look forward to returning to teach more sessions with such engaging students!  Another exciting opportunity we look forward to is collaborating with the Guyana Foundation – a local mental health resource in the country, which we have recently been connected with.

That’s it for this week, were ready for the many lessons left to come.  Look out for some special feature blog posts in the upcoming weeks.

On another note, the rainy season has officially arrived.  Our morning runs have been tougher to take on – but we’re still smiling.

Ali and Eric

An Overdue Georgetown Update

Good afternoon (a typical Guyanese greeting),

Wow! Our third week in Georgetown has flown by yet again. It feels as though the days are going by faster and faster here in our home away from home. Today marks the half way point in our QHO adventure. We have completed 3 and a half weeks and are looking forward to another thrilling 3 and a half more.

Last week was jam packed! We focused our lessons on puberty, sex, and contraceptives both in the classrooms and on TV. Despite some giggles at the beginning the students soon became engaged in the topics and had some great (awkward) questions for us! We like to start off these lessons with a "slang shake out" where the students can get out all the sillies/giggles before we get in depth about more serious issues. Then we mix in content with some fun games to help solidify the information in an exciting way. Overall the participation in the classrooms was amazing and we feel as though the students took a lot away from the lessons. We even had some beneficial discussions, or "girl chats", after class where we could really connect with the students and give them some one-on-one advice.

Last Tuesday we were invited to a Health Fair with the Ministry of Health, a potential partner for the future years of QHO Guyana, where we sat in on one of their daily lessons. It was interesting to see how similar QHO and the Ministry of Health are in the content we provide and how we work to translate that information. The goals of both QHO and the Ministry of Health work towards making the next generation more aware of health issues and risks. We are hopeful that QHO Guyana will be working closely with the Ministry of Health in the years to come and can collaborate to make both projects more successful.

Our day spent observing the Ministry of Health and their teaching practices.

On Friday Ali and Eric from the Berbice team came to visit Georgetown for the weekend. They got to Georgetown just in time to join us at Ruimveldt Children's Aid Centre. We are always excited to be reunited with the kids at Ruimveldt and their smiling faces that make our weeks truly special. Ali and Eric had a blast at the youth space and we hope that they can join us again soon!

Some of the wonderful children at Ruimveldt before dinner time!

Friday night we were able to attend another weekly cricket match-- however a new experience for the Berbice team! The five Georgetown and Berbice PE's watched from the side lines as one of our own, Steve, was recruited to play for the Floodlight Cricket Team. It was a great time cheering Steve on and watching him make some great saves and even hit some six pointers. Reyaz, our RBI and TV contact, had Marni's (early) birthday celebration prepared at the cricket game where we explored some delicious Guyanese dishes.

Steve and Reyaz before their big cricket game.

Just as we thought Steve had hit his peak athletic career here in Guyana, Steve was drafted to a basketball team for one game. He played for a total of 45 seconds--his strength lied in his amazing bench warming skills. But we all had a blast cheering him on and are very proud of him, he even received a trophy for his efforts.

We loved having Ali and Eric visit for the weekend in Georgetown. It was wonderful catching up with them and spending time as a group, it is always nice having the full team together. We were able to celebrate Guyana Independence Day with some fireworks and delicious local Guyanese food later in the night.

The six Guyana PE's enjoying Independence Day fireworks by the Sea Wall. 

We love our trips to the market and go at least 3 times a week! We go through a ton of fruit here because we cannot get enough of it. It is so sweet and delicious!

Some of the delicious fruits at the market.

Casey and Colleen's market adventure. 

This week we look forward to focusing our lessons on STI's (sexually transmitted infections) and HIV (human immunodeficiency virus). We hope the students learn and take away important information from these lessons.

All our love,

The Georgetown Team
(Steve, Colleen, Casey, Marni)

Week 2 of Teaching in Berbice!

Hello Friends, Family, and Followers,

It's been a while since we've posted an update so we'll get you caught up. We ended our lesssons on values and goal setting in Tagore Secondary, 59 Primary, Massiah Primary, and the Berbice Islamic School. At the primary schools one of our favourite activities this week was in a little lesson on hygiene in which we all shook hands- some of us had baby powder on our hands representing people who were sick and carrying lot's of germs. By the end of the activity almost everyone's hands were covered in powder- illustrating how quickly germs and diseases can spread. The kids really enjoyed this activity and it brought a lot of energy to the classroom!

Eric preparing for a lesson at Port Mourant Secondary

Last week we also taught at Vrymen Erven Training Center where a group of older students are studying cosmotology and information technology. We talked about values and goal setting as it was our first lesson there but also did an engaging lesson on Mental Health. It was a new challenge to teach an older class but the level of engagement was exciting and we were able to share some valuable resources.

Our weekend began with a game of volleyball at the Smythfield Drop In Youth Centre; it was great to meet so many kids of various ages and we look forward to a rematch! On Saturday, after visiting the busy market in the morning, we went to the Camal Shelter and Eric played some hide and seek, dog and a bone, and participated in some colouring activities. Ali also did some colouring with the older group of girls and we talked about what health topics they wanted to discuss in the coming weeks!

Our Sunday was spent going to the beach which was a 25 minute walk from where we live. We were shown the way there by some of the neighbourhood kids and once we got there they showed us how to navigate the sinking sand out to the water. We swam, played some catch and other games and shared a fruit salad together before we made the walk back- it was an afternoon well spent!

Ali playing in the river with some friends from Letterkenny

By now we've found our spots that we regularly hit up for food, entertainment, and blogging, of course! This week has already started our second week of teaching and we are focusing mainly on Sexual Health and Puberty. So far, we have taught in two of our high school classes and we look forward to getting back in those classrooms soon to talk about the many great questions we recieved.

This weekend we will be off to Georgetown again to take in the Independence Day celebrations from the capital. We are excited for what's in store and to be reunited with the rest of the QHO Guyana team.

Until next time,

Ali and Eric

Week 2 in Georgetown: Come and gone in a flash

Hello devoted readers!

We are just finishing up our second week (about to start the third) in Georgetown now and it has been a blast so far! How time flies! We have all settled nicely into our new home and are now in the swing of things. Steve is adjusting well to living with three wonderful ladies-- practically one of the girls already!

At the start of the week we spent time meeting with schools and youth spaces to finalize our teaching schedule for the next 6 weeks. Last years team set up great connections with some of the local schools and we hope that we are able to strengthen that bond this year. With the help of Ms. Tony we established two new schools for this years project: St. Pius Primary School (where we are teaching a grade 6 class) and Sophia Training Centre (an institution organized to develop various trade skills). We are thrilled to have the new contacts and are looking forward to working with the schools in the years to come.

We had a great day at Ruimveldt on Tuesday afternoon and love going to see the kids-- always a new and thrilling experience. We have been going to Ruimveldt twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) and the kids are becoming more familiar with us. We love playing games with them like "dog and the bone", "lost my belt" and climbing on the monkey bars. We are truly developing great bonds with the children at Ruimveldt and look forward to their enthusiastic greetings each time we come.

Some of the kids from Ruimveldt!

Wednesdays are jam packed days as we teach three classes in a row. This week we focused our teaching on nutrition, healthy diets and physical fitness. The students loved some of the creative games we came up with--including push-up competitions!

Thursday was our big break at NTN This Morning as we had our first segment. Casey and Marni taught about nutrition while Steve and Colleen taught about the importance of physical fitness and lead an exercise class. We were all a little bit nervous but it was a great experience. We look forward to teaching again this week about puberty and sexual health.

Marni and Casey getting ready for TV!

Colleen and Steve ready for stardom! 

Also, on Thursday we had our first lesson at Reyaz Business Institute (RBI). The students were so amazing and well behaved. Their participation was great and they seemed to really enjoy the lesson. We cannot wait to teach about more serious topics with the kids. Friday we attended our second cricket game--each time learning more and more about the unfamiliar, yet fascinating game. Steve has even been drafted to play in this upcoming Friday's game and we cannot wait! Needless to say, the girls perform best as cheerleaders on the bench.

We love the food here and are enjoying tasting all the native foods. Tonight we even cooked our first dinner at the guesthouse with the help of the Rima ladies-- Channa, sautéed vegetables and rice. It was delicious!

Casey and Colleen enjoying the channa, pumpkin curry and cook-up from Shantas! 

Our homemade dinner of rice, channa and veggies!

Thank you Georgetown for yet another lovely week, you continue to capture our hearts each day!

All our love,

The Georgetown Team

Berbice Update: Getting Started!

Hi Everyone,


We've been up to lots since our last post!  This past weekend we had the pleasure of attending a traditional Hindu wedding in Georgetown.  We were so thankful for Omeshwar's hospitality and it was great to meet up with the other half of QHO Guyana and trade stories about our first few days.  The wedding itself was filled with dancing, good food, and great company.  Our ride back to Berbice was somewhat of an adventure... we caught a cab in Georgetown, and had to wait for it to fill up with two more passengers.  The Berbice river bridge (located about 1.5 hours away from Georgetown) closes at certain times each day.  Unfortunately we arrived to the bridge 3 minutes after its daily closure and ended up waiting for 90 minutes for it to re-open.  Luckily enough, we had the time to catch up on some reading and enjoy the nice breeze coming off the river. 


Back in Berbice, we began to teach our first lessons about values and goal-setting at Port Mourant Secondary, J.C.Chandisingh Secondary, and Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary schools.  So far, we have really enjoyed getting to know the kids and discovering what interests them.  This morning we each had the opportunity to teach alone, in separate class rooms.  It was a challenging venture, but a very good learning experience for us both.  We are excited to continue to teach this week and return to schools next week and cover topics in more detail.


In Letterkenny, we opened up the Youth Friendly Space for the first time since last summer.  The kids were all very excited and we had the chance to explore how we can best use the space.  Hopefully we will have a great first lesson later today when we introduce topics regarding self-esteem.


That's all folks!


Until next time,
Eric and Ali